{"id":3775,"date":"2015-09-11T14:57:34","date_gmt":"2015-09-11T19:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=3775"},"modified":"2015-09-11T14:57:34","modified_gmt":"2015-09-11T19:57:34","slug":"european-vacation-day-16-welcome-to-zakopane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=3775","title":{"rendered":"European Vacation: Day 16 Welcome to Zakopane"},"content":{"rendered":"

I woke up to the sound of things being rattled.\u00a0 Rich was already up and showered.\u00a0 Somehow, I had slept through him getting up and taking his shower.\u00a0 I must have been tired last night.\u00a0 I drug myself out of bed and starting getting things together while he finished up in the bathroom.\u00a0 Today, we leave Cracow for Zakopane.\u00a0 This would be our last destination before we start for home.<\/p>\n

We went down for breakfast and then came back up to pack up our stuff.\u00a0 After 10 minutes before our pick-up time, we got our stuff downstairs.\u00a0 We picked up our important papers and additional papers from the lockbox in the hotel safe.\u00a0 Since it\u2019s not a good idea to carry your passport, we put these into the hotel safe.\u00a0 We also added our additional credit cards and Euros.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t too long before our driver came in the door and announced he was looking for us.\u00a0 We went out to the car and stowed the luggage.\u00a0 Time to make the 2 hour drive south to Zakopane.\u00a0 There wasn\u2019t a lot of small talk as we watched the hills grow into mountains and the valleys with their picturesque villages getting fewer and fewer.<\/p>\n

Once we got closer to Zakopane, the traffic began to grow.\u00a0 By the time we were about 10 clicks outside of town, we were crawling forward.\u00a0 Our driver said this was typical.\u00a0 During holidays, it would be much worse.\u00a0 We moved forward by feet and not very fast.<\/p>\n

We got through the middle of town and started out the other side of town.\u00a0 We went right by the hotel at first.\u00a0 The driver was able to make a quick U turn in the bus stop area to get back around and into the driveway.\u00a0 I\u2019m looking at the quirkiest little place with eyebrow windows and lots of wrought iron.\u00a0 It was adorable.<\/p>\n

We got our luggage and said good-bye to the driver.\u00a0 Unfortunately, neither Rich nor I got his name.\u00a0 He said he might see us on Monday if he was the one assigned to pick us up.\u00a0 That might be the case since he knew where he left us.\u00a0 We went up the stairs to the reception area to sign in.<\/p>\n

The lady who owned the hotel didn\u2019t speak a lot of English.\u00a0 She had enough to understand how to help us sign in and get us up to our room.\u00a0 The room was amazing.\u00a0 It was more of a suite with a living room and separate bedroom.\u00a0 It was decorated in traditional Highland style with blond wood furnishings.\u00a0 We were in a room that had one of the eyebrow windows on the front of the hotel.\u00a0 There were small side windows as well.\u00a0 This was going to be a great location.<\/p>\n

We had a safe in the room, but it was locked and we couldn\u2019t get it open.\u00a0 I asked the lady if she could open it for us.\u00a0 She came up with a key and unlocked the safe and reset it.\u00a0 Then she left.\u00a0 Rich played with the safe, but got it locked up without getting our stuff inside of it first.\u00a0 Well, we\u2019d have to ask her to come back up later to open it again.<\/p>\n

We decided to walk down to Kupowki Street and see what the tourist side was like.\u00a0 We walked up a ways before we found a promising restaurant for lunch.\u00a0 I ordered traditional Highland soup and Rich had a traditional mushroom soup.\u00a0 We got nalesniki and pierogi as well.\u00a0 That should take care of us for the rest of the day.<\/p>\n

We continued up the street looking at the shops and watching the people.\u00a0 At the top of Kupowki, the row of hotels and shops continued on.\u00a0 We turned back to head over to the local market side of the road.\u00a0 We stopped in to a couple of restaurants to check out menus for dinner later on in the day.\u00a0 One promising place was devoted to fish.\u00a0 That would be different from the past couple of weeks.<\/p>\n

We had to go downstairs to find the tunnel going under the roadway to get over to where the local market is and the tram going to the top of one mountain.\u00a0 The local market is full of cheeses, leather goods, scarves, jewelry and other items made and sold by the locals.\u00a0 It was very colorful over there.<\/p>\n

We stopped into a couple of stands and watched people buying some of the different cheeses.\u00a0 The smells were very nice.\u00a0 We walked to the tram station and determined the timetable for getting a tram to the mountain top.\u00a0 If the weather was good tomorrow, we might wait until Sunday to do the tram.\u00a0 At least we knew what times the tram ran up the mountain.<\/p>\n

As we walked back, I was leading us up and down the aisles.\u00a0 I decided I wanted a scarf.\u00a0 Then we decided to buy a scarf for Busia as well.\u00a0 Rich picked out a beautiful blue scarf for Busia while I found a nice red and bright one for myself.\u00a0 We purchased them from different vendors, so the prices were a bit different.\u00a0 Neither of the ladies at the booths spoke English, but they spoke money.\u00a0 They knew what it cost and they knew when I gave them the right amount.\u00a0 I was happy with my purchases and I think they were happy to sell me something.<\/p>\n

We wandered back down the aisles.\u00a0 I wanted to look at the leather goods, but knew I didn\u2019t really have a way to get anything home with me.\u00a0 It was enough to look.\u00a0 Rich wanted to try the cheese, but I couldn\u2019t get him to stop.\u00a0 Maybe tomorrow, he can stop and try some of it as we walk to the tram station.\u00a0 It all looks so good.<\/p>\n

Up the street, we had noticed an old wooden church.\u00a0 I wanted to check it out.\u00a0 Inside, it was all wood with even the decorations in wood.\u00a0 It was absolutely beautiful.\u00a0 Some people came in to prayer and we left.\u00a0 I started to enter the cemetery behind the church, but a man wanted money for you to walk in.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t want to see it that badly.\u00a0 According to Rich, I was supposed to put money into a box to go into the church also.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t see that.\u00a0 Stupid tourist.<\/p>\n

At lunch, I had been looking at the tour book I picked up at the hotel.\u00a0 There was a Stanislaw Witkewiecz who had designed a home in Zakopane that came to define the style for the area.\u00a0 Witkewiecz was his maternal grandfather\u2019s last night.\u00a0 Now I know how it was spelled in Polish and not Lithuanian.\u00a0 We decided to stop by the house and have a look at the design.\u00a0 It was on the way back to our hotel.<\/p>\n

The house is pretty typical for what we are seeing as older homes in Zakopane.\u00a0 They are wooden structures that appear more like cottages in shape.\u00a0 Some of these have been rather large homes.\u00a0 These are probably the summer homes for people who live in cities, like Cracow.<\/p>\n

We walked back to the hotel to rest up.\u00a0 We are still logging a lot of steps on Rich\u2019s app.\u00a0 The other day, we had roughly 15,000 steps.\u00a0 Today, we probably don\u2019t have that many since we spent two hours riding in a car to get down to Zakopane.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll make up for it tomorrow as we walk from place to place.<\/p>\n

I got another blog updated and posted with pictures to the Zurekbrau site.\u00a0 I\u2019m running about even now.\u00a0 If I can get this one posted, I\u2019ll be all caught up again.\u00a0 It was getting toward dinner time and Rich wanted to head down to look for a place to eat.\u00a0 I recommended the place with all of the fish dishes.\u00a0 He was alright with that.\u00a0 So we got on our shoes and coats.\u00a0 A chill had come on since we came in.\u00a0 We layered it on a bit to protect ourselves on the walk.\u00a0 We made it down the street without injury.\u00a0 Sometimes, the cars here seem to go pretty fast and we have a couple of crosswalks to negotiate as we head toward the center of town.\u00a0 That\u2019s the Centrum in Polish.<\/p>\n

We got into the restaurant just fine.\u00a0 Downstairs was busy, so we went upstairs and found a table.\u00a0 The waitress dropped off menus as she was making the rounds.\u00a0 The menus were attached to children\u2019s walking sticks.\u00a0 Marcin says that most children in Poland have had one of these sticks at one time or another.<\/p>\n

Rich wanted a beer being advertised on the table, but it wasn\u2019t on the beer karte (list).\u00a0 The waitress came by speaking Polish and I let her know we didn\u2019t speak Polish.\u00a0 She quickly changed gears and spoke in English.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the restaurant didn\u2019t carry the beer Rich wanted.\u00a0 We ordered a couple of Pilsner Urquels.\u00a0 She came back for our food order and brought our beers.<\/p>\n

Rich went with the trout with grilled potato and veggie.\u00a0 I had the halibut with grilled potato and veggie.\u00a0 The grilled potato turned out to be two baked potatoes each.\u00a0 The fish was grilled in foil with butter and topped with the sauces we ordered.\u00a0 It was all so wonderful.\u00a0 Since we had no room for dessert, we convinced her to give us our bill.<\/p>\n

We walked out to the street and stood for a minute.\u00a0 There were still a lot of people walking around. Stores were still open as well.\u00a0 This place isn\u2019t like Cracow and some of the other places that closed up at 5:00.\u00a0 We headed back to our hotel and collapsed on the couch.\u00a0 It is good to be on vacation.<\/p>\n

Right after I finish posting this and getting the pictures up on the blog, I\u2019m going to bed.\u00a0 Good night to all.<\/p>\n

\"Courtyard<\/a>
Courtyard from our window in Cracow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Our<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Living<\/a>
Living room in our hotel room in Zakopane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"View<\/a>
View from our hotel to the mountains above Zakopane.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Couple<\/a>
Couple of hotels on our street in Zakopane.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rich<\/a>
Rich having lunch in Zakopane.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Local<\/a>
Local market where you buy the good stuff in Zakopane.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"St<\/a>
St Mary’s Church in Zakopane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Witkewiecz<\/a>
Witkewiecz house in Zakopane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sign<\/a>
Sign for Stanislaw Witkewiecz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Some<\/a>
Some of the older style homes in Zakopane.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I woke up to the sound of things being rattled.\u00a0 Rich was already up and showered.\u00a0 Somehow, I had slept through him getting up and taking his shower.\u00a0 I must have been tired last night.\u00a0 I drug myself out of bed and starting getting things together while he finished up in the bathroom.\u00a0 Today, we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3775"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3775"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3788,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3775\/revisions\/3788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}