A 30-minute train ride from Gdansk train station took me to Malbork. I was all excited to see the greatest Gothic brick castle! I had already bought my entry ticket and I was among the first few tourists to enter the castle as soon as it opened its doors at 9am. So early you might think! But I like to beat the bus loads that come later in the day and most often people take it easy on a vacation and I like to cash in on that to get the place I am visiting all to myself for as long as I can 🙂
After meandering around the castle listening intently to the descriptions offered by the audio guide for three and a half hours, I was ravenous! In my head I had already decided to walk back into the cute little Malbork town centre for lunch and then head back to the prettiest ever Malbork Train station for the journey back to Gdansk.
I was in the mood for some pizza and found myself in a little Pizzeria.
Just as I was digging into a slice of pizza, a burly man who entered the Pizzeria says ‘Hola’. I didn’t expect that in Poland….but then this world is full of surprises, isn’t it. So I respond with a ‘Hola’.
Burly Man – ¿Cómo estás?
Me – Bien. ¿y tú?
BM – Yo también. ¿De dónde eres?
Me – Soy de India
BM (now looking confused) – ¿de India? ¿No eres latina?
Me (now bemused, and almost at the end of all the Spanish I could come up with given that I do not have anyone to use the language with!) – No. I think you are mistaken. I am from India.
BM (shifts to English) – Haha! You look South American! That is why I spoke in Spanish
Me (all surprised) – Really?
We then chat for a bit about my trip and his Spanish connection (he had worked in South America for a couple of years).
And then he left me with my pizza and I devoured it in no time and walked to the train station which is so so pretty! My phone camera pictures do not do justice to its beauty. But here are a few:

And so, there I was, an Indian, in Poland, speaking Spanish with a Polish. Can it get any weirder?!?!?! 

More stories from Poland here.