Christmas trip review

Christmas 2014

As I had mentioned earlier, we booked a Christmas package at the Hotel Krasicki in Lidzbark Warminski.  Lidzbark Warminski is a small town located about 120 kilometerrs northeast of Malbork and about 40 kilometers from the border with the Russian province of Kaliningrad..  It took us about 2 hours to drive there since the roads are all two land and some stretches are quite narrow.  But, it was enjoyable for me.  I was not driving and it was through an area I had not yet seen.  Of course, most of Poland is still new and exciting for me to see.

On the road:

Narrow road:

We left on the afternoon of Tuesday, Dec. 23rd and arrived about 3 p.m. and met up with Alicja’s parents and brother.  The hotel is located in a part of the building that was originally the Warmian Bishop’s castle. It was built between 1350 and 1401.   A large part of it is now a museum.and features work by Nicolaus Coperrnicus who lived there several years.

The hotel has been built in part of the old castle and some rooms feature original walls.  Of course, the rooms all have modern amenities.

Walkway across the river with hotel entrance in background.

The hotel itself is quite nice.  Our room was a king on the second floor.  Here, they call it the first floor because they consider the ground floor to be just the “ground floor.”  Regardless, the room was nice with a king bed, small fridge - filled with drinks, juices, beers, snacks, etc.for sale.  We did not buy any but did use some space for our stuff.  It had an electric tea pot for tea or instant coffee and bottles of water were complimentary each day.  One very nice little feature was the heated towel rack in the bathroom.  I rather liked that.  The hotel has an indoor pool with hot tub and a spa.  It has a very nice restaurant, a bar and a nightclub with DJ and a dance floor.

On Wednesday, we walked into town to just look around and pick up a few necessities.

Our package included breakfast each day, dinner each evening and a Christmas day cookout in the castle square.  Christmas Eve dinner in Poland is a very big deal and the hotel provided a very sumptuous meal.  This featured carp of course, since carp is a traditional dish on Christmas eve.  But, there was also a huge selection of soups, salads and other foods.  The food was wonderful and the dinner ended with a visit from Santa Claus.

The Christmas afternoon cookout was out in the square, in the cold.  But, it was very good.  They built a fire to roast kielbase for those who wished; or, cooked them on a grill for the others.  They also provided hot tea, coffee and hot, spiced wine which was very, very good.  It was a fun little event.

        Dinner on Christmas Day featured a soup called flaki.  Tripe soup.  Made with cow's stomach.  Interesting.

In Poland, Christmas is a two-day holiday which includes the 26th.  That was Friday which was also our day to go home.  After breakfast, lounging and lunch, we checked out and headed back to Malbork.  Although we had not had any precipitation in Lidzbark Warminski, we did run into areas that had had snow.  Including here in Malbork.