I know what you're thinking. "More ice cream?" Why, yes. What else could quiet the rumble in my tummy the same way as a cold, swirly tower of deliciousness? Nothing.
You see, we had just been privy to a two hour tour of Malbork castle, a beautiful castle from the time of the Teutonic Knights.
It was HUGE! We ran through it in 2 hours, and we still didn't see it all. By the end of the tour, we had definitely worked up an appetite.
And although it's always gratifying to savor some lody, we were especially grateful to have some fortifications for the three hour bus ride that lay ahead of us. If not for the ice cream, who knows what would have happened on that long of a ride?!
At the end of our long ride, we arrived in Torun, birthplace of Copernicus. We were quickly ushered inside of a restaurant for our 3pm lunch. Let's just say that the table was rather quiet this afternoon, as 15 hungry people waited to be fed.
The first course was a mystery soup!
We were told it was a chicken soup. I was suspicious. At the bottom of the bowl were three meat-filled dumplings. Perhaps there was chicken in there? I took a bite and found something crunchy in my mouth. Meh, maybe not.
But never fear, there was more food on the way!
Like this assortment of...gosh. I'm not even sure what to call these as a group. Salads, maybe? The middle one was shredded carrot. The green one (to the right of the carrots) was scallion, and the white one was cabbage. All of them were tossed in different dressings. None of them were particularly appetizing. (Though many at the table would disagree with me.)
At this point in the meal I was feeling like the picky eater of the group. I wouldn't eat the soup, I didn't like the salad assortments, and my meal would have to be changed once more because, you guessed it, the original selection was pork.
When the waitress came around to begin the serving process, she ladled a few spoonfuls of noodles, that looked surprisingly like speatezel, onto everyone's plates. Everyone except those of us not eating pork, of course.
Rather confused by this, I waited as pineapple pork in brown sauce was spooned onto the plates of my traveling companions. (I was beginning to notice a brown sauce theme...) And then, the unthinkable happened. The waitress returned with french fries as the side for the non-pork eaters.
French fries... really? Where did the noodles go? On a recommendation from one of the women in the group, I asked for the noodles before the waitress could douse those flash-frozen-then-deep-fried sticks of potato over my plate. It's not that I dislike french fries. I love a good fry. But why should the non-pork eaters get stuck with the boring stuff? What happened to experiencing a taste of Poland at every meal?
In the end, all that trouble really wasn't worth it. The noodles were rather bland, and the chicken we received. Well...
The shape underneath the pineapple and lettuce leaf (what was that about?) was a deep fried piece of chicken that had been rolled around a tablespoon of butter. When you cut into the chicken for the first time...Surprise! The butter gushed out creating a yellow pool on your plate.
Despite my slight disgust at the thought of all of that butter soaking inside of the chicken, it made a nice little sauce for the noodles. So it wasn't all bad.
This was the worst meal so far. But, you win some, you lose some. And at least I had the memory of the morning's lody to keep me upbeat.
Before, I mentioned that we were lunching in Torun. Since this is a food blog, it's worth noting that Torun is known for its gingerbread. I was particularly excited to try this gingerbread, as I had just eaten German gingerbread a few weeks earlier, and was interested in comparing and contrasting the two desserts.
At first sight, the Torun gingerbread appeared to be much more similar to the kind of gingerbread we make at home. The taste, however, was still very different. The Polish gingerbread had a strong ginger taste. It had a thicker mouth feel than what you may be used to, and many were filled with fruit fillings.
It's so interesting to taste the way a different country makes a food you think you know. We enjoyed it so much that we bought more to take with us. (This definitely came in handy on future long bus rides.)
After our brief (and by brief, I mean 45 minute brief) stop in Torun, we loaded the bus for Poznan. Thankfully, this would be our final destination for the day. Unfortunately, we wouldn't arrive until after 8:30 at night!
Since we needed to eat dinner that evening, Nina, Poppy, Mom, and I walked across the street to the huge mall in search of a place to find dinner. Little did we know that most places closed at 9.
After traipsing up and down the semi-deserted hallways of the mall, we ended up in a large outdoor courtyard, where, to our delight, they actually wanted to serve us!
We seated ourselves inside, gazing up at the whimsical decorations.
Mom and I both ordered the smoothie. It was the first time I'd seen one on a menu, so I was not going to pass that up.
This would have been awesome if it had been cold. One of the things I've discovered about Europe is that they haven't jumped on the ice cube band wagon. I really shouldn't have been surprised, but the long hours on the bus were eating away at my concentration and I didn't give it a second thought until I had a luke-warm, yogurt-based smoothie in front of me.
I drank it anyway, making a mental note about this no-ice cube conundrum.
Dinner was a much more positive experience! I ordered something called a "toastie." I had never heard of a toastie before, nor did I know what exactly to expect. But when it arrived, I found it to be a panini!
This was fabulous. Maybe I was just tired, or maybe it was really that good, but whatever the reason, I scarfed this toastie right down. It was basically some kind of deliciously toasted (hence the name) bread, filled with tomato, mozzarella, and pesto and served with a side salad. (But who wants a salad when you have a toastie on your plate?!?)
I was so happy to have food, even if it was after 9pm by the time we were served. And we didn't stop there.
Feast your eyes on this!
Okay, I'll admit it. This is not the greatest picture. And you're probably wondering what's in that mini glass. Allow me to explain.
The whipped cream topped thing is a sundae with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and hazelnuts. The little glass is filled with some sort of almond liquor that we requested be brought on the side.
Mom and I had planned on sharing one but somehow that wish was lost in translation, and we both received our own. Oh well. If double ice cream is the worst thing that happened because of our lack of Polish skills I'm okay with that! We just had to eat more ice cream than we'd planned. It's tough being on vacation. :)
Our meal was awesome, and we would all recommend eating at Weranda to anyone visiting Poznan. It's a chain restaurant, but the food is so interesting and delicious that you'd never know.
Wearily rising from our chairs, we paid the bill and made our way back to the hotel for a well-deserved night's sleep.
The next day it was up and onward to Wroclaw!
The whipped cream topped thing is a sundae with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and hazelnuts. The little glass is filled with some sort of almond liquor that we requested be brought on the side.
Mom and I had planned on sharing one but somehow that wish was lost in translation, and we both received our own. Oh well. If double ice cream is the worst thing that happened because of our lack of Polish skills I'm okay with that! We just had to eat more ice cream than we'd planned. It's tough being on vacation. :)
Our meal was awesome, and we would all recommend eating at Weranda to anyone visiting Poznan. It's a chain restaurant, but the food is so interesting and delicious that you'd never know.
Wearily rising from our chairs, we paid the bill and made our way back to the hotel for a well-deserved night's sleep.
The next day it was up and onward to Wroclaw!
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