Quick Review: Ostro (Gdansk, Poland)

Any visit to Gdansk will involve some time walking along Długie Pobrzeże, browsing the shops, considering the restaurants, snapping pics of the new buildings over on Granary Island. If you enjoy the steady flow of people walking by and the buzz of being on the beaten path, you can stop at a place like Ostro and eat out front, where the experience might look like this: However, as we learned during our walkabout earlier in the day, there is a parallel universe behind the facades. A chill area of back patios illuminated by classic streetlamps and strings of warm bulb lights.

We opted for that experience. Stylishy casual. Lively, but not rowdy. Good vibes.

Service was, let's say reserved. But I think that varied by server. A few of them looked like they were finding inspiration in Robert Palmer's "Simply Irrestible" back up band. Hair pulled back. Minimal expression. And our main server maybe uttered 10 words to us throughout the course of the meal. Seemed to maintain a consistent approach with neighboring tables, so it wasn't just us. But at the end of the evening a friendly fellow delivered our check and wished us well. Not rude service. Just not warm service.

This starter was delicious. I believe it was a burrata with some olive tapenade and bread they make on premise. Great beginning.

I was intrigued by the promise of Polish red wine on the menu.

I do not have the most discriminating palate for wine, but I remember it being tasty enough.

Our choice of pizza was not as successful. It sounded great on paper. Some kind of cheese, bit of ham (I think), and pistachios (which is a pretty big thing in Poland). Taste was good. Dough was nice. But the 'cheese' was so fresh and watery that it turned the middle of the pie into a soup. Couldn't get through the whole thing. Which was fine since we weren't starving as we housed the starter dish. But there would be no glorious next-morning-pizza for breakfast.

Overall a strong recommend for the experience. Nice atmosphere. Looked like a great selection of craft beers if you're not convinced by the Polish wines. Just be careful with your pizza selection. Wrong cheese can sink the deal.

Visiting Malbork Castle, Part II: The visit

After my approach I got to Malbork Castle around 8:45am. It opens at 9. I was the first one waiting outside the ticket office and I was feeling good. For about 5 minutes. Then maybe two classrooms worth of elementary school students showed up. Couple teachers / chaperones milling about. This ticket situation could get sticky at the open. I decide to pull out my phone and see if I can't snag a ticket online. Indeed, I could. Feeling good again. Just about 9am so I stroll up the hill toward the entry to the castle compound. Maybe a couple / few hundred meters. I find the kind folks manning the entrance, show them my ticket. Negged. What? You need the headphones for the self-guided tour. Obligatory? Obligatory. I need to go back? Yes, I need to go back. Ugh. Schlep back to the ticket office and am staring at 40 little kids plus the Spanish seniors group who showed up after I left. All of them now around the entrance. Fortunately some nice woman saw me straining my neck trying to figure out where to get the headphones. She explained I can sail past everyone waiting to get tickets and head over to an ancillary section of the entry zone to get my headphones. Nice. Back up to the castle.

Within the first few minutes it was clear why the headphones are obligatory. No way to just meander around this place and have any clue where you are. It's massive. And the whole thing is not open, so you do need to follow a sequence and figure out how to navigate it. Prior to this Poland trip I had never used the self-guided headphones for any sight. But we used them at Wawel Castle in Krakow, and they were handy again here in Malbork. I'm now a fan.
On the way up you start by seeing this image illustrating just how damaged the castle was during WWII.

Then you round a corner and ultimately find the entrance.

I snapped 50+ pics during my tour of the castle. Won't include them all here. Just some of my favorites. Starting with a crowd pleaser in most castles, the weapons.

Some cool scenery shots ...

The kitchen ...

Miscellaneous interior shots ...

An impressive stained glass exhibit ...

And lastly a little wander round the back shot before leaving ...

I raced through my visit a bit, not wanting to miss my train back to Gdansk. I maybe pushed it too quickly and found myself with extra time and a phone battery lower than I'd like. So I camped out at McDonald's with a coffee and breakfast sandwich. As far as McDonald's goes, this was pretty pleasant.

Risked my battery for a couple shots of the lovely train station, then was on my way back to Gdansk.

Want more Malbork Castle details? I found this video useful before my visit. Not a fan of the corny YouTube still shot pose. But the actual content was decent. She is a Ukraine transplant and has a number of good Poland videos on her channel.

Visiting Malbork Castle (Poland), Part I: The approach

I gave Judy a morning off from the sightseeing this day (May 27) and ventured off to Malbork Castle on a solo DIY mission. It's about 30 minutes by train. By this time in the trip I was very comfortable with the Koleo site and app for managing my tickets. So off I went. Got on the 7:52 train out of Gdansk with a gameplan of being done with everything and back in Gdansk by noon.

The castle is a good 20-minute walk from the train station.

First maybe 5-6 minutes of that is pretty generic fringe suburb scenery. There's this manufacturing plant across from train station. Think it's this place (well reviewed, btw).

Then you make your way across the roundabout.

It gets somewhat more interesting as you enter the center of town via its main drag (Tadeusza Kosciuszki). I was here at 8:30 am on a Tuesday, so not a lot going on. But a cute stretch of donut shops, a cafe, a bakery, as well as general things people need day-to-day, such as a pharmacy, a butcher, etc.

I wouldn't say that you need to allocate extra time to soak in the charms of downtown Malbork. But if you find yourself with extra time, there a few places to pop into.

Further west along the main drag you pull up on the statue for good king Kazimierz and it becomes clear you're on the right track to the castle.

When you hit this pizza chalet, bang a soft left and you're right there.