Day 15: Zakopane

This morning we walked to the main street to have breakfast. This picture shows how this street, called ul. Krupówki, looks during the day.

This is an example of the typical architecture found in the mountain region. 

After breakfast, we walked towards the mountains, to Biała Dolina (White Valley). Zakopane is also known for its’ ski jumping, and there is a big jump at the base of the mountains.

We entered into the Tatra National Park, and followed a beautiful trail along a stream. 

Kuba had fun playing with the waterproof feature of my camera… these pictures and video are taken underwater!

After spending a couple of hours in the valley, we returned to Zakopane, and caught a bus to Kraków. We had dinner in Kraków before taking our overnight train to Vienna. Stay tuned for our Vienna pictures!

xo

Day 14: Zakopane and Slovakia (sort of...)

Today we went up into the Tatra mountains by Zakopane. This area is a magnet for outdoor enthusiasts year round with skiing in the winter, and hiking in the summer. There are countless routes among the valleys and mountain tops and it would take a lifetime to see them all. Because we were only here for two and a half days, we opted to take the cable car up to Kasprowy Wierch (Kasprowy Peak) so we could take in the view of the Tatra mountains from the top.

The trip to the top lasted about 10 minutes with a transfer to a second cable car half way up the mountain range. Upon reaching the top, we were 1959 meters above sea level!

Though it's often windy and cold at the top, today was absolutely gorgeous with the warm sun, and not too much wind. Because it was still pretty early in the season, there were lots of snow caps left, although most were just slush barely deep enough to cover the ground. There are very narrow footpaths that run along the ridges, joining the different peaks. 

The Western Tatras mountain range makes up part of Poland's southern border with Slovakia. Because both countries are in the Schengen zone, the border is nothing more than an uncontrolled series of markers. It's therefore possible to hike back an forth between the two countries to experience both the Polish Tatras and the Slovak Tatras.

Down in the valleys, among the Tatra foothills, you can see the many small towns and villages of southern Poland. Among the largest is Zakopane, where we stayed. The view from the top was amazing, with the snowy mountains and rocky peaks. There isn't much to write about this next set of pictures other than that we couldn't have asked for a better day on top!

 

It's best not to lose one's footing when hiking or climbing the peaks since there is very little by way of protection and it's a looooong way down.

After a few short hours at the top it was time for our cable car ride down.

We returned to Zakopane in the afternoon, and walked around the little village. This is a view of the main pedestrian street at night.

We had dinner at another restaurant that served traditional polish mountain food. Once again, a band of musicians played folk music while we ate.

Tomorrow we leave Zakopane and return to Kraków for a couple of hours, before leaving for Vienna!

xo

Day 13: Kraków and Zakopane

Today was a very busy day. This morning we went back to Wawel Hill to visit the Royal Apartments and State Rooms, in the castle. This was the section that was closed on our previous visit. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any pictures inside. Below is a panorama taken inside the fortifications, for some reason this photo turned out blue.

Touring the castle took about 3 hours, which included a guided tour of the Royal Apartments, and individual tours of the State Rooms, Treasury, and Armory. The rooms are all restored to different time periods during which the castle was occupied. The seat of the polish kings moved from Kraków to Warsaw in 1596, when the Wawel castle was destroyed by a fire.

This afternoon, we took the bus to Zakopane, which is in the south of Poland, near the Slovakian border, at the base of the Tatry Mountains. Our bus ride took us through the foothills, with many beautiful views such as the one seen below, of a village in a valley.

This was our first view of the mountains!

And this is the view from the balcony of the chalet we’re staying at.

For dinner, we went to a small restaurant on the main street in Zakopane. During dinner there was a group playing traditional highland music… and a very cute little dancer!