/bytuf/; Kashubian: Betowo
Quick intro
The place I grew up in is Bytow, a small town of roughly 15 000 inhabitants situated in the Kaszuby region in the North of Poland. Bytow received its municipal rights as far back as in 1346 and has continued celebrating this event ever since in the annual Days of Bytow (Dni Bytowa) festival. The celebration goes on for a couple of days in July and invariantly features numerous concerts of more or less well-known bands, shows by more or less funny Polish stand-up comedians and folk dance groups, as well as seemingly real-life tournaments of knights which take place in our gothic castle, the second biggest castle in Poland (anyone from Chojnice try to challenge me on this statement and you're doomed to fail!). It was built on a hill by the Teutonic Knights in 1398-1405 and was surrounded by a moat. Although the moat is no longer there, the quasi-gorge that remains was converted into a park. Just look how marvelous it all is:
Needless to say, the castle no longer constitutes a border fort. This doesn't mean, however, that public life ceased to revolve around it. In fact, the castle houses the public library, a Kashubian museum brimming with centuries-old exhibits of folk culture, a restaurant, a hotel, and a pub located in the depths of eerie dungeons. As with all castles, no matter how old they might be, a square building with towers cannot flaunt the status of a castle without having a decent ghost haunting its walls. Indeed, another remnant of the Teutonic era in Bytow is allegedly a white ghost supposedly visible at night on the walls of the castle, grabbing loose stones from the castle's walls and throwing them into the moat. Interestingly though, if you look hard enough you will see that parts of the walls are in fact chipped...
The outdoors
To those familiar with Kaszuby the name incites images of a picturesque landscape, dotted with clear lakes and swathed in lavish greenery. Bytow is, indeed, a perfect summer vacation destination for those who like the outdoors: there is a number of jogging and biking trails ranging from 2 to 8 km in length and leading through winding paths along rivers, lakes, swamps and elevated terrain. Since ecotourism is quite well developed in the area, those who wish to have a taste of agricultural life and add a local flavor to their visit are more than welcome to do so.
