Tatra Mountain Resort
(With Chriselle outside a typical wooden chalet home in Zakopane in the Tatra Mountains)
Following the course of the beautiful Blue Danube past plum orchards, vineyards and sunflower fields, Llew, Chriselle and I left Hungary and traveled north passing Szentendre and Vyserhov, where we spied King Mattias’s hilltop fortress in the distance, to cross the border into Slovakia. Bratislava, the capital, where we made a brief stop, reminded us very much of suburban Bombay with its apartment building blocks–relics of Communist occupation–and its factories spewing exhaust fumes into the air.
Arriving in Breclav in the Czech Republic where we needed to change trains, we found ourselves boarding a spiffy Russian one. Our cabin, exclusive to the three of us, contained sleepers or couchettes that were remarkably comfortable and bathrooms that were spotless. This was to be our hotel for the night as we sped past Slovakia and entered Poland where we went through one of the toughest passport checks we’ve ever had. Eastern Europe is still unaccustomed to seeing South Asian tourists with American passports crossing borders without visas and we were something of a novelty for these people who stared at us everywhere on the streets and in the shops, particularly fascinated by the fact that despite our ethnic appearance, we spoke perfect English!
We arrived at Krakow, former capital of Poland, as dawn was breaking over the city, but we did not pause there for long, connecting immediately into a bus that took us south, back to the Slovac border to the resort town of Zakopane that nestles snugly at the feet of the beautiful sheep-studded Tatra Mountains. There, we made our home in a chalet-style log cabin in a pension called Krakowiana right off the main street of ul. Krupowski.
Zakopane was packed to bursting for the long weekend (The Feast of the Assumption is a national holiday in devoutly Catholic Poland) with local Polish people and tourists who thronged its main street (left). This is the winter capital of Poland as it offers world-class ski runs. The late Pope John Paul II, beloved son of the Polish people, often skied, hiked and trekked in the Tatras in his younger days. While we were there, the Annual Festival of Mountain Folk was in progress and the little mountain town was filled with highlanders in colorful traditional garb walking the streets with their sheep in tow.
Indeed, Zakopane is a sheep-rearing community and everywhere we went, we saw roadside stands selling mountain upon mountain of smoked sheep’s milk cheese that we apprehensively tasted and found to be perfectly scrumptious (left). Sheepskin throws, footwear, walking sticks, carved wooden profiles of mountain folk, wooden beaded jewelry, etc. were just some of the handicrafts sold in the huge craft fair that was mobbed with visitors. This was the perfect place to people-watch as carriages drawn by sturdy mountain horses took people clip-clopping around the town.
The cuisine of Zakopane was especially wonderful and we partook of two superb meals there. Lunch comprised of Polish sheep sausage and delicious hamburger patties washed down by Zywiec beer. For dinner we chose a cavern-like restaurant called Karczma Zbojecka, highly recommended by Lonely Planet for the quality of its grilled meats. Here we sampled grilled sheep’s milk cheese and zureck, a sour white soup—both of which were lip-smacking good. Llew’s mixed grill featuring pork chops, bacon and onions and my plecki (pronounced “platzki” meaning fried potato pancakes) were also delicious. This time we washed our meal down with Tyskie beer, the other brew for which Poland is famous. Chriselle sampled the local wines everywhere we went while I stuck with the beer, knowing that these regions are particularly famous for the quality of their hops and their ancient brewing techniques.
Zakopane has a very distinctive style of architecture seen in the chalet-like houses that dot the green-clad hillsides. Gingerbread trim distinguishes these structures that are made more remarkable by their attractive colors and the window-boxes from which a profusion of blooms spill out. If you’re looking for something fun to do, try simply walking down the main avenue, browsing for souvenirs in the stores that line the street or popping into the church that stands at the very end of the road. There are hundreds of stall selling sheepskin jackets, coats and throws, sturdy walking sticks, bright red wooden beaded necklaces and of course, sheep’s milk cheese. An interesting souvenir here are hand carved wooden plaques made on the street while you stand and watch. Sold for a song, one such plaque made a very unusual addition to our bounty of travel buys. Another unique souvenir are marble statues of the late Pope who is deeply revered in these parts. You will have the happiest time fingering these wares as beaming salesmen and women, eager to please, chatter about in a language we wish we could have understood.
Of all the countries we visited, Poland was the most reasonably priced in terms of restaurants and hotels. While the quality of the meals we consumed was always the highest, we never felt as if we’d burned a hole in our pockets.
Get to Poland while the going is good. It won’t be long before its entry into the European Union will jack up prices and bring crowds flocking to its pristine mountain resorts. Bollywood has already discovered Zakopane.Winter scenes in some of the newer films are shot on location in these resorts which try hard to replicate the snowy wilderness of Kashmir.