Today we start our trip to Zakopane. South of Krakow, Zakopane is located near the Tatra Mountains.
Our train was at 9 am and we left our apartment at 7:45. The new roller bags made it so much easier than the stuffed backpacks. It is only a 15 minute walk to the station but someone long ago told me that early is on time.
The ride was 2.5 hours and was uneventful. We grabbed our bags and started the walk to our hotel. This is definitely a resort town. It reminded me of Park City, Denver, and Cedar Point all rolled into one. Definitely a western motif. Lots of woodwork in the buildings. Lots of shops, lots tourists, lots of kids.
We were at the end of this long street of shops and restaurants. The hotel was very nice. We were just going to drop our bags off but our room was ready. It was only noon.
There is a hike we planned on doing. 9km out and 9km back. We decided that an early start in the morning would work better. Today we would take a gondola up to the top of one of the mountains. Perfectly clear sky. Perfect day to go.
I asked the clerk at the desk how to get there. “Take the bus to Kunice”. We could have walked, taken an uber or taxi but the bus seemed like the way to go. We found the stop and also a ticket dispensing machine. The bus arrived a few minutes later. Walk on the bus and then “validated” the ticket by putting into a machine and pulled it out. Don’t do that and the fine is 300 zloty. No thanks.
20 min bus ride and maybe 40 mins on two different gondolas to get to the top.
Lots of climbing on this tour. It was hard on the knees but the views were spectacular. We spent about an hour up at the top and the took the gondola back down. The return bus was already there and waiting. We managed to find the correct stop to get off and walked back to the hotel and dropped off anything we didn’t need and headed out to dinner. We decided to do a Polish Restaurant. Is there anything else? Polish Mexican or Polish Chinese? Probably but we didn’t ask.
The food was excellent once again. This area is famous for Oscypek Cheese. A smoked cheese made from goat milk served with cranberries or other fruit.
Back to the hotel after dinner. Exhaustion. Lights out.
