A Morning in Oswiecim

In various history classes I studied World War II. In high school Schindler's List really left an impression. I entered college dating a Jewish girl and she and her family significantly changed the direction of my life. Thank you Stacie Garnett. I learned to walk a little softer and gained friendships across many cultures. I really appreciate when others share their culture. There is culture on display at monuments, there are carefully chosen culture icons, there's a day in the life, and occasionally a culture is represented by something from OUTSIDE the culture. I think this is the case with Auschwitz.

It's a chilling place literally and figuratively. We happened to visit on Survivor Remembrance Day. A quick tour was enough for me and a political ceremony with the president of Poland and foreign dignitaries start at noon. Navigating a foreign country without speaking the native language is tough enough during "business as usual". We'd already had one encounter with police and closed roads. I wasn't excited about trying to navigate the world of exceptions when national and international dignitaries were present.

My "light visit" rapidly gained a few tons when we entered the front gate amid a group of survivors who were touring before attending the upcoming ceremony.



















I left feeling permeated by coldness and it wasn't our coldest day. I didn't sleep the night before and I didn't sleep for 2 days after.

The first thing I wanted when leaving was distance between me and this place. The second thing I wanted was coffee to physically and mentally warm up. Ice cream was furthest from my mind so the shop advertising ice cream in the parking lot felt quite offensive.




I only did a fleeting tour. The "Hall of Hair" was closed. I didn't see Birkenau. I don't have words for the experience of actually visiting Auschwitz. If you want to know more go or let's talk in person.

A few speakable noteworthy things do stand out. The site is in Poland; not Germany. It's like getting into a bad bar fight and someone else carrying around the scar. The camp was used for Polish and Russian prisoners of war, and basically anyone the Nazis condemned, early on. Documentation was meticulous at times. I'm left amazed at what can be made to appear "on the up and up". And chilled and pensive and sleepless.

Sunday in Zakopane

Sunday's 17 degrees F was a viable heat wave after 7 on Saturday so we geared up in our minimalist fashion and set out to sample the Tatra mountain range. We walked from the hotel to a trail and started up. I love how walkable everything was.



Signage for proof of location.



I've never been hiking in a really snowy environment, let alone in a real mountain range, so this was a beautiful new world to me. In typical noob fashion I snapped way too many pics of this new-to-me world.

The first sighting of a creek flowing through the valley.



Sarah giving perspective to rocky outcropping.



Interesting new experience - entering a national park on foot and paying for entry. The closest experience I have to this otherwise was paying to bicycle through a park that was part of a detour on my C&O tour a couple years back. No bikes allowed in the park but there was a bike reroute to the right.



Then the valley and sky opened up a bit. I really like this picture of Sarah walking out into the snowy unknown. I might have hung off the sides of that railing to get "the perfect vantage point" for another photo. Thankfully no splashdowns.



Looking up to more rocky ledges






Occasionally the creek peeked through the ice.



There were many recently cut trees along the path. It looked to me like they'd blown over and then been cut to clear the trail. In several places they were piled up and awaiting extraction. I get the feeling these were harvested and cut for lumber or carved. The wood grain is super tight. It looks like really beautiful wood for craftsmen of all sorts.



A closed off cave and nice ice waterfall. We heard these were closed off because of extreme cold inside.



The trail continues up the mountain.



Another peek at the peaks above.






This tree stood out to me at one of the hairpin turns heading up the mountain. The bark is clearly different from others. It was noteworthy.



After inventorying our situation we decided to turn back before reaching the summit. Kind strangers on the trail estimated another 1.5 hours to the top. We both really enjoyed the nature experience. And we were careful of limited gear and balancing other experiences. We peaked out right around 49.26453, 19.95197. We were a bit further up and I just forgot to drop a way point until we'd started back down.



Heading back down the sky really cleared up. Pictures don't do justice to the contrast of blue and white.






Here's one basis for my suspicion of downed trees getting cut and harvested. This root ball completely blocked the trail.



This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. Study it for a moment.


Now check the lower right hand corner. That's Sarah about to cross the bridge. Some perspective on this view.


Avalanche concern was another new experience. Maybe not much of a concern at this point. Shaking a tree still resulted in a nice deluge. It was all pretty and fun until ice and snow slid down my open collar!



I toured Zakopane a bit more rounding up provisions before heading out of town. This hillside was particularly picturesque. Houses in the local style sparsely dotted the slope.



And one final view of the mountains heading out of town.



Saturday night we drove to Oswiecim. The drive was an adventure by itself. We got off the beaten path a bit and saw more countryside and towns. We almost slid through an intersection when a stop sign didn't register soon enough on an icy road.

During the drive I reflected on the beauty of the countryside and connecting, ever so slightly, with the Tatra mountains. Natural beauty and connection transcends time and space.

Saturday in Zakopane

The second weekend we found our legs and set out for Zakopane based on several recommendations of thermal springs, mountains, a ski town, and rich local local history.

Rolling into town we found trees with sprinklers atop them yielding great ice sculptures.



Check the tiles in the bottom right. The centers are removed to make draft holes for heat from the fireplace. This is one of many examples of what I think of fully integrated design. Things appear built to last with everything integrated and no loose parts showing.



Plenty of snow for skiing.


Sarah laying down first tracks on the roof top balcony Saturday morning.


And our first scarce view of mountains. The whole weekend was pretty cloudy. We opted out of gondola rides up the mountain due to low visibility. We saw maybe 2 hours of blue sky in two days.















I saw this several times and really took note. It's normal for groups of kids to go walking about the city paired off with an adult in the front and rear. The adults rarely looked happy. The kids always seemed happy to be cooperating and out and about.






Zakopane is known for salty sheep cheese. Little stands were selling it everywhere. I was fascinated by the designs.



A nice creek running through center of town. This reminds me of Helen, GA.


Finally we got a bit of blue sky and a peek at the mountains.






Amazing cemetery here with wooden head stones. Many of the wooden crosses were attached to metal brackets going down into the ground. This made it easy to replace any rotting pieces and kept wood up off the ground and out of the snow to limit rot. Again, tending to the little things.



View of one ski run



Many of the buildings were log cabins with exquisite craftsmanship.



Wooden wheels get overlaid with bicycle tires. No tubes, just the tires.



It was painfully cold this morning. Something like 7 degrees F. We'd walk around for a few minutes and then duck into a shop to warm up. I had all of my layers and still chilled quickly. We briefly considered buying skiing gear. Sarah did buy a neck gaiter to augment our options.

Sarah found a nice restaurant nearby with fireplace for afternoon recovery. Outside we found what would be a great ropes course for warmer days.



We got lost and found ourselves at the bottom of the ski jump. It is quite an impressive sight in person.



Zakopane is also known for architecture. We heard this artform was part of rebuilding Polish culture after WWII.






Poland is pretty big on spas and saunas. Some nice water recreation in the basement.



We used wooden utensils for the first course of dinner.



We spent Saturday evening at a thermal bath and spa. Outdoor thermal baths were amazing. Steam from the water was like swimming through fog. I couldn't really see people ahead of me until I ran into them. This also makes for mostly private moments anywhere in the pool.

Later we wandered up to the saunas when the thermal baths weren't warm enough. Sarah jumped at the chance for a guided sauna experience in the hottest sauna. I joined in later. Kinga (spelling?) was an amazing instructor. she'd stand in the sauna and fan heat downward onto us. This really heightened the experience. Turns out there's more to sauna than just sitting and sweating. There's an art and science to it. Thank you for the guidance and translation Kinga! I highly recommend a guided sauna session if opportunity presents.

We had a bit of calamity leaving the thermal springs. None of my credit cards worked for their machines and I didn't have enough Zloty to cover the extra time we stayed. I am immensely grateful to the employees for working with us to navigate a difficult situation. I brought cash to cover the expense the next day and included a tip. They fought mightily against taking any tip. Thank you Justyna and Gosia! Traveler note - cash is still king.

The late hour allowed all traffic to Zakopane to clear so we had smooth travel back to town and the hotel.

I spent some time standing outside in the cold Saturday night. I began to appreciate how the world looks and sounds different under a deep freeze with truly powdery snow. It struck me that tourist traps and made-in-China are everywhere and displacing local flavor and craft. There is a delicate balance for offering some consistent creature comforts versus mass produced universally available mostly disposable stuff. I wondered how to more consistently connect with local experiences as a traveler.

I ruminated more on diet and lifestyle. I casually refer to feeling seasonal affected disorder living in NC with that relatively mild winter. I see people function quite well in Poland with much deeper winter. There is a combination of diet, tradition, and lifestyle to accomplish that vitality. A local contact would later help me to better understand. But that is another day.