We started the day with a fantastic breakfast, included with the hotel,our first with fruit, yogurt and muesli/granola, our favorites; so we were set for a busy day capped with a visit from friend Cathy Kuntz's cousin Antoni and wife Bozenka. (see pix for the wide range of breakfast foods, except the runny eggs) Tom and I skipped the salt mine tour as we had done it on a prior trip to Poland and instead walked to Wawel Castle (pronounced Vauvel) even though we were returning later with a local guide because we wanted to see the crown collection of royal furnishings and artifacts. On the way, we wanted to find the home where Tom's great uncle Jasulski lived. He was a doctor. we were able to find the place, and it was still there. A plaque by the door indicated that it had been remodeled. It was tempting to ring the buzzer on apartment #6, his family's former home, but we didn't. Then we continued to the castle. The castle has several exhibits, each with it's own entrance and fees. We wanted the Crown artifacts, whichwe heard was the best if you only had an our or two. We saw fabulous items dating from middle times but nothing earlier than 14-15th Centuries since Poland has been conquered so any times from the Turks to Austrians to Germans and Russians. Still,the crown treasures were worth seeing: swords encrusted with jewels (the bigger ones had been looted from them), horse tack with embedded gems, especially turquoise; furniture decorated in gold; gold-plated and solid silver cups and plates,official seals and more (see pix). A military battalion was celebrating its anniversary at the castle, adding to the castle feel. After a hasty grab-and-go falafel wrap lunch from a Azerbijan, we met with our guide and returned to Wawel via coach ride with city tour and then to the cathedral. We weren't allowed to take photos there, but it was beautiful inside. It had relics from several saints, including stanislaus and a female "king." Then our guide led us on a walking tour back to the Old Town, stopping in the Jewish ghetto along the way, discussing its sad history. But the best part of the day was meeting with Kuntz's cousin Antoni and his wife. They took us to a vegetarian late lunch/early dinner at a small diner (which was another long walk of three miles, so we had a 10-mile day) and then to their house. It was interesting to see how a Polish family lives. basically, their house was just like American houses, but smaller, around 900 square feet, one bedroom, one bath with a very small kitchen., but exquisitely decorated with antiques, their hobby along with landscaping/gardening. Then she brought out dessert of strawberry jello/pound cake with a whipped cream-strawberry filling between the layers. But that wasn't all--she also made sweet cheese pierogis with blueberries. They were the best we had ever had, but after two desserts, we were so stuffed. The drive home was a traffic nightmare. we were so glad Antoni was driving. He had to navigate cars, buses, trams, trains, ebikes, scooters and pedestrians. Bozenka stayed home as it as it makes her nervous. A fabulous day
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It looks like Crack Cow, but the pronunciation is like German, so it’s Crack Cough, with a “w” sounding as a “v.” And we love this town! It’s a return trip for us. after our journey via bus (2.5 hours) from the mountain town of Zakopane, it was fun to be in the hustle and bustle of a world-class city. We strolled around the Old Town, marveling at the medieval city with its moats and walls, castles and crowds. The horse-drawn carriages have pretty work horses taking people around the square, but you really have to watch for the electric scooters and e-bikes that stop for no one. Cars stop at cross walks, but a scooter will take you down. It’s quite frightening, actually. We learned the city is trying to rein them in. We had dessert in an outdoor cafe along with a cappuccino and then strolled Old Town. Of course, the usual tourist shops line the square along with high-end fashion—think Gucci and such—but we were more fascinated with the churches. We visited the oldest Church, from the 1100s and quite small, to the newest, I think the 1300s. We could only go into the back entry way on the newer church as some ceremony was taking place at the front of the nave, but I did snap some photos. However, in a side chapel, people were gathered praying. All the votive special intention candles lit and the Black Madonna prominently displayed. She is beautiful and venerated all over Poland and Europe. Częstochowa Is the location of the original, where people walk on their knees to approach her. We did this last trip to Poland. My knees still ache from the stone floor. then we had a nice welcome dinner with our guide and fellow tour couples. After, the evening in the square was magical at night. Amd our guide told us Saint Florian I’d the patron saint of the town but also of firefighters. on to tomorrow, when we get to meet with Cathy Kuntz’s cousin for a second time! We have a special present for him from Cathy! And it’s her birthday too. Brides, Rocky trails, FIREWEED, potatoes and moreThe Tatras called us again, and this time they showed off. Instead of a funicular, we took a gondola, or as the Poles said, “cable car” to the top of the high Tatras. It was actually two cable cars, one stopped half way of hikers wanted to head out for the lakes, but we wanted peaks and ridges. To get to the gondola, we took a 15-minute cab after eating a breakfast of paczki, a filled donut, and a Nutella and banana waffle. You can either have sweets for breakfast or eggs and Polish sausage, neither choice suits us well as we are used to yogurt and oatmeal/granola with fruit.
the gondola that met us on its way down carried a bride and her entourage. Interestingly, we also saw one coming down from a small peak amd another with her groom hauling their clothing on the way up. I’m not sure where they would change into their clothing, but I guess they are figuring it out. We had wanted to hike quite a way along the ridge and also step over the border into Slovakia. We made one wish come true: stepping over the border in several spots and at the top of Beskid peak. Unfortunately, if you want to ride back down, you have to take a gondola back in an hour and a half of arrival, so that didn’t give us much time. So we decided to hike down instead of riding; but the hike to the bottom was a steep long hike, so we had to give up much of the high ridge walk either way. we weren’t sorry we hiked back. The views were amazing, the flowers pretty and the huckleberries and raspberries ripe. However, their huckleberries don’t have the tart burst of flavor ours have. They were more like a watered down blueberry. But that didn’t stop us from sampling many bushes, hoping for a better taste each time. The raspberries tasted the same as ours. Yum. On the berry topic, we bought mixed berries at a farm stand. What we took to be black or boysenberries had a very different flavor, again watered down but also not like any berry we had had before. On the hike, we marveled at the similar flowers to our own (unlike Italy that had fall crocuses and flowers we didn’t recognize in the alps). Fireweed was in abundance—we never saw so much. Other flowers we recognized were: groundsel, two kinds of gentian, kinnickkinnik, Heather/Heath and harebells. we had lunch at a rifugio/hut and bought some salad to go with our rolled up pizza lunch. I will say, the trails in the Tatras are rocky, many with set very large cobblestones, carefully placed by trail crews. But, boy! One could break an ankle, not to mention the wear and tear on our knees and hips. No switchbacks whatsoever, amd no dirt. I won’t complain about our trails again. We did notice as we peered over the side at the Slovakian trails that they had switchbacks and no stones! when we arrived back at our air bnb, the kind hostess had made use apple charlotka, similar to an apple strudel. So good. then we went to dinner and had live, loud and lively entertainment by a traditional polish band and ate traditional potato flatbread with garlic butter ( made from boiled potatoes), pierogies along with potato pancakes (made from shredded raw potato similar to hash browns but with some flour) with a wild porcini mushroom gravy. side note: Tom is doing so well with his Polish after a slow start. He was hesitant and embarrassed to try much, but now he is speaking up and understanding. One thing he had discovered: Because his learning was all online without speaking, some of his pronunciations are a bit off. Talking to our air bnb host has helped a lot. We also met a Polish young woman with her two Slovakian hiking partners who were thrilled and surprised to see Americans on the trail. So Tom got even more practice. The Slovakians were learning Polish and vice versa. All knew some English, which is how they communicated when all else failed. First hike and schlockWe decided to do the touristy thing and take the funicular that starts right in town to the top of the ridge to get a view of the surrounding mountains and take a short hike. the ride was very short and cost 28 zlotys or 35 non seniors. A zloty ( pronounced “ swift”) is about one quarter of a dollar. We were quite disappointed in what we found on top: schlock! Booth after booth of junkie tourist souvenirs andfast food. The hiking/trails/were more like single track roads, where we encountered rental e-bikes and four-wheelers. It wasn't what we expected to find. so we headed back to town after 4 miles and found a tourist center to find where the more authentic hikes might be. we are already sick of the food since we are used to fresh produce. We were lucky to find a nice italian place with homemade pasta.Much better than potatoes, gravy dumplings and sauer kraut. We did have fun walking neighborhoods, looking/at houses and seeing old villages, even a farmer still cutting, raking and baling his hay by hand. I got a picture of his bales by the modern white shrink-wrapped ones. but even the modern farmers had on old-world clothes, hats and had very old small tractors by Montana standards. On an interesting note: the Poles seem infatuated by American Indians. Many shops had dreamcatchers and campsites and villages had teepees. We ended the day by seeing something out of San Francisco: a bronze human stature dressed in cowboy attire. So I guess the Poles like cowboys and California too! One last thing: Pope John Paul II, being from Poland loved the Tatra mountains. We saw the place he stayed in when he vacationed there. He reportedly kissed the ground when he arrived. It's also interesting to see so many nuns in habits, the muslim immigrants in their attire and the catholic icons and shrines along the trail, just like we saw in Italy. Tom made it to his beloved Tatra Mountains today, a range in the Carpathian Mountains bordering Slovakia. we plan to hike for a few days, but today we kicked around the town and tried to ward off jet lag.
we walked the tourist mall area, took pictures of the mountains, sampled the local cheese and had cheese and potatoe pierogies with caramelizrd onions for dinner. A Ferris wheel sets off the mountains, while a cross looms on the highest peak. And street vendors are selling everything from fridge magnet holders to fur coats. food on the street was gelato, swirl soft serve cones, pretzels, local molded goat and sheep cheeses. we ate pierogies and salad with pumpkin seeds and roasted tomatoes. Yum, but heavy. I know we will get sick of the food quickly as they don’t have much for vegetarians. the bus ride to Zakopane was a bit of a nightmare, taking us three buses a half hour apart before we got on. We didn’t realize you could preorder tickets. And the train track is being relocated so it wasn’t running, throwing more people on the bus. enjoy some pictures of the area. We had a fairly uneventful trip to Calgary this morning, stopping in Shelby to top off gas, then Lethbridge for a walk around this city’s lovely Henderson Lake Park for a two-mile leg stretcher, and on to Fort McLeod for lunch before checking into Clique Hotel at the Calgary airport. As we got closer to Calgary, the air got filthier and filthier from all the fires at Yellowknife above Edmonton. Our eyes watered; we sneezed and we had headaches. Ugh. We could barely see the skyline with the Calgary Tower, similar to the Seattle Spaceneedle. We often stay at one of three favorite hotels here: Clique, Applause and Acclaim. They are very European in their fixtures and decor, from colored lighting emanating from under the bed to showers so strange and complicated you have to ask staff how to use them, not to mention a TV in the bathroom too. We mostly walked inside, due to the smoke. But the big surprise this time was a new huge casino! So of course we had to take a look. Side note: the fire evacuees are being housed across the street at the Westin. We suspected many were spending their time at the Casino. Then dinner at the hotel. Tomorrow’s a big day. Off to bed. |
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