Poland Day 10 – Daytime fun

It is early 6 PM in Zakopane as I am writing this, and my legs are sore—or more properly, my knees. It had been a rather full day so far. And in about an hour or so we will once again board the bus and head out for our dinner which is going to include some local food as well as some Górale music. Not sure just what all that will entail, but I’m sure it will be great fun.

It has been a busy day so far, but the Warka piwo I had a bit ago on ulica Krupowki and the Leźajsk piwo I am having right now are helping relax me, for sure. Breakfast was served starting at 8 AM and I was there pretty much for the beginning of it. We boarded the bus about 9 and had a tour of Zakopane first, and then a few side trips. One was to a very old Górale church, it is very beautiful and very small, but I do have pictures. Sorry it is too difficult to put them on the web now, but I will after my return and you will be amazed at them. The architecture in Zakopane is very interesting. The “real” buildings, that is, the older ones, are all wood. I mean all. As in everything. Except the door hinges! Yes, no nails were used, the rain gutters are wood, and they used wooden “nails” to put it all together. And the roofs are wood shingles too. Now some of the newer buildings “cheat” with metal rain gutters, using nails, and with tin roofs, but all wood is the original way, way back when.

By the way, the gorale are very religious people, and when they heard of the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, they gathered at this church and prayed for his recovery, and promised god that if he recovered, they would build a shrine. Thus our next stop at the Sanktarium Matki Boźej Fatimskiej. It too is very beautiful and again, I have pictures I’ll post at some later date.

This region, part of the podhale, is famous for its ośćypek—unpasteurized goat’s milk is made into cheese, formed into shapes with wood molds, and then smoked for 6 days to cure it. We stopped at a farm and saw one of the houses or huts where they do the curing. And also bought some. I believe a very tiny piece or two (and I mean very tiny) could possible become entangled in my dirty socks (but the piece safely wrapped in very durable plastic) and make its way into  the US. But only if I forget about it, I cannot promise. And if there is a problem, I hope you will sent me bail money….  Anyway, I did get a few small pieces and one to eat as well. It is awesome. So we saw a place that makes it.

After that, we also journeyed to a wood carver’s shop. Very interesting. The guy does great carving. Again I have lots of pictures. And his son is also learning the trade, I managed to get a few pictures of him carving too.

Finally, after all of that, it was on to the funicular. We took the funicular up to Gubałówka. I have not words to describe what I saw, nor the emotions that went through  me. You see, I saw the Tatra Mountains. These are the same mountains that my great grandfather and great grandmother saw. They left this “god’s country” for America to make a better life, which they did, and for which I am forever grateful. There was a lot of good emotion going through me to see this sight, it is awesome.

The bus left us off near the funicular to gubałówka, but to get there, we had to walk through a flea market. I did buy just a few things there. Oh and by the way, for all my friends and relatives, you should know me well by now and know that I’m not much of a gift and/or trinket buyer, so my apologies in advance. Maybe a few of you will get a postcard if things work out right, but that may be weeks away. But I did look at the stuff in the market and buy one or two things. After the trip to the mountain top and the walk back through the flea market, I continued up Krupowki street which is a pedestrian way with lots of shops. There is a little ośćypek stand on every corner it seems, but I already had some. I did sample a few things, however. I did get a pączek with a chocolate filling, though I have only eaten part of it. Later I had a placki ziemnaki as well, though again, I only ate part. I did wash that down with a piwo, the brand was Warka.

In the midst of all this, I actually walked all the way back to the hotel and left some stuff here, then went all the way back, quite a lot of walking. And I did buy one thing for myself, a thing I really wanted. I got a ciupaga. It is too big for my suitcase so I’ve no idea how I’ll get it back. Chris says to mail it, so I’m expecting him to help me do that. We’ll see.

So it has been a very full day so far and I am glad to be sitting down, resting my knees, and enjoying a piwo. Besides Zakopane, we’ve been in Kościelisko and Chochołów  and perhaps a few others, quite a tour of the mountain area. I should also note that we visited another small church and also a cemetery here in Zakopane. That cemetery is “reserved” for people of some note, area people who have made a difference. There is even a plaque in Polish that proclaims that Poland and the world in general may forget these people, but Zakopane will not. Pat found a bunch of tombstones with the last names  of one of her relatives on the Urbas side, though at this moment I don’t recall the surname. But that was very cool too.

If you have read this far, you are a real trooper! For those who leave comments, it gives me great joy to know that you are reading this, so keep it up. And you may have noticed that I sometimes post things more than once a day, so do read them all and don’t miss a thing. I really am having the time of my life here. My “real” life back in Lake Mary and with work and all seems so remote (though I do miss my house and friends just a little, but know I will be back there all too soon!). I really do love it here and am thinking how I can come back next year. Since I work for AT&T and will get a nice bonus if the company does well this year, you can help finance my trip if you use their services! LOL Well, I tried. But seriously, I’m having  an awesome time. I cannot wait to get some of my pictures online, but that will happen in due time, and I will write here when I do that as well. So, there is more of this day to write about, but for now, I will quit and give myself a bit of a rest…..  Dobry wieczor!