Travelogue #7, , Toruń,

Our guide/driver for the past few days, Tomasz, drove us from Gdansk to Toruń, stopping only once in route, at a massive Castle of the . The Teutonic Knights (aka Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem) was one of the three most famous Christian orders of “warrior-monks” to develop out of the against the Muslims. When Jerusalem fell to the Arabs at the end of the 13th century, the Knights retreated back to Europe. They named the place Marienburg, after their patron saint, and it was the world's largest castle when built in 1406. It is called Malbork in Polish. Only fifty years later, the Knights could not pay their Bohemian mercenaries, who fled the castle. King Kasimir IV Jagiellon entered the castle in triumph in 1457, and it became a royal residence for several subsequent Polish kings. However in the seventeenth century, the castle was twice occupied by invading Swedish forces and was later used as a poorhouse and barracks for

the . During the Nazi occupation of , the castle was used for outings of the . After WWII, Marbork was magnificently albeit partially restored and became a UN World Heritage site. This building was by far the most impressive medieval fortress that we have visited in all our world travels!

We toured the castle using an excellent audio guide, but unfortunately were not able to spend the full five hours recommended for a complete exploration of its many rooms, galleries, and inner courtyards. The next picture is the Chapter House, one of the more elaborate rooms.

Near the impressive kitchen seen above we happened upon a film crew and spoke to the cast as they were resting between takes. They were quite friendly but mum about the name or type of film.

Leaving Marbork, we drove on to the ancient town of Toruń where we said good bye to Tomasz and checked into our hotel built adjacent to an ancient city gate. After a simple lunch of zurek and cauliflower soups, which we have become quite fond of, we met city guide Agatha for a tour of the old medieval town, which was founded by the Teutonic Knights.

Toruń , another of those delightful Polish places about which we knew nothing before this trip, is located on the banks of the wide , the longest and largest river in Poland. The river dumps directly into the , about 200 km downstream. Although the river no longer supports much shipping, it was once an important highway for moving goods amongst Polish cities and beyond. By the 13th century, Toruń was a thriving trade center and member of the . Today the city has a population of about 200,000 of which about 25% are college students. Bicycles seemed to be a popular way to get around town.

Toruń celebrates its native son Nicolaus Copernicus, who was born there in 1743. A Renaissance mathematician and astronomer, Copernicus placed the sun rather than the earth at the center of the universe, a seminal step in the Scientific Revolution. Toruń is also known for its medieval buildings, several of which lean, Pisa style. One of the best known of these is shown below, a 13th century red brick tower originally built to defend the town. The top projects out about five feet above the street. Agatha dared us to stand at the base of the tower and lean back with our arms extended; explaining that this is only possible if one has never sinned. Of course, Laura easily passed

We walked through the medieval town center and its much-admired 14th century Ratusz (Town Hall), the large brown edifice in the picture below. We also saw the town prison, a curious circular building that is still in use, and various other notable buildings and monuments. Agatha seemed disappointed that we did not want to explore more thoroughly, but after patronizing one of the city’s justly famous gingerbread bakeries, we pleaded weariness and returned to the hotel for a delicious dinner of neck of wild boar and pumpkin pancakes. We also enjoyed several morsels of soft, chocolate- covered, candy- and fruit-filled gingerbread after dinner in our room and for the next several days.

At eight the next morning we met Artur, our new driver/guide and by mid-day were touring Warsaw. The city has been Poland’s capital since 1596, when King Sigismund III (remember him) moved his court from Kraków to Warsaw. The city then became the capital of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which remarkably was the largest country in Europe at the time. Today Warsaw (Warszawa in Polish) is a modern city of 1.7 million (2.7 including the surrounding metropolitan areas). Instead of our usual walkabout, we toured Warsaw by car, which enabled us to cover a lot of territory. One of our first stops was at Łazienki Park and palace complex.

This pristine 1934 Cadillac 355D Fleetwood 7-passenger limousine was the presidential limo of Marshal Józef Klemens Piłsudski, Chief of State in the years 1918-1922. The car was displayed in a glass box at an entrance to Łazienki Park and Castle Complex, the largest park in Warsaw. The park was resplendent in fall colors, and among other notable buildings and statues included a monument dedicated to Poland’s most famous composer, Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin. Every Sunday afternoon during the summer an open-air concert is performed here. We were a month late for the concert but at the touch of a button on a nearby black marble bench a snippet of the composer’s ”Military” Polonaise would be played.

One of our more interesting stops was at the 14th century Royal Castle in the center of Warsaw's old town. The castle was bombed during WWII and was completely demolished by the withdrawing German forces in 1944. The imposing building was reconstructed by 1980 but we were even more impressed by the day’s last performance of an excellent multi-media presentation of Warsaw during WWII. Projected on all walls of a medium sized square room, the experience was immersive, informative, and graphically intense almost to the point of discomfort. By this point in our trip we have become modestly familiar with Poland's complex history which helped us to appreciate this exceptionally well-done and interesting show.

From the Royal Castle we walked on through Warsaw’s old medieval center, where the next picture was taken. While the medieval buildings were rebuilt following the war's massive destruction, the result did not seem as extensive or impressive as some of the other Polish cities we had visited in recent days.

After returning to our hotel (and working on one of the prior travelogues), we walked to Pod Gigantami, a very posh restaurant, and ate arguably the best meal of the trip: Silesian dumplings, Polish roasted duck, zander fillet with caramelized Jerusalem artichoke, warm apple pie, and chocolate mousse. Our delicious, impeccably-served meal in elegant old world surroundings, including a bottle of a nice Chilean cabernet, cost less than a modest dinner back home.

Early the next morning, we met Artur, who had considerately switched to a different car with friendlier entry and egress for aging knees, and headed out of town to visit Żelazowa Wola, where Frederik Chopin was born in 1810. The Chopin family soon moved to Warsaw where Frederik and his three siblings were to grow up. The son of a French father and Polish mother, he was a child prodigy who was playing the piano by age of 6. Within two years Chopin was performing in elegant salons and writing his own compositions, including the Polonaise in G Minor. He entered the Warsaw conservatory and studied composition and music theory with some of Poland’ s most talented musicians. At the age 21 Chopin traveled to Vienna and then on to Paris. Those were turbulent times in Poland, where a revolt against Russian rule had broken out, and he was never to return to Poland.

Although the actual house of Chopin’s birth been restored and modified over the years, the single story, thatched roof, bright white house resembles and is in the same spot as the original. See picture below. The home’s furnishings, including a magnificent concert-size grand by the London piano maker John Broadwood and Sons, did not belong to the family but are representative of what might have been in the early 19th century manor. The house sits in a beautifully landscaped park together with the Fryderyk Chopin Institute's modern information center which exhibits an enjoyable film on Chopin’s life and music. Loud speakers, almost hidden amongst the plantings, continuously played impressively high fidelity recordings of some of our favorite Chopin works.

Leaving Żelazowa Wola, which we can now almost pronounce, we stopped at the “Brothers Grzegory” roadside diner, which Artur described as a “truck stop”. The restaurant's location was on a main truck route to the east. The a large illustrated menu on the wall beside the small bar described each dish both in Polish and Russian. We enjoyed a hearty meal of authentic local food including bean soup, bigos (sauerkraut and meat), and beer.

After lunch, we visited the Open Air Museum in Maurzyce near Łowicz, a large collection of 18th century wooden buildings that had been moved to the site from surrounding areas. Particularly intriguing was this horse-driven device, seen in the yard to the left of the barn, for powering gins and other farm machinery. A team of horses tethered to a horizontal wooden beam walked around an endless circle rotating the central vertical axel. Power was transferred through gears and a long universal jointed shaft into the barn to drive the machines.

Our last stop was Nieborów Palace, the estate and manor of Janusz Radziwill, a Polish aristocrat who had the presence of mind and good fortune to donate his property to the state before he was exiled to Siberia. Unlike similar mansions that were sacked during Soviet times, this home and its furnishings remain intact and largely as it was when the family lived here.

The final picture of this, the last travelogue of the trip, was taken through the windshield of Artur’s car in Warsaw on our way back to the hotel. This area of strikingly modern glass and steel skyscrapers is known locally as Warsaw’s Manhattan.

Poland switched off day light savings time last night, and we hoped that this would not complicate our appointment with Artur and the ride to the airport. We got up at 4:30 AM, Artur was actually early, and in no time we were at the self-check-in terminals in the large modern terminal. Our plane was almost over San Francisco when this travelogue was finished.