Located in the mountains in the far south of Poland is the wonderful little Alpine city of Zakopane. People from throughout the region visit the lakes and mountain trails in the summer and flock to the Ski Lodges in the winter. It has breath taking views and plenty of man-made diversions to keep the active tourist happily occupied. Note from Lisa: David wrote the above, in case you don't recognize his voice. Have to laugh at his comment about keeping the activte tourist happily occupied. We were happily occupied, but not so active--I read "A Thousand Splended Suns" by the author who wrote "The Kite Runner." (loved it but cried a bit as well) and David read a Clive Cussler train story (very fitting) The Chase. He tried to read aloud to me today, but I rebelled, threatening to grow chin hairs if he exposes me to those man books of his.
We managed to make the trip between the big Summer and Winter Seasons, however, since it was a National Holiday we shared the streets and venues with thousands of other visitors. It was an impulsive trip and we were lucky to find accomodations the day before we left.
We took the train south to Krakow but due to delays we missed the only connecting train to Zakopone. Oops -- Krakow hotels were most likely full as well. What to do??? Our next option- Pay a taxi driver for the drive (130 kilometers) to Zakopane. What a pleasent trip. We acctually beat the scheduled train by an hour. Lisa: In case you're wondering that taxi drive cost us roughly $120 US dollars, but still not a bad deal!
We checked into a historic hotel right in the heart of the city.
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| The view from our Hotel Window |
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| Keeping Dry |
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| An historic Chapel (1400s) |
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| An Artsy City |
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| Hello, do you like my hat? Needed a warmer one, but noticed several glaring looks from teenage girls--what, not age appropriate? Ok, there's a pom pom on it and I'll give it to Adrienne. |
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| The Tatra Mountains and a View of Zakopane from above |
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| More of the Tatra Mountains |
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| Skyping Adrienne, she said this hat makes me look like a Newsie. Could it be that she wants two new hats to wear in Rexburg? |
