Kroměříž is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic with 28,000 inhabitants known for the Kroměříž Castle with castle gardens, which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The castle and its tower lurks just beyond the central square.  The castle is essentially just a very large estate residence - nothing that spectacular - we came to see the "English" style massive garden adjacent to it.

Across from the castle, a strategically positioned water closet, about 40 cents for a clean well-stocked bathroom.

I think they only open and close this big door once per cafe opening cycle.

Now to the sprawling garden - google maps on the cell-phone allowed us to wander but not get lost - all the trails are clearly marked in google, we just moved our "blue dot" along the trail lines.

They experienced large floods here in 1997, but we didn't notice any lingering issues today.

Peacock mom and babies on the prowl for bugs.

They even accommodate the "old" people to see it all.

See the mistletoe clumps in the tree tops.

 

Now off to Olomouc, our overnight town, and the last one we'll visit in the Czech Republic.  Inviting sights along the way...

Hop-less....                                                                            Hop-full....

Mmmmmmmm, hops....

View from the pivovar ("brewery") garden seating in Olomouc:

Fancy digs - probably a baron residence originally, now sub-divided into multiple apartments and some offices.

This morning we woke up in Třebíč, ate our hotel breakfast, then went off to see the sights.  After that we drove to Mikulov.

On Třebíč's main square:

When utility work or what not is required under the cobbles, they must come up and then they go back down again.  This looks like back numbing work.

This graphic map is reasonably accurate.  The square is at the bottom edge, below the river.  Our lodging was next to that round green tree next to the left bridge.  We now begin the Jewish Quarter tour, which covers most of the rest of the graphic map.

"The Jewish Quarter of Třebíč is a neighborhood and former ghetto is situated on the north bank of the River Jihlava and is one of the best preserved in Europe.  In 2003, together with the nearby Jewish Cemetery and the St. Procopius Basilica, the Jewish Quarter was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Description

The Jewish Quarter is surrounded by rocky slopes and the river, containing 123 houses and two synagogues. Above the Quarter on a hill is the Jewish cemetery, holding roughly 4,000 gravestones.  The cemetery has two sections: one starting from the 15th century, and the other starting from the 19th century.

The oldest mention of a synagogue in Třebíč archives is from 1590, although many of gravestones in the cemetery are much older.  In the 16th century, orders were given to expel all Jews from the town, although they were not carried out.  The older of the two synagogues still standing dates to the mid-1600s. Unusually for Europe at the time, the Jewish Quarter had its own self-government with an elected magistrate and councilors beginning in the Renaissance.  In 1894, the town had a mayor and was called Zamosti (meaning 'over the bridge').

Most Jewish inhabitants (in 1890 there lived nearly 1,500 Jews, but in the 1930s only 300 of them were of Jewish faith) were deported and murdered in concentration camps by Nazi Germany during World War II. Only ten of them came back after the war. Therefore, many buildings of the Jewish town (e. g. the town hall, rabbi's office, hospital, poorhouse or school) no longer served their original purpose post war, and the houses are now owned by people of non-Jewish faith."

The neighborhood was under threat of destruction during the Communist era after WWII.  The government intended to raze it, and then build blocky apartment buildings.  However, the geology was found to be so unstable that the idea was abandoned, and the ghetto allowed to remain.  Over the centuries, the structures had been built factoring in this geology.  After the Communist era (post 1990), much refurbishment has happened, including an inflow of $40M from the United States.

This pedestrian bridge crossing the river from the square has been built to enhance touring of the Quarter:

The restored synagogue is now a museum and a venue for small concerts.

For many years the synagogue functioned as a store house damaging the wall frescoes just off the floor.

This model of the Quarter was created by a craftsmen with 3,000 hours work.

Adjacent to the synagogue is a home restored to a look, with furnishings, of an early 20th century Jewish household.

A shop on the lower floor, typical of Jewish homes in that period:

Our lodging was in the unit at the upper right, with red tiled roof, white walls, and the two lower arches.

Our tour generally followed a route marked by this green/white emblem.  Just as I snapped a photo, a dog growled and snarled from under the door.

Work on the old structures seems to continue slowly, but surely.

Now, just outside the cemetary, with the UNESCO symbol and the Star of David.

Much of the cemetary was fairly manicured and maintained, while parts of it are now in a wild state, especially on some steep sloping areas.

Anna Ingberová, born 1922, deported to Terezin Concentration Camp (Czechia) 1943, murdered 1943 Auschwitz-Birkenau (Poland).  One of the nearly 300 Jews taken away from this Quarter during WWII.

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We now depart and head to Mikulov.  We pass by Dukovany Nuclear Power Station, from 1985.

We arrive in Mikulov, with the Castle on the central hill.

Chapel of St. Sebastian on Svatý Kopeček Hill overlooks the town.

It's a rainy day going to Třeboň.

Traffic circle fish sculpture.  The town has been known for fish farming for over 400 years.

It was a day of eating fish - the rain continued so we hung around the lodging and planned for the next day's touring.  The room had the one thing that easily puts it in the top 1/3 of choices, a place to make fire.

It's the next day, a bit of rain continues, but the tour must go on.

Moving on down the road, we pass through and out the town wall gate.

This town knows how to take care of its visitors.

Here's a well traveled survivor, a late '80s Chevy Van.

Back to the trusty Hyundai, onto the next town.

WWII bunkers, built by the Czechs to defend against Germans coming up from Austria - the defensive line was  never used however.

Gnome homes?

A convenient place on the way back to parking to grab a bite, and try out the local beer.

Tim is smiling wide again, he gets to drink most of it.

Now in Třebíč.  The main sight for us, the Jewish Quarter tour, will need to wait till tomorrow as it's a bit late.

We've had so much sunny weather in this whole trip that many areas have been hurting for rain.  Today, we cooperated and agreed to a bit of rain.  The hotel provided us with a couple of umbrellas.

Patterns on this wall were made by scraping off the stucco coating to reveal the tan color.  Several buildings around town had similarly done motifs.

St. Vitus Church is an important late-Gothic monument built from 1407 to 1438, with later modifications. In 1995 it was declared a National Cultural Monument of the Czech Republic.  We were treated to organ music in our stop.

Gerri on the town square with the Plague Monument - they were so happy that half the population made it through that they built this monument to celebrate.  Tim at the local Super-Dry clothing store checking out the 'skinny mirror".  "My own clothes are so flattering for me, why should I shell out all those bucks for this pricey Super-Dry stuff".

Boaters in the rain, still having fun, hmmmm, is Gerri getting an itch - "Rick Steves calls this activity a can't miss for Krumlov".

Is the sky starting to brighten up?

Upward and onward to the "dominating" castle.

A trail marker with many choices according to your stamina.  We see the castle watch tower - information is power.

As we gradually go higher, we're treated to multiple courtyards.

Twenty years ago the region had mucho raino - Prague was severely flooded, as well as Krumlov.  See the pink house at lower left below, the high water line was just below the white horizontal decorative line.

We've seen a good many castle interiors, so we more than satisfied to just see the outside of this one, and especially the grand views.

This castle, high on the hill, is huge - we've started at the castle tower, and it continues from right to left, and beyond.

Summer is entering it's last third now - just as back in the northern USA, some tree colors are already happening.

We finish our castle tour with the garden, over 27 acres worth.

Here's the bonus treat, European brown bears eating salad.

Heading back to the "ranch" (our lodging) - checking the weather, mulling over the possibility of hitting the river.  Tim is thinking those weirs (the water slides bypassing the spillways) look awfully dicey.

The sky is showing blue now - the weirs stand there menacing as ever (that slot to the right of the spillway).

We're gonna do it - 7 kilometers, and 5 weirs, on an inflatable canoe.

The first weir is at this covered bridge.  The people running the rental store said, the 3rd weir is a bit risky for a narrow inflatable, they suggested walking around if we're not sure about it.  It had a strong pitch down at the end into a standing wave - with a chance of flipping the boat - oh boy.

It is a different, spectacular way to see such an old city.

Success, we shot the rapids at the 3rd weir, without flopping it.

At the last weir, with a great view of the castle above.

It's warming a bit nicely, look at all those blue skies.

It's all water, sky, red roofed houses and towers.

The river was flowing nicely with the rain since yesterday, we mostly just drifted along, passing the 7 kilometers in just under 2 1/2 hours.  Here we finish and call for our pick-up.

The driver picked up us and the boat, and dropped us as close as he could to the city square.  We take a few photos of previous sights, this time with blue skies.

Back at the "ranch" again, in front of our hotel "The Oldinn".

An hour later, and the skies are filling in again, getting ready for more rain.

We dine on beef stew, and grilled carp (believe it or not), as the skies outside unload a pelting rain.

As we depart Wrocław, Poland, a final surprise sight - a locomotive readied for launch !?

After a hour's drive, we arrive in Świdnica, Poland, to check out a Lutheran Church.

Welcome to the Peace Square
1652 - NOW
Under the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, which ended the Thirty Years' War, Emperor Ferdinand Ill was obliged by the Swedes to allow Protestants in the hereditary principalities of Jawvor, Glogöw and Swidnica to build one temple each.  In this way. the Habsburgs did not recognize the equality of Protestant and Catholic faiths, but treated the building permit as a more or less forced act of tolerance. The permission was granted in 1652, but the building had to be erected outside the city walls - at the distance of the longest cannon shot counting from the city walls, only from perishable materials: wood and clay with straw and sand. Using these materials, the Lutherans built the church in a half-timbered construction. Such building materials, combined with the swampy nature of the terrain, were supposed to contribute to the church's rapid deterioration. However, it did not happen!

With the passing of time the parish grew. Gradually, new buildings (also half-timbered] were built around the church: houses for the clergy and church ministers, schools, farm buildings. In total, there were 22 buildings (18th century).  The Evangelical-Augsburg Church in the Republic of Poland is the oldest and largest evangelical (protestant) church and currently the only Lutheran church in Poland. Before 1945 the Lutheran community constituted over 65% of Swidnica's population. 

The entire architectural and urban complex did not suffer much damage during World War Il.  After the war, the Evangelical-Augsburg parish had its buildings on Peace Square confiscated, except for the church and the presbytery. It was not until the 1990s that they returned to the parish, once again creating a historical enclave. The buildings were successively restored to save this unique place located in the center of Swidnica. The first works involved the Luterheim, then the Bell-ringer's House, the Presbytery, the Bell Tower, the Watchman's House and the House of the Cantor and Vicars. The church building is continually being restored and maintained.  At the end of 2021, 40% of the church interior has been covered by restoration works projects.

The Peace Square is a venue for lovers of Baroque, music and architecture, monumental nature, and for all those interested in the history of Silesia and the Reformation. Currently, there are 6 historic buildings around the church available for the inhabitants of Swidnica and tourists who, regardless of their religion and views, take part in socio-cultural events organized here.

In 2001 the Church of Peace was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, a list of cultural and natural heritage sites of outstanding value to humanity. It is the first Lutheran church built by Lutherans on the list, and the first entry of a cultural property based not only on its material values but also on its spiritual values.  In 2017, the entire enclave - the church, the remaining buildings and the cemetery - was listed in the index of Polish Monuments History. This is the highest distinction for historical landmarks ordained by the President of the Republic of Poland.

Here's a bird's eye view - we took a photo of a posting on a storyboard outside the church.

We're off, leaving Poland for the Czech Republic - apparently GPS likes this route to get to Kutná Hora, C.R.

The only indication we've crossed the border is this sign saying we should have our car registered with the prepaid country-wide toll program - luckily we already have done it.

The Sedlec Ossuary is a Roman Catholic chapel, located beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints, part of the former Sedlec Abbey in Sedlec, a suburb of Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic. The ossuary is estimated to contain the skeletons of over 40,000 people, whose bones have, in many cases, been artistically arranged to form decorations and furnishings for the chapel.  The ossuary is among the most visited tourist attractions of the Czech Republic, attracting over 200,000 visitors annually.

Four bell-shaped mounds occupy the corners of the chapel. A chandelier of bones, which contains at least one of every bone in the human body, hangs from the center of the nave with garlands of skulls draping the vault. Other works include piers and monstrances flanking the altar, a coat of arms of the House of Schwarzenberg, and the signature of František Rint, also executed in bone, on the wall near the entrance.

Now moving into Kuntá Hora proper to check out the rest of the sights nearby.

Gerri plays with some sort of art installation, in of all places, outside an art museum.

St. Barbara's Church:  one of the most famous Gothic churches in central Europe and a UNESCO world heritage site. St Barbara is the patron saint of miners (among others), which was highly appropriate for a town whose wealth was based entirely upon its silver mines. Construction began in 1388, but because work on the church was interrupted several times, it was not completed until 1905.

Jesuit College.

Now inside the church (St. Barbara's Church):

From the balcony oustide:

The church organ from the front, and since they allow you to climb steps to an interior balcony, we see a "behind the scenes" view of the less photogenic and wee little horns that make it all work, so many tones and pitches.

Side chapels along the naves, sponsored by wealthy families from ages ago.

Walking out to see more of Kutná Hora.

Looking back up at St. Barbara's Church and the Jesuit College, and now off to Prague.

Believe it or not, these bronze figures are in memory of all the animals that had been slaughtered on this spot for food over many years - see the gutter still here to carry away "stuff".

Heading to our 10 am guided tour at the far end of the square.

Just enough time to snap a quick pose.

Aleksander Fredro (20 June 1793 – 15 July 1876) was a Polish poet, playwright and author.

The 2-hour tour begins, our umbrella carrying guide is a native and has guided for 10-years.  The young woman is Latvian, the young man is Greek, and we had a couple from Malaysia, Australia, and Italy.

On the town hall, see below the eaves, the fighting figures, described by the guide as showing to visitors that the town is capable at the fighting arts, but ultimately, in his words, they have lost every battle action.

Former town leaders - their faces immortalized in these stone figures.

In the basement is the oldest restaurant in Poland - yeah, 1273 AD is pretty old.

And, above the door, is a "public service announcement" - if you come in here and over indulge, your wife will greet you at home with her shoe in hand, poised for a good thrashing.

The pillory post where people were tied up for minor offenses.

The figure at the top of the pillory post, and a demon dog.

Wrocław’s gnomes are small figurines (most 8-12 inches) that first appeared in the streets of Wrocław in 2005. Since then, their numbers have been continually growing, and today they are considered a tourist attraction. By  2022, there were reportedly over 900 dwarfs in the city.

Wroclaw was the place of the second-to-last stand of the Germans in WWII against the advancing Soviets.  Much of the city was destroyed, with much restorative work being done after the war over the next decades.

The modern looking building to the left is actually older (40+ years) than the 1950's reconstructed buildings next to it.

Two smaller buildings that survived the war, knows as "Hansel and Gretel".

On the left building above is a relief placed by an artist who lived there until he died about 10 years ago.  It's the author from earlier in this blog - something about him being mummified elsewhere, and someone breaking off his finger and bringing it for display in a Wroclaw church.

A local academian determined the placement of this meridian (longitude) marker - 17 deg East (it's only off by 2 min, maybe a mile), pretty good for 1797 AD.  We see similar things such as this here and there over the years, Gerri loves to discover them.

University of Wroclaw, with about 24,000 students.  The fencer keeps having his sword stolen, at least 15 times, and now they seem to have given up replacing it.

Oder River.

The tour is complete, it's raining, time to find a local brewery, and then early dinner.

Zloty Pies = Golden Dog, a Browar, or Brewery.

There are many Ukrainians in Poland, from both before and after the February invasion (economic and war refugees) - this restaurant welcomes them with menus available online in their own language.

Cod salad, and bone-in pork loin, both very tasty.

Leaving Gdansk, heading southward again, towards a stop in Poznań, a 3 1/2 drive.

A late lunch in Poznań (Mexican food Polish-style, not too bad), and then onto the square - "mine, mine, the ice cream is mine".

"Poznań is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland. The city is an important cultural and business center, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's Fair, traditional Saint Martin's croissants and a local dialect. Among its most important heritage sites are the Renaissance Old Town, Town Hall and Gothic Cathedral.  Poznań is the fifth-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. As of 2021, the city's population is 529,410.  It is one of four historical capitals of medieval Poland and the ancient capital of the Greater Poland region, currently the administrative capital of the province called Greater Poland Voivodeship.

Poznań is a center of trade, sports, education, technology and tourism. It is an important academic site, with about 130,000 students and Adam Mickiewicz University, the third largest Polish university. The city serves as the seat of the oldest Polish diocese, now being one of the most populous Catholic archdioceses in the country. The city also hosts the Poznań International Fair – the biggest industrial fair in Poland and one of the largest fairs in Europe. The city's other renowned landmarks include the National Museum, Grand Theater, Fara Church and the Imperial Castle."

We've seen lots of rebuilding and fixing up around these countries, but this is the most extensive ripping up of the city square we've come across.

We've parked outside the walled city at the 5 o'clock position, had lunch inside the walls about the 4 o'clock spot, and now are at dead center on the square.

"Poznań Fara, also known as the Parish Church or simply Fara, is a Roman Catholic basilica located in the heart of the Old Town district in Poznań, and the finest example of Baroque architecture in Poland.Th  e full name of the Church is Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Mary Magdalene and Saint Stanislaus.

Built between 1651 and 1701, the structure was engineered by Polish and Italian masters in the Baroque style, who also incorporated Roman architectural aspects such as the monumental Corinthian columns in the interior. In the mid-18th century Pompeo Ferrari designed the main altar standing at 17 meters in height and the main entrance from the Old Town.  The Fara, like most of the city, was largely spared from destruction during World War II."

To the right, below, is an interesting nicely carved bench.

This Bishop's chair looks like it could also be a HG Well's time machine.

Now checking out city hall...apparently the lady in blue liked it as a backdrop.

Jazz group at a nearby square.

The Royal Castle dates from 1249, it was largely destroyed during the Second World War, but has since been partly rebuilt.

"The Raczyński Library is a public library founded by Count Edward Raczyński erected in 1822–1828.  During the Second World War the building was demolished with explosives by the Nazi German troops and nearly all of the library's books (90%) were destroyed in the resulting fire, except for the special collections looted earlier by Nazi Germany. In 1953, the library was rebuilt and restocked. "

The Round House is from 1954, built after WWII destroyed the previous "resident".  Originally a department store, now offices, shops, and a cafe.

"The 1956 Poznań protests, also known as Poznań June, were the first of several massive protests against the communist government of the Polish People's Republic. Demonstrations by workers demanding better working conditions began on 28 June 1956 at Poznań's Cegielski Factories and were met with violent repression.

A crowd of approximately 100,000 people gathered in the city center near the local Ministry of Public Security building. About 400 tanks and 10,000 soldiers of the Polish People's Army and the Internal Security Corps under the command of the Polish-Soviet general Stanislav Poplavsky were ordered to suppress the demonstration and during the pacification fired at the protesting civilians.

The death toll is estimated from 57-100, including a 13-year-old boy, Romek Strzałkowski. Hundreds of people sustained injuries. The Poznań protests were an important milestone on the way to the Polish October and the installation of a less Soviet-controlled government."

Here is the Poznań Crosses Monument to the Victims of June 1956 (1981).

This assembly of vehicles passing by reminded me of the toy section from your local department store - a green bus, a red fire truck, and a blue police car.

"Marian Adam Rejewski (16 August 1905 – 13 February 1980) was a Polish mathematician and cryptologist who in late 1932 reconstructed the sight-unseen German military Enigma cipher machine, aided by limited documents obtained by French military intelligence. In 1929, while studying mathematics at Poznań University, Rejewski attended a secret cryptology course conducted by the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau, which he joined in September 1932. The Bureau had had no success in reading Enigma-enciphered messages and set Rejewski to work on the problem in late 1932; he deduced the machine's secret internal wiring after only a few weeks. Over the next nearly seven years, Rejewski and fellow mathematician-cryptologists Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zygalski developed and used techniques and equipment to decrypt the German machine ciphers, even as the Germans introduced modifications to their equipment and encryption procedures. Five weeks before the outbreak of World War II, the Poles, at a conference in Warsaw, shared their achievements with the French and British, thus enabling Britain to begin reading German Enigma-encrypted messages, seven years after Rejewski's original reconstruction of the machine. The intelligence that was gained by the British from Enigma decrypts formed part of what was code-named Ultra and contributed significantly to the defeat of Germany."

Here's the view from outside the lobby of our lodging - just a short walk to the old town.

Next door, a work in progress - definitely not abandoned property, development planning and construction takes some time.  It'll probably be a condo complex in a few short years.

Cool quasi-replica cars used for tours of the old town - we walked.

We continued towards the museum, seeing more good sights along the way.

The Crane is one of the defining symbols of Gdańsk, a leftover from the city’s great trading age.  First mentioned in 1367, the original structure burnt down in 1442, before being rebuilt in 1442-1444. It was used to transfer cargoes and to put up masts on ships. At one time this was the biggest working crane in the world, but it also served a defensive function as one of the city gates. It had a lifting capacity of 4 tonnes to a height of 11 meters using two huge wooden wheels with a diameter of 6 meters. These wheels were originally powered by men walking inside of them to turn the lifting mechanism. It remained a working crane until the middle of the 19th century and was 80% destroyed in 1945 in The Battle for Gdańsk.

A bronze model on the street for the blind to be able to experience it.

SS Sołdek is a retired Polish coal and ore freighter. She was the first ship built in Gdańsk after World War II (1948) and the first seagoing ship completed in Poland.

A diesel powered old sailing ship replica used for 1-hr tours.

Lift bridge lifted.

A double decker carousel - never seen one before, didn't know they are a thing.

Modern rendition of the 5-story brick house.

Finally approaching the World War II museum - the above ground portion seems to be research spaces and offices, the museum exhibits are all below ground.

The museum provides a version of Poland's experience with the war - Rick Steves said it's good, but in its development, politicization creeped in to shortchange it a bit.  For us there were too many people and the audio guide had problems in playing at the right times.  It was a decent museum, but the exhibits seemed to be trying to appeal too many kinds of visitors versus telling a consistently displayed history.

An American Sherman tank and a Norden bombsight.

The passenger carrier Wilhelm Gustloff sinking event remains by far the largest loss of life resulting from the sinking of a single vessel in maritime history.

This graph showing casualties as a percentage of the size of the country's population in this period shows Poland as experiencing the largest human toll in the war (notably mostly civilian).  I looked at other sources, and the data seems generally correct.

Russian/Soviet T-34 tank.

The tour is done - a last look of the building - see the steps down to the exhibit spaces in the reflection.

The defense of the Polish Post Office was one of the first acts of World War II in Europe. On September 1, 1939, the Invasion of Poland was initiated by Germany when the Schleswig-Holstein battleship opened fire on the Polish-controlled harbor of Gdansk.  The attack on the Polish post office followed. Polish personnel defended the building for some 15 hours against German assaults, before succumbing. This installation below is from 1979.

Lunch is served - after waiting 25 minutes for a table at this popular pirogi place (tongue twister alert, oops too late) - Tim had wild boar, and Gerri spinach and cabbage.  Very good and very freshly homemade.

And another browar (brewery) is discovered.

You can have a choice here - car-boat rentals (not amphibians), or boat-boat rentals - we passed.

Modern condos/hotels built to fit in with the old town style.  The original buildings were just ruble after WWII.

This morning we leave Warsaw and head northward again.  Here's the last look out across our lodging balcony.

It's a 3 1/2 hour drive to the Castle (and another 30 minutes afterwards to arrive at Gdansk).

Our lunch at the highway rest stop - less than 8 bucks for everything - and close to home cooking quality.

We've seen several of these wildlife overpasses from south to north Poland.

Here's a photo from the publication shown at right - wildlife do seriously use them.

We arrive at Malbork Castle.  Gerri was expecting this place to be lower key than it was, but it was crawling with tourists and we had to wait about an hour for entry (as these other people were doing as well).

The Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork is a 13th-century castle and fortress located near the town of Malbork, Poland.  It is the largest castle in the world measured by land area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It was originally constructed by the Teutonic Knights, a German Catholic religious order of crusaders.  The Order named it Marienburg in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. In 1457, during the Thirteen Years’ War, it was sold by Bohemian mercenaries to King Casimir IV of Poland in lieu of indemnities and it then served as one of several Polish royal residences and the seat of Polish offices and institutions, interrupted by several years of Swedish occupation, fulfilling this function until the First Partition of Poland in 1772.  From then on the castle was under German rule for over 170 years until 1945, albeit largely falling into disrepair as military technological advances rendered the castle a mere historical point of interest.

Near the end of WWII the advancing Soviets attempted to obliterate the castle as they saw it symbol of longstanding German domination in the region.  Since 1962 restorers have worked hard to return it to glory.

The lighter colored brick shows where repairs have been done.

We approach the entry way to the interior.

Here is some of the most recent restorations underway.

Here's how you cook for up to 3,000 knights - this is a fireplace (now missing the hearth particulars).

The region has been known as rich in amber for centuries - the castle contained a bonus mini-museum displaying the history of the amber as well as objects made from it.

Knight stuff - a ceremonial suit of armor, and a relief depicting a knight.

...a bride and groom appear.

The entire top of this tower appears to have been rebuilt since the 60's.

A fragmented crucified Jesus remounted from the ruble.

Artifacts from the restoration work.

See the grooves from horse drawn wagons in the large crosswise stone - 500 years of coming and going.

The audio guided tour worked really well.

The four amigos and Gerri hanging out in the courtyard.

As we drive away, those newlyweds are spotted again.

Onward and upward (at least northward) to Gdansk.

Today it's cool, dry, and sunny - time for some walking tours.

In the center of the city, an artificial palm tree takes the main stage.

This is city has a different look than all those we've seen so far on this trip.  By the end of WWII, 85% had been destroyed by German Nazi occupiers.  By 1957, much of it was restored, some of it accurate to what was there before, but much of it to a toned down version by Communist over-seers.  There are also now extensive and humongous modern glass and steel creations.  Traffic seems to also move about much more efficiently with modern city planning features - namely wide boulevards. 

The street below is closed off to traffic during the warmer months - very pedestrian friendly.

Even many large churches, such as this one, had been destroyed and rebuilt to their original look.

A statue of Copernicus, both here in Warsaw.

Poland's Tomb of the Unknowns - our timing is nearly perfect to watch a changing of the guards.

Poland's National Stadium, built for the 2012 World Soccer Championship (FIFA).

"Architect of the Rebuilt Warsaw"

Here's a segment of a tank tread, memorializing when a remotely piloted explosive tank was steered into the center of the above church and detonated.  The exterior reconstruction is based on the 14th-century church's presumed appearance according to an early-17th-century illustration and a 1627 drawing, not on its prewar appearance.

Marie Curie's birthplace:

After our tours, Gerri found a Chopin-in-the-park piano recital.

And now time for dinner - we found a cool food court set-up in the brewery district.