The Largest Castle in the World & A Pirate Ship!

Although we wanted to visit a bit more of the coast, we couldn't pass up a visit to the largest castle in the World (at least by land area)!

We booked a tour to the Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork, constructed in the 13th Century by the invading Teutonic Knights. From the early 15th Century, it then became the residence of Polish Kings until 1772 when Poland was partitioned and Malbork fell under German rule. During the World War Two, more than half of the castle was destroyed. After 1945 the city of Malbork and the castle once again became part of Poland. Today the castle is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is well worth a visit.

The tour took around 5 hours, and we were back in Gdansk for lunch; I was delighted as I hadn't managed anything to eat in the morning and I was starting to get "hangry." We found a restaurant called Pierogarnia u Dzika, and swiftly ordered a beer and some food.

We didn't have any other plans, but knew we wanted to watch the Champions League Final later that night. I wanted to take a cruise through the shipyards to Westerplatte, so we wandered towards the river to see what was available; a pirate ship seemed like a good option to me! We booked for 5.30pm so still had a few hours to kill. We decided to visit the WWII museum, but as we arrived, there was a fire alarm and we were pretty sure we wouldn't be able to do it justice even thought it was starting to reopen. Instead, we decided to take a walk around Granary Island and go on the Ferris wheel. 

 

It was nearing the departure time of the pirate ship, so we wandered back across the river, now that the drawbridge was back down for pedestrians to cross. I was getting quite excited, along with the kids that were also ready for a trip. We decided just to do the round trip, but you can get off the ship and visit the monument on Westerplatte; it is famous for the Battle of Westerplatte, and saw the first clash between Polish and German forces during the invasion of Poland and marks the beginning and the first battle of World War II. This battle was followed by the Defence of the Polish Post Office which I already mentioned in a previous post.

Anyway, back to the Pirate Ship, it was awesome. It was fascinating sailing through the shipyard, and Westerplatte didn't disappoint, even from afar. The sun was beginning to set, and it was starting to get pretty cold, thankfully I was semi-prepareg. I really enjoyed the 90 minute journey, the only thing I would say is that its impossible to hear the person narrating, but it didn't bother me too much.

After the ship docked, we both needed a drink. I was freezing and needed to warm up, so we ordered the weirdest combination; a latte, a Bloody Mary and my new obsession, apple pie.

Time was starting to creep up on us and we needed to find a bar to watch the Champions League final. We thought it would be pretty easy, but apparently not. Our original plan was an Irish bar but it was packed and far too rowdy. After wandering about for another 20 minutes, we came across the White Rabbit Consular Bar, it had a small table outside, but there was a heater right beside it. The server seemed happy for us to take a seat, and it transpired that he had actually worked in Scotland for quite a long time; we did wonder, especially when he took the mick out of my accent.

The bar was mobbed, but the cocktails were great and they kept coming. We had a great view of the TV and stayed the whole evening, even with the crazy Italian fans to the right of us. Both of us enjoyed the night, and we were definitely merry as we walked back to the hotel.