Sunday. It’s our last full day in Zakopane. The sun shines in the windows very bright. It should be a great day to go out and enjoy the area. We just haven’t decided what we want to do yet. After breakfast, we sat down with the maps and Marcin’s recommendation for the overhead tram to the top of the mountains. Our final decision was to hike in the Tatra National Park.
We gathered our stuff and made for the door. Our walk would take down a side street and over to the main road that runs up to the park. From there, we would hike one trail to the Strazyska Polana (or glade) and then take another trail up to a waterfall. This would take us about 3 hours total.
We could tell we were heading up to the park. The streets here were gradually inclined upwards. There was a lot of tourist stuff back in through these streets. We saw a lot of willas and pokoje (room) for rent signs. Most of them were lovely wooden structures in the Highland style. I recognized a lot of the names for my search for a place to stay.
Once we got to the entrance of the park, there were outdoor grills and places to eat. We thought this would be a good spot for lunch after the hike. There were lots of people milling about and moving to the gate. We paid our entrance fee and moved up the trail.
Most of the trail was a gradual incline that kept rising upward. We passed the Ranger’s house by the first creek. Wouldn’t this be a lovely place to live? Rich agreed, but one day that wooden bridge would fall. It was in pretty bad shape right now.
As the trail climbed, it became more and more cobblestoned. The rough rocks sticking up through the dirt were becoming more and more smoothed off by the feet kicking over them. Halfway up the mountain, a small stream of water took over the path as it found the easiest way down to join the stream on one side of the path. The water made the trail muddy in some places and a little bit slippery.
The last push up the mountain left us at the Polana. It was a rest area where you could buy food and drinks. Most everyone had packed their own items in and were stopping to enjoy them before moving on.
On the way up, we had seen some serious hikers with walking sticks, packs, and well made hiking shoes. Then you had the casual hiker wearing sandals and shorts. We fell more in the casual hikers because of our tennis shoes. We had wanted to pack in our hiking equipment, but decided not to and save a little money. It would have come in handy again today for this hike.
On the way up, we passed a young girl of about 4 or 5. She is doing a good job of moving up the mountain with her hiking stick. I remember when Rick was that age and you had to keep prodding him to hike a few more steps. It’s funny, because this young girl is talking almost the entire way. We see her at different points on the hike and she is still talking. She’s going to be very tired by the end.
After resting up and catching our breath, we moved on up the mountain to find the trail going to the waterall. Three trails split off at this point. The east and west branches went along the valley floor just below the mountains. The one going north headed to the waterfall.
We headed up the trail, which soon became just a cobblestoned path. The stones became larger as we moved upward. It was like marching up stairs at some points. Where there was shade or a small stream, the stones were slippery. This was a popular path and a lot of people where coming up behind us.
Since I was going slower, I let others pass me by. Rich went on up the path to stay out of the way. I continued on at my own comfortable pace. When I reached the top, Rich was standing in front of a small trickle that came down the mountainside. This was probably the end of the season and there was little water coming down the mountain.
It didn’t stop people from congregating in front of the small falls to have their picture taken. Rich got a couple of shots showing the trickling water. There was a small pool of water that had collected at the bottom of the wall. It was nothing spectacular.
After resting up from the hiking up, we started our way back down the mountain. Going down was a lot harder in some places than going up. The uneven stones made it hard to get a foothold as you stepped from one level to another. This slowed me down quite a bit. We made it back to where the trails split and could see down to the Polana below us.
We didn’t stop for a break, but kept moving down the mountain. At this point, it was mostly gravel on our side of the trail. Here and there, it would turn to cobblestones and you had to pick your way carefully over them.
People would spread out across the trail in places and it was getting hard to pass. I guess they don’t read the rules of the trail here. We had stopped to read them in case there was information we needed to know. First rule was to walk to the right and allow others to pass you as needed.
We made it down to the entrance of the park. Now it was time for lunch. We found a table at one of the outdoor grills and ordered kielbasa, cheese, and chleb with pork lard spread. I know that sound gross, but it wasn’t. The pork lard has cracklings and herbs mixed into it. The bread used for this is course and grainy. It is like eating a very tasty butter on the bread. It’s another one of those things that Rich and I fell in love with.
We got our kielbasa with a rye bread. You could make a sandwich or eat them separately. The sausage was so tasty. We never have anything like this at home. The mountain cheese is a solid hunk that is heated from the grill, but not runny. We had this served with cranberry jam. I love this stuff. Rich keeps asking how this could be bad. With a side of beer, we had the best lunch ever. I guess I keep saying that about all of these outdoor grills.
After lunch, we continued our walk down the mountain and back into town. We passed a piekarina (bakery) where we could get coffee and cake. First, I wanted to head back to the hotel. Rich agreed and kept moving forward.
After resting a bit at the hotel, we headed back out to find that little bakery for our afternoon kawa and cake. As we walked up the street, there was a young man walking his little puppy ahead of us. The pup was maybe 8 to 10 weeks old. The man was trying to train the puppy to walk along. I’m afraid the puppy was getting distracted by everything she saw.
We walked up the street and around the corner. There was the bakery. It was perfect. We could get coffee and something sweet. There was outdoor seating so we could enjoy the moment and watch the people go by. Inside, a couple of kids were racing around in front of the case trying to decide what to have.
I stepped up to the register to order my sweet roll and black cawa. Rich got poppyseed cake and a white coffee. Here, you order your coffee black or white. Other types of coffee are available, but it takes a lot of explanation to get those. I like to keep it simple. We got our cakes and I went to the counter for our coffees.
Outside, we took chairs on the porch overlooking the street. A lot of people were walking by either going to the park or coming back from the park. You tell those coming back because they looked tired. The coffee was dark and rich. I’m going to miss this type of coffee when I’m back home. I’ll have to look around for something similar so I can relive these moments.
Reluctantly, we walked back to the hotel. We were tired from the hike, but energized by the coffee. We walked by the house with the four Great Pyrenees dogs in the yard. I almost missed them the first time. They only really bark when another dog walks by, like the puppy, or someone gets too close to their fence. Otherwise, they are lying the shadows trying to keep cool.
I’m taking this time to write up my blog for the day, even though we aren’t done. Rich is reading his paper and getting caught up on the news. It’s only 10:00 AM at home. But here, our day is winding down. Pretty soon, we’ll go off to have dinner at a traditional restaurant close to the hotel. This will be our last meal in Zakopane. Traditional still sounds like the best thing.
