Thursday 23 June I may have mentioned yesterday about how things don’t always go to plan. Today, we planned to catch a bus from Krakow to Zakopane. Our air BnB host in Krakow offered to drive us to the bus station. We casually waited until he messaged us that he was caught in a traffic jam because of an accident. With almost no time to spare, we hot-footed it to the nearest tram stop, caught a tram, and ran, dragging our suitcases to the bus station. We arrived with only a few minutes to spare, hot, bothered and just a little cranky.
The bus trip to Zakopane wasn’t too bad, but because of road works, the 2-hour trip took an extra half hour.
Zakopane is a ski resort in winter and hiking resort in summer. Or hotel is one of those pointy roofed lodges and we have a nice (if cramped) room. The town centre is about a 10 minute walk away, so after settling in we went for a walk.
There are virtually no signs here of the effects of communism, wars or any signs of conflict, although it was used as a base by the Polish Resistance in WWII. It’s also different from the rest of Poland and more like a mountain culture.
The clothes are different, the food is different (to and extent) and the dialect is different. They also have a large range of their own local beers. We are surrounded by mountains and forests and there is a ropes adventure park across the road.
Searching for somewhere to eat at night is always an adventure, and tonight we found a local Gorale restaurant, Bakowo Zohylina. It had a live band playing local music and songs and even some dancing demonstration.
The songs did not sound Polish at all, almost like Italian Tyrolean songs. The dancing was a bit too much like Morris dancing for me though. Their clothing is quite different to anything we’ve seen, and the men had very thick, stiff woollen pants that almost looked like they’d stand up by themselves. Too hot for the current weather though.
After a bracket of dancing they’d worked up a decent sweat, not to mention crunching around the gravel courtyard taking orders and delivering food. They actually seemed to be enjoying their work. Everything was made of wood – the restaurant, the furniture, the serviette holders and the menus. So heavy there’s no chance anyone could steal them.
Frances ordered Highlander Potato Cakes with Goulash which came with grated cheese and loads of pickled gherkins. She loved it, and I agreed that it was the best goulash we’d had. The potato cakes were pretty good too and the pickles a nice touch. I ordered Grilled Veal with Dumplings. This was one of the best meals I’ve had this trip. The veal was well-done, but had a good herb flavour, the tomato-cream sauce had a little hint of spiciness, and the dumplings, well they were just like gnocchi. In fact the meal could have been Italian.
Very different to the Polish meals we’ve had to date. Because the meals were not too big we decided to share a dessert – Apple Cake. It was a bit like an apple slice, but with much better ingredients and not too sweet. The tart sauce and whipped cream went perfectly with it. Beautiful surroundings, good food, eating outdoors, pleasant weather and couple of glasses of red wine makes travelling just bearable.
The bus trip to Zakopane wasn’t too bad, but because of road works, the 2-hour trip took an extra half hour.
Zakopane is a ski resort in winter and hiking resort in summer. Or hotel is one of those pointy roofed lodges and we have a nice (if cramped) room. The town centre is about a 10 minute walk away, so after settling in we went for a walk.There are virtually no signs here of the effects of communism, wars or any signs of conflict, although it was used as a base by the Polish Resistance in WWII. It’s also different from the rest of Poland and more like a mountain culture.
The clothes are different, the food is different (to and extent) and the dialect is different. They also have a large range of their own local beers. We are surrounded by mountains and forests and there is a ropes adventure park across the road.
Searching for somewhere to eat at night is always an adventure, and tonight we found a local Gorale restaurant, Bakowo Zohylina. It had a live band playing local music and songs and even some dancing demonstration.The songs did not sound Polish at all, almost like Italian Tyrolean songs. The dancing was a bit too much like Morris dancing for me though. Their clothing is quite different to anything we’ve seen, and the men had very thick, stiff woollen pants that almost looked like they’d stand up by themselves. Too hot for the current weather though.
After a bracket of dancing they’d worked up a decent sweat, not to mention crunching around the gravel courtyard taking orders and delivering food. They actually seemed to be enjoying their work. Everything was made of wood – the restaurant, the furniture, the serviette holders and the menus. So heavy there’s no chance anyone could steal them.
Frances ordered Highlander Potato Cakes with Goulash which came with grated cheese and loads of pickled gherkins. She loved it, and I agreed that it was the best goulash we’d had. The potato cakes were pretty good too and the pickles a nice touch. I ordered Grilled Veal with Dumplings. This was one of the best meals I’ve had this trip. The veal was well-done, but had a good herb flavour, the tomato-cream sauce had a little hint of spiciness, and the dumplings, well they were just like gnocchi. In fact the meal could have been Italian.Very different to the Polish meals we’ve had to date. Because the meals were not too big we decided to share a dessert – Apple Cake. It was a bit like an apple slice, but with much better ingredients and not too sweet. The tart sauce and whipped cream went perfectly with it. Beautiful surroundings, good food, eating outdoors, pleasant weather and couple of glasses of red wine makes travelling just bearable.
