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.

A Week in Poland

Monday night we visited a mall for a little different view of the world. And to be out of the rather bitter cold that arrived. The grocery store has 2 main sections: vodka and deli meat counter.



Everything else is almost a rounding error in the scale of things. It was impressive to see an entire aisle of olives.



I really enjoyed the personal touches found everywhere. Breakfast buffet included a cute stuffed otter.



The arrival of colder weather and snow brought focus on garments and practices. Coat closets are real and used. My shoes were covered in snow from the walk to work. Entry doors have extra floor mats and frequently someone mops up the wet foot prints. Some folks seem to have shoes for the office and shoes for the commute. I felt guilty tracking water around :(.



Yep, cold arrived evidenced by cicles forming on signs.



I awoke the next morning to a fresh coating of snow



And enjoyed exploring the winter wonderland on the walk to work.



Parks look great with fresh coat of white.



Nice inviting bench, or not.



Can't say I've seen this display before.



More snow pics because it's new in general and especially new in contrast to the first few days.






Cyclist barely visible in this pic. Krakow has an active cycling community. People biked to work on the coldest days of my visit. Local news articles praised the easy cycling commute with the mild winter. One article said riding is the easy part; slipping only begins when you stop and attempt to put your feet down.



Krakow was full of construction. There were several construction cranes in the skyline. Pretty interesting to watch them pumping concrete into a building.


On the residential side of the river the water front is a bit more rural. A few taxis parked here to nap.



Walking home in the dark the lights on bridges are delightful. I really enjoy how light displays and Christmas decorations stay up through the cold of January and come down on Feb 2.


Lots of good desserts. I found the apple pie with ice cream disappointing. It seemed a traditional dessert. It certainly wasn't "mom's apple pie" as we know it in the US. Chocolate cake and crapes were great!



Friday? was a particularly cold walk into the office. I was shivering in my layers while birds chilled in the river. It was 9 degrees F.



Appetizers, soups, and desserts were generally smaller portions. In the local culture lunch is the large meal. All meals are very hardy with heavy vegetables and lots of meat. I'm not a fan of cabbage anywhere else but the cabbage and sauerkraut in PL was quite tasty. My favorite is still the Hunter's Stew.



Patricia helped us navigate a dinner menu written only in Polish. It was a good chance to test our recognition of words. We mostly recognized the words similar to English. Patricia sounds much more elegant with Polish enunciation. After a few questions about the menu we figured out that Italian didn't really come through in Polish.

First Weekend in Poland

[reposted to fix pics]

Adventures in Poland are going a bit slower with extra sleep to ward off an interminable cold. Friday night after work I met Sarah at a cafe to finish respective meetings. Nice place in Jewish district with wifi, tea, and sitting on the floor. Tables available we just enjoyed sitting lower.



Then we toured the Jewish district more.



Most of the bridges around Wawel are lit with lights blue in the foreground here, white chandeliers in the background are another bridge.



After a nice long sleep we enjoyed linner at Piwnica Pod Kominkiem on near market square. I knocked my head twice in short stair wells leading down to an intimate dining area. Along the ceiling toward the street there was a a clear chute. Presumably previously used for shovel coal or similar down to the basement. The "duo soup" was delicious with mashed pea on one side and horseradish on the other. Small flakes of egg and ham in the middle. Amazingly it stayed separated down to the last bite.



I do not remember the other appetizer. Sarah enjoyed the raw fish, tomatoes, and other bits. I enjoyed the red peppers.


First main entree was potato latke esque with meat sauce on top. Delicious and has all of the makings of a great hangover cure.



We also had part of a pork knuckle. Our eyes were bigger than our stomaches on this visit. I highly recommend this restaurant. Great service (for poland) and great food.

We're slowly learning that polish service mostly responds to requests or demands. "Natural flow" of a meal, driven by waiters & waitresses would either be impossibly long or infinite. We haven't had the patience to find out which yet. Some folks know how impatient I can get. Even Sarah gets a bit impatient here.

Afterwords we walked around market square more. Sarah found an apothecary that carried vodka mixed with pretty much everything including elderberry.


Afterwords more market square exploration. The square was hopping well into the night (2am).



We strolled back by the river with chill of the night setting in. Swans were clustered together sleeping in the river with heads tucked under their wings.



We found a perch overlooking the hotel lobby and chatted further into the morning. I was amazed at how innocuous the water and ice machine was. Here it is built into the wall and partially hidden by a plant. Things that are engineered here are done so to the 9's. It's really exact and refreshing. I'm amazed at how closely the doors seal even with all of the traffic and humidity. I'd expect that to cause wood to swell and contract so doors scrape or don't close firmly. The doors to really well and they're not even the typical industrialized aluminum or steel.



Sunday we ventured across the river for breakfast at a place that more closely resembled someone's private kitchen than a restaurant. I highly recommend Konfederacka 4 to anyone traveling through. We started to put it together a trend of restaurants known only by their address. Sunday morning was a slow time so we were able to chat with the cook and hostess throughout our meal. More good food and great company. I was again amazed at the general diet. 3 egg omelette with sausage and just a few pieces of green pepper. Lots of protein here.



After that more walking. This time along Jozefa Dietla. This was near a church with MPs, armed with actual hand guns or similarly shaped tazers, covering the entrance and directing traffic.


Somewhere along the way we found this statue. It reminds me of communist era symbolism. More research required.

Beautiful parks everywhere:


Christmas works a bit different here. Lights and christmas trees stay up until Feb 2. Allegedly displays similar to the one below originated in this reason. They are also on display throughout January. I've heard a few anecdotes that all of this is inspiration/light for the dark and cold of winter. I'm still working on more personal tour of local culture.


Lunch found us in the Jewish district again. This time at Moment. This the most american scene and food we've seen. I like that Pepsi is the most common soda here :) .


In the evening we toured the Museum of Anthropology for free. This proved interesting with all labels in Polish. Ever the engineer the stairs are what caught my attention the most. Every stair had these brackets on both sides. What are they?




Circling around the city again we found another route near market square. I'm continually amazed and calmed by the parks that permeate this place. They're everywhere. And they're great.






Inside joke. Some of you will get it.






Dinner was great with another variation of hunter's stew. This apple pie dessert looked amazing with powdered sugar decoration. Taste didn't live up to appearance. Sarah swooped in to the rescue and shared her meringue cake. Yum! Bitter coffee was great with all that sugar.






Monday brought new levels of cold and rain. Nice trip to wet and dry sauna, hot tub, and heated pool helped to thaw my core. More soon.

Boots on the ground in Krakow

Hello from Krakow, Poland. Hammering out a quick update as experiences are fast and furious.

Flew through Frankfurt. Didn't do a good job of living on destination time 24 hours before arrival (too tempted by movies). "The Butler" was a great movie. Found a dark quiet hallway for a 1 hour nap in FRA.



Arrived in KRK, had first meal, and crashed hard. Awoke and went for dinner at Market Square. Beet broth soup was mediocre; hunters stew was delicious! Saw a quite entertaining tradition where 3 people in costume storm the restaurant playing music. They were supposed to be The Sun, The King, and a Buffalo. I still struggle to offer coffee abroad. "Coffee with milk" isn't the same as a venti Starbucks with half and half. And no blonde roast to be found!

People are quite jovial and really seem to enjoy life. I heard guys singing and whooping it up on the square just having fun.



A nice 2 mile work from the hotel to work this morning. Love the walk/bike lanes. Cool air and walk really help clear travel fog.






I really love how walkable the city is. So many buildings have rounded roofs, windows, arches. "Straight and square" are accepted while nice curves appear appreciated.

A pig, on its back, on sticks for a bonfire? As a statue in the river. Lots of pork based dining options.



I love the walking city. Fun seeing the world and interacting, even in passing, with the people. I'm still learning to understand local enunciation and learning to read signs. Lots of C,Z,J,W in odd places. My current approach is to memorize the position of the first "odd" letter in the word where "J3" means the street with j as the 3rd letter. So far I see more jumble of letters than words. More acclimating to do! The office was a warm reception.