Malbork Castle

Things have been a little crazy around here lately, and I sometimes feel a bit like Brutus when she chases her tail. (and, for the record, I had never actually seen a dog do that until I met Brutus. She's special) =) So, yesterday, we decided to take a little break and head out of town for the day. Amber, Patsy, Alethea and I jumped on a train Saturday morning and, about two hours later, arrived in the town of Malbork to see the Malbork castle. The castle was built in the late 13th century and was the fortress for the Teutonic Knights...and, if you know what that really means, feel free to let me know! I do know that they were a Germanic Roman Catholic order of Knights that were responsible for many of the crusades in the Middle Ages and had a strong presence and influence here in Poland(thank you Wikipedia!).
Anyhoo...we spent a few hours walking through the castle and checking things out. The things I noticed were that it was COLD and dark! I have no idea how people back in the day survived the harsh Polish winters without adequate heat and inside a drafty, dark, damp castle. I was also amazed at how large this castle is. There are no pictures to effectively capture the enormisity of this place! However, I tried to capture a few to share with you.

This is a drawbridge over a moat.
This picture is what the castle looked like after WW2, when the Germans retreated and pretty much destroyed most of Poland. Many of the places were able to be rebuilt based on old paintings and photos, but you can still tell where newer brick and materials were used to repair the damage.
Ok, so I don't think the Teutonic Knights drove Dodge Ram trucks, but this was as exciting for me to see as an 800 year old castle. We don't see many trucks around here and it was a sight for sore eyes =)
This is by no means a full shot of the side wall of the castle, but all that would fit in the picture!