I opened my eyes this morning and concentrated on the ceiling.  What room was I in?  I didn’t recognize the one above.  I turned over and there was Rich still sleeping.  That was better.  At least we were in the same place.

Then I remembered we were in Zakopane.  This was the beginning of the countdown on vacation.  I had no real plan for what we would do today.  Rich said he would be just as happy sitting around doing nothing.  He was tired from all of the walking and looking.

After breakfast, we dressed for the cool weather and headed to the tram station to take us to the top of the mountains on the left side of the valley here.  This side was the shorter of the two ridges.  We could walk to the station on this side.  The other station required a bus ride and I hadn’t figured that one out yet.

We purchased tickets and walked into the station just as one of the trams came in.  This tram runs on a cable system through the ground.  There is one tram on each end and they pass in a roundabout in the middle.  There were only a few people waiting to get on when we arrived.  Parents and grandparents were waiting with smaller children to get the very front or very back of the tram.

We settled for the middle car, but had to stand since the one seat was taken up quickly.  As we started off, the bell rang like a trolley car.  A trail ran along one side of the track where you could hike up to the top.  I think the book said it would take a couple of hours for that hike.  The tram would work just fine for me.

At the top, we stepped out and down the steps to the doorway at the bottom of the station.  From there, we could see a platform where you could view the mountains.  A set of stairs took you down to a sandpit with deck chairs.  Most of these were already filled with people.  The sun wasn’t strong and it was a little chilly since it was early in the morning.  It was probably on quarter after 10.

We walked up to the road that appeared to run the length of the ridge here.  This road was lined with little huts and trailers for food and shops.  We walked down to the end where a communications tower was sitting.  This tower had all sorts of antennas on it.  Since we work in the Comm world, we kind of geek out over this type of stuff.

As the road curved down the backside of the mountain, we walked by the area that is the bunny hill when this is a ski resort.  We saw only houses this way.  A few cars were coming up the road from this direction.  It must be the main road leading up from town.

We turned around and headed in the other direction.  We walked past little shops selling shoes, scarves, hiking sticks, gloves, leather goods, and on and on.  I would stop to look at something now and then.  For the most part, we kept walking.

We walked by a large grill where a man was getting food prepared for the crowd today.  The grill was huge and down with firewood.  There were metal trays hanging down over the grill, but not into the flames.  I realized these were warming baskets where he would put meat that was ready for someone to buy.  A board in front of the grill listed all kinds of meats and sausages that you could buy.

We continued to walk in a southerly direction down the road.  We agreed to stop at a large structure before turning back.  This structure turned out to be where one of the many chairlifts ran up the side of the mountain.  Rich went off to find the toaletty or WC.  I watched people coming up the hill in wide, open baskets.

The toaletty ended up costing you 2 zloty to use.  In most of Europe, it costs money to use the bathrooms.  This is one way for them to maintain the property.  Rich said this one should definitely been free.  We walked back down the road with an eye for someplace to eat.  One of the open grills looked promising, but he didn’t sell piwo (beer).  We decided to go back to the largest grill thinking we could get a good assortment to choose from.

We went into the building, which was full of people.  Service was very slow.  We tried to ask for food, but the girl behind the counter was so busy that she didn’t have time to help.  Rich took his beer out to the patio where we discussed what to do next.  We watched the food being prepared and tried to figure out how to buy some.

In the end, we gave up on the idea of eating here.  As Rich was finishing his beer, four guys came in and started setting up to play music.  There were two violins, a bass violin, and an accordion player.  They were playing mountain music, which would be like bluegrass and country music here.  We listened for a bit before hunger drove off to look for real food.

We walked a few steps down the road when I saw a large deck with a beautiful view.  There was a small grill and Rich noticed they sold beer.  We got in line for the grill and gave the man our order.  He told is it would be about 5 more minutes and to come back.  Rich went to get beer and I went off to claim a table with a view.

We had gotten settled when I heard someone yell.  The grill man was telling us things were ready.  Rich went up to pick up the food.  We got kielbasa and kishka with grilled cheese.  The plates came with bread and mustard.  The cheese isn’t like you think.  The cheese here is a hunky of cow or sheep cheese that has been smoked.  The grill only warms it up.  We settled in to eat and found the tastes almost heavenly.  We shared the food between us with chunks of the cheese.

No one chases you away from the tables here.  We had lunch and just sat to watch the clouds gather around the mountaintops across the way.  Then the clouds would push on leaving the tops exposed.  We sat there for a couple of hours watching the people and talking.  The temperatures had warmed up when we first arrived.  About 1:30, we could tell they were dropping a little bit with the clouds coming in.

Rich had gotten a second beer and brought me a beer with raspberry syrup added.  We had seen several people with this and I decided to try it.  It was a strong raspberry flavor.  You almost forgot it was in beer.  I really liked the flavor a lot.  I need to figure out how to duplicate it at home.  I just didn’t know if I could get raspberry syrup this strong in the States.

However, the clouds receded and the sun was getting through again.  We could feel the temps getting back up to good warmth.  We noticed that some of our neighbors were starting to move on.  We had not been the only ones to hang out on the deck for a while.  We finished up our drinks and decided to head back down the mountain.

We started up the road before we realized we went the wrong way for the tram station.  We backtracked a bit before we realized we had been sitting right next to the station all along.  A tram was already there and unloading when we arrived.  This time, we were able to get a seat.  With the drinking, this was probably a good thing.

At the bottom of the mountain, we got out and started to wonder through the market.  I had deiced I wanted a pair of house slippers, but not the goat’s wool ones.  They would be too warm.  I found a pair with the traditional materials and a lesser pile inside.  They were only 20 zloty (about $5).  They young man helped me get a size for my feet.

We wondered back under the street and up the other side.  I wanted to go to the drug store to find a couple of items.  Rich used the opportunity to get kawa and watch the crowds.  I didn’t find one of my items though.  I collected Rich from the coffee shop and stopped by the Apteka to ask for tape.  One of my fingers was giving me a lot of trouble from ligament problems.  I wanted to strap it so that it wouldn’t bend.  The young lady behind the counter was able to help me.

We headed back toward the hotel.  We were walking behind several groups where the women had purchased scarves.  They were all the same color.  It looked like a band of gypsies moving down the street.  Rich made the comment that it was a good way to tell your group by the scarf they all wore.

I had almost forgotten about needing batteries for my camera when we got back to the hotel.  We crossed the street to see if the market had any.  We didn’t see any there.  There was a small shop next door that said paper products.  I tried to ask the lady there for batteries, but she didn’t understand me.  Luckily, Rich saw them on the wall and I pointed them out to her. She said, “oh, batteries.”  Isn’t that what I said?  We found that the accent on a word sometimes makes what you say mean nothing.  I guess we have the same problem at home.

We got into our room and collapsed.  We were hot and tired.  First things first, I got started with pictures and posting to Facebook.  It was after 9:00 AM at home and we were well into the afternoon here.  We got our cheeses and tasted what we had purchased.  They were awesome.  Being tired, Rich went off to nap while I started this blog.  The air grew chilly, so I closed up windows.

Now it is dinner time.  I work up Rich to start the process of choosing a place.  I think we are going with Marcin’s suggestion tonight for a traditional place.  It is called Gazdowo Kuznia.  I’ll let you know how it turned out.

Back after dinner.  The place was packed, which is always a good sign.  Rich got the potato pancake with goulash.  I opted for spinach and goat cheese raviolis.  First, we had their version of Zurek soup.  It was very tasty.  We don’t think you can get bad Zurek soup.  After dinner, Rich had to try the baked apple with blueberries.  I was too full to try any of it, but it did look good.

There was a band playing when we came in.  It sounded pretty traditional.  The four guys came out and sat near us to get their dinner.  They were dressed in traditional outfits.  Pretty soon, they were heading back inside to take up instruments and play music again.

During dinner, we watched people come and go.  All of the tables would be full and they would slowly empty out.  The next run would start for diners looking for tables.  I assume this is a popular place with the tourists and maybe with the locals as well.

We walked back to the hotel.  It had gotten chilly when the sun went down.  I thought I had read that it was 40s in the evenings.  It is in the mountains as well so the temp should be a little cooler.  We saw some stars as we walked back.  If it weren’t for the light pollution, it would be a gorgeous night.

ADDENDUM:  Rich wants everyone to know the true price of drinking beer in Zakopane.  It is 8 zloty for the piwo and 2 zloty for thr the toalety which equals 10 zloty per piwo.