We traveled to...Torun, Poland

Torun's claim to fame is it is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicholas Copernicus...and also it is known as the "gingerbread capital of the world".

We took a very crowded train ride to Torun, Poland...about 3 hours northwest of Warsaw on Friday evening. We checked into our hotel and walked 5-10 min. away into their Old Town. It was a brisk evening...but we got an idea of what we wanted to do on Saturday. In addition we ate dinner at a small little restaurant....and had some amazing soup at 9:30pm.

Saturday morning we began exploring Torun...We came upon "The Leaning Tower"...it used to be part of the city wall, a prison, and later a home. The ground shifted and thus the leaning tower.

When you try and stand against it with you back feet against the wall you automatically fall forward. Also...when you stand and your head touches the wall your feet can not be against it.

We found one of the many "gingerbread shops" that sell a variety of different types of gingerbread treats...we found some we like and enjoyed the sweet smell inside the shops!

We next found one of the Gingerbread Factories in the city. Torun is known for its gingerbread...and we found a place where you can learn how it is made.

We listened and then got to create some decorative gingerbread pieces.

Mark is rolling out the gingerbread dough and getting ready to select his cookie cutter shape. Mark and my cookies are on the bottom row, far left side. They were to bake for about 10 minutes or to the equivalent of saying "50 Hail Marys"...according to medieval legend. Torun's gingerbread "pierniki" is a Polish gingerbread that has been made since the Middle Ages...key ingredients: honey, wheat flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and....black pepper!

These gingerbread cookies are decorative and not for eating. Unfortunately some one else picked up the cookie I created...but here is one similar. It was a fun activity and glad to see how it is created. We soon found numerous shops that sold a variety of gingerbread creations to eat...they were yummy treats!

Torun is one of the most beautiful and older cities in Poland ...we came to see the old, but also found the new...as in this McDonald's Cafe.

Just around the corner is one of the many very old buildings...this is "The Star"residence. Once a home in the mid 1400s...now it is home to art and museum collections.

The cobblestone streets are everywhere...once in a while we could find some modern ones where walking was a bit easier. The streets are beautiful though and adds to the charm of the area.

Next to the Vistula River are a number of walls and gates to the city. We soon found the area of the ruins to the Teutonic Knights Castle.

We saw the grounds of the Teutonic Knights ' Castle established after 1236...the

castle was the headquarters of a Commander and one of the most important convents for the Teutonic Knights.

Can you believe these ruins are close to over 800 years old?

The castle was built in the 13th c. but was destroyed in 1454 when the people of Torun rose up in rebellion against the knights.

We found this fountain and statue..."Rafter's Fountain"...legend says that once there was an over abundance of frogs in Torun... a rafter played his fiddle and frogs soon left the area. The citizens were most appreciative... We had seen a number of "frogs" in the area...statues, souvenirs, and pictures. I wondered if there was some significance to "frogs" in Torun...we found our answer.

Torun is the birthplace of the scientist/astronomer Nicolas Copernicus...and his statue is right in the middle of the Old Town...next to the Town Hall.

We decided to go to the top of the Town Hall tower...above you can see the area we climbed to...right above the clock tower.

We began our climb...the first of "175 steps" to the top. Today (though I've climbed stairs daily for 4 months) my legs are feeling the affects from this climb. I told Mark if I ever express the desire to climb to the top of something to look at the view...please remind me of my "whining"...!

But...we soon saw that the climb was worth every step and effort as the view was so beautiful in any direction we looked.

This is the Church of the Holy Ghost...built in the 18th century.

Mark begins the climb down...at times the steps were quite steep...and going down was much easier than climbing up.

We toured the birthplace of Nicolas Copernicus....housed inside are many artifacts from this time period and many original pieces over 500 years old!

While leaving the town we came to this little brick wall with small medieval characters posted around it...charming for this little town. I'm munching on a chocolate covered gingerbread heart...Yum!

Here we are waiting at the train station...it took the taxi less than 10 minutes to get us to the train station so we had plenty of time just to wait before leaving to come home to Warsaw.

Mark even got a "great nap" before we boarded our train...the ride home was smooth and quiet...and much less crowded than on Friday night.

We enjoyed our almost 24 hour stay in this very old city...it has charm and a great history and we were so glad to we could enjoy, learn and spend the day in Torun, Poland!