Where have you been?

Jagiełło was actually the Grand Duke of Lithuania (and therefore Lithuanian) prior to converting to Christianity, marrying Queen Jadwiga of Poland, and thus becoming the King of Poland. He lead a untied Poland and Lithuania against the Teutonic Order which resulted in the decisive victory at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. Interestingly enough there is a statue of King Jagiełło in Central Park in NYC. Here is a sweet 360 degree view of it.


There is a dragon wrapped around the King's feet on his tomb because he was a member of the Order of the Dragon. The tomb at Malbork is merely a replica of the real thing which is located at Wawel Cathedral in Kraków.

This is the tomb of King Władysław Jagiełło of Poland (1386-1434).


The description of the tomb (in Polish).


This document details the mourning rituals that were common at Malbork castle.

We have properly identified this picture as relating to the myth of the Whore of Babylon. For the story see Wikipedia here.

Here is one of the outfits the Templar Knights wore.


This is perhaps one of the religious books (prayer book or bible) of the Templars. My wife was not around and the descriptions were only in Polish.

Inside the castle there are rotating (or perhaps evolving is a better word) displays. Medieval weapons, fruity medieval music, and "Life in a Castle" displays to name a few. In Malbork there is a grand collection of trinkets made from amber as well. Amber, as we remember, originates from the Baltic coast which was controlled for many years by the Knights of Malbork.


The last time I posted about Malbork (last year) I bored you with several photos of the treasures. This time you just get a quick reminder. Above top we see a small nautical collection and below the ubiquitous Crucifixion of Christ.

I bet there is no better way to pick up chicks than to tell them you play the flute at Malbork Castle while dressed in period clothing.

This picture, and several just like it, line one of the corridors a wing of the castle. I remember them from my first visit but I still have no idea what they represent and what purpose they served in the castle. I am sure it would help if I could read Polish...

I am a big fan of red brick. Although this castle is entirely of red brick, and therefore even overkill for me, it does have a sort of charm that other castles lack. Here is a view of one corner of the courtyard.


Here is another fireplace (also done in red brick) including some amazing wall paintings. Notice the floor as well, very nice.


And finally one of many arched entrances. The doors were simply massive.

Here are a few of my nephew around the castle. This one shows him in one of the large halls. He is standing next to a huge fireplace that would burn two or three full size couches at once.


Here is one of him in the upper-level chapel. As you can tell from the condition it was badly damaged during WWII but has yet to be restored.

Here are more photos of my mother in her purple pants and MATCHING white sweater. We were very lucky and had excellent weather the entire trip so this getup was plenty warm. This is her and my nephew sitting bored listening to the Polish speaking tourist guide.


Her waiting by one of the many gates in the castle grounds.


And another of my mom and nephew bored of the tour they could not understand.

One easily observable difference between Americans and Europeans is how they dress. And I am not talking about how elegant most big city Europeans dress when compared to similar Americans. We didn't visit the Business areas. We were at the tourist spots and saw the common Europeans whose fashion sense is much different from both American's and their big city compatriot's fashion sense. In this photo we can see my mom having a laugh at some hapless tourist. I think the conversation was about his Barney purple pants which matched my mom's. The difference was that they were so tight you could tell what he was thinking plus he was wearing a bright red or pink shirt (I can't remember which) that he must have thought matched quite well.

Another UNESCO World Heritage site we visited from our base in Sopot was Malbork Castle. I have posted about the castle before but, just for a quick review, it was the home of the Teutonic Order during the middle ages. It was first build in 1274 and was half destroyed during World War 2. It has since been mostly reconstructed and is now a popular tourist site complete with several themed displays and shops.

It was kind of strange but I needed to travel all the way to Poland to see the famous Red Rocker Sammy Hagar. I guess he was taking a break from his busy schedule to take in the sights.


Some intricate carvings we found along one of the side streets.


And some more graffiti.

Gdańsk is an important Polish port city so naturally the harbor and ship yards play an important role in everyday life. There is a water bus service from the various beach cities into Gdańsk harbor as well as tourist ships like the galleon shown here.


If tall ships are not your thing there is also the option to hire a self-propelled ducky.


There is also a combination of the amber and ship themes in the form of this scale model of the RMS Queen Mary 2. I don't understand the connection between Gdańsk and this particular ship but it was interesting anyway.

More photos from around old town Gdańsk.