Parthemores in Poland

One of the best reasons to travel around Europe in the winter is the lack of other tourists.*  We took advantage of this a few times on our way back from Slovakia. 

*The worst reason is the roads.

During our drive, the road passed right by this castle.

I think Eric’s exact quote was, “Pull over!  We need to go check that out!”  It turned out to be Orava Castle. 

Thankfully, they were open and it was the two of us and our own tour guide, who spoke excellent English.  It was our own private tour!  She said that in the summer, they have 1000-2000 visitors a day, with tours starting every 10 minutes. 

Note the lack of a line.

This castle was among the coolest we’ve visited, due to its interesting combination of displays, architecture, and general awesomeness.  All this, perched on a super high rock outcropping!

They had the requisite display of fearsome medieval weapons:

No castle would be complete without a torture room, complete with nifty tools, a noose, and a severed head:

The areas of the castle restored to show how the inhabitants lived showcased their impressive belongings:

The museum sections date from the 1950’s and hold exhibits about the local wildlife, traditional dress, and what life was like for the villagers.  The weirdest part was the two-headed calf.

Random.

The weather that day was spectacular, so we got lots of great photos of the views from the castle.

(The building to the right is the chapel, which we didn’t get to see.  But apparently they still hold weddings there.  Awesome!)

As you can see, this was built right into the rock. 

Back to work, peasants!

Our next stop of the day was back in Poland, the town of Żywiec.  A couple years ago, both of us read the book Know It All, in which the author, A.J. Jacobs, chronicles his endeavor to read the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica.  He repeatedly mentions Żywiec, as it is the final entry and the culmination of 33,000 pages of reading.  That “zyw” combo is tough to beat. 

Everyone who has been to Poland, however, will recognize the name – ”Żywiec” is the most popular brand of Polish beer.  So of course we went on the brewery tour. 

The whole museum is in the basement of the old brewery, where they used to store the beer for lagering.  The tour was in Polish, but thanks to Eric’s interest in homebrewing, we know many of the brewing-related words. 

Unlike most Polish museums, the Żywiec museum encourages interactivity.  Here is an actual quote from the museum brochure:  “The museum in no way resembles typical high-end exhibitions with security guards and ladies keeping an eye on the rooms…You do not have to wear museum slippers.”  Seriously, most museums here have these things. 

The goal of the museum was to show the history of the brewery and the beer.  Unlike American breweries, which only had to struggle through Prohibition, the Żywiec brewery was founded under Austrian rule, and then survived WWI, the establishment of an independent Poland, Nazi occupation, and Communist nationalization.  They had a bunch of historical re-creations of pubs during several of these periods.  There was even a re-creation of the aerial bombing raids in 1939.  Because that’s fun.

The oddest part was one of the groups on our tour.  There were about 10 kids, around 12-15 years old, along with their chaperone, this older guy who struggled to keep them in line.  He totally earned that free beer at the end of the tour. 

Up next:  The religious center of Poland and the biggest mall in Europe (not in the same place.)