October - Polish Trip, Part 2

After Jaslo, we headed south for Zakopane, which is in a big valley near the Tatra Mountains. It is a popular center for mountaineering and skiing. It is also an historic home to the Gorales, a highlander ethnic group living in southern Poland and known for their traditional wooden houses (as opposed to most of Poland, which is filled with brick or cement homes.) Zakopane was a real surprise as I basically picked it out of the guide book at random, and it was our favorite part of the trip. Very charming town, could have been ultra touristy but felt authentic. We spent a couple of days in a nice two-bedroom hostel and just hung out with the kids. We hiked up to the mountain ski-resort area, enjoyed the downtown scenery, and ate an authentic Gorale meal (meaning, a huge platter of meats and potatoes, downed with a side of beer) on our last night. (I will also post a video of the traditional live music we heard on our last night, when I can fix the uploading difficulties I've been having.)

Traditional costumes.












Traditional wooden buildings.

Left: As we hiked up the mountain pass, down came a nun (followed later by some monks.) We were puzzled, but further up, we came across a beautiful monastery set in the middle of the woods. What a setting!

We took a bus back to Krakow, where we spent one more night before flying home. The weather had greatly improved, so we spent time in the square, which was a completely different experience than the week before: It was filled with people, people walking, talking, sitting at the outdoor seating of the bars and restaurants. There were street performers of all sorts (the kids were facinated by a fire-eating troupe.) At Emma's request, we took a horse and carriage ride around Krakow, a real treat, it turns out. It was a beautiful, clear night, and we were cozy under fleece blankets in a leather-trimmed carriage. (A funny side note is the group of extremely drunken young men who were everywhere in the square, wearing large colorful blankets with pictures of naked women and sports team emblems, yelling, chanting, singing and dropping to the ground for push-ups...Erik was finally able to ask someone about them. It turns out, they had recently finished their mandatory tour of duty in the Polish army so were celebrating by wreaking havoc in Krakow.)

We returned safely home, exhausted but glad we went.