The Land of Gingerbread and Copernicus

This weekend, Anna and I bravely boarded the train and left Warsaw, heading for Torun, birthplace of Copernicus. The Poles say that "he stopped the sun and started the earth moving." His home also happens to be a major hub for gingerbread, which is also another great excuse to visit Torun. The statue above is the man himself, in front of the Torun's town hall.

So enough about Copernicus...let's discuss the gingerbread. They had three entire stores (on the same block) dedicated to gingerbread. Jam filled gingerbread, soft gingerbread, blond gingerbread, chocolate covered gingerbread, decorative gingerbread...you name it, Torun has it, and I bought it!

Torun was also the site of an outpost castle for the Teutonic Knights. We visited what was left of the castle, which isn't very much. I have three theories for why the castle was torn down in the 1400s:

1. It was an ugly castle, with outdated plumbing from 1200. Rather then remodel, the Knights thought it would be cheaper just to tear it down and build a nice modern dark ages castle.

2. They needed the bricks and stone for more gingerbread ovens.

3. Or...apparently the only option based on historical facts...the Teutonic Knights were Monks that didn't know how to have a good time, were a little too strict with the local peasants (you know...curfew, and no gingerbread after 9pm), so the peasants packed them up, and had themselves a nice pagan bonfire with what was left of the castle.

I continue to hold out hope that scientific and historical evidence will one day point to option number 2.