Day 4: Zakopane, Poland

So today involved our trek to the moutain region in the south of Poland to a town called Zakopane, which is located at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. Zakopane is a popular Polish getaway during the winter ski season, and also attracts a decent number of people who come for hiking and outdoor activities in the summer. Zakopane has the highest elevation of any town in Poland and is approximately 5 miles from the Slovakia border to the south. Armed with our bus tickets, we left our hotel in Kraków at 8:15am and easily found the terminal to catch our bus since it was directly next to the train station where we arrived two days ago. Along the walk to the station we bought two pieces of poppyseed cake for the ride and ensured getting a front row seat due to our slightly early arrival. As we walked I did notice that my memory of the number of "bakeries" from two days ago was skewed by the smell of baked goods. Although nearly every shop sells baked goods, there was only one actual oven during our route. Where all this poppyseed cake comes from is a complete mystery at this point.


[Me in front of the Kraków Główny train station]

Anyway, the bus ride went smoothly and we got to see more of the Polish countryside as well as mountain views along the roads up towards Zakopane. Ilana is great at taking good pictures while the bus is moving. Here are some to prove it.


[View of the Polish countryside from the bus]


[View of a random river from the bus]


[Ilana really likes this pictures she took. The cow seems to have casually stuck his head into the side of this picture.]

When we arrived, We decided to walk the 20 minutes from the bus station to the hotel to get a quick feel for the town and see what was going on. The hotel we chose is situated as close to the hiking trails as possible, so we could easily hit the trails and get some fresh air and scenery, but is a short 10-15 minutes walk to the center of town. The threat of rain could be seen way up in the peaks of the mountains but was seemingly partly sunny for the near future. But before we could get walking we needed a meal first. Ilana scoped out the hotel quickly and found this awesome rooftop restaurant in our hotel that had great views and food. We ordered a plate of various pierogies, along with this local fried cheese (called oscypek) that had onions, bacon, and cranberries, and lastly a serving of potato pancakes with beef goulash. Maybe we were starving, maybe the food was great, or both, but we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch and the view before our hike.


[Our lunch spot on top of the Belvedere Hotel]

After lunch we changed and hit the closest trail for a two hour hike along a stream that ended in a small waterfall. There were more difficult trails available but considering time and energy we thought it best to check out the easy trail from our hotel and get a nice look around. Especially since we are planning to catch the cable car in the morning to see some of the more spectacular views of the mountains.


[Ilana in front our hotel as we set off for the nearest trail]


[Ilana on a small bridge along the trail]


[We off-roaded a bit to take this picture right along the edge of the river]

And what do you think we did when we got back? That's right, you guessed it. We hit the hotel's water slide!!!


[Me on the water slide. I assure you there were no weight or age restrictions for the slide.]

After some swimming and checking out the numerous saunas, we got changed and hit the town for a drink and dinner. It turns out that there is a bicycle race going on this week called the Tour de Pologne and today's stage is being held in Zakopane. We must of just missed the finish as the crowds were drifting away as we reached the center of town.


[The Tour de Pologne track at the 1km marker]


[I spotted this three player chess set in a store window. This store also seemed to be selling Pope John Paul II memorabilia too. I'm not sure what this store was all about.]


[A view of the mountains from the center of town]


[The main pedestrian strip, named Krupówki, in the center of town]

After a quick drink and an appetizer we hit a restaurant called Mała Szwajcaria (Little Switzerland), which is just up the block from Krupówki, for some fondue and raclette. This turned out to be a great break from the Polish fare we have been having so far. Apparently this might have been my first fondue.


[Mała Szwajcaria restauracja]

We are thrilled that the weather today was as great as it was since there was a 70% chance of rain and we had mostly sunny skies all day. The hike was great, the mountains and views are fantastic, and we are really enjoying the food and atmosphere here. We already wish we booked more time in Zakopane.

FJJ