Blogs from Zakopane, Lesser Poland, Poland, Europe

As Renée MacIntosh is to Glasgow Arts and Crafts, Stanisław Witkiewicz is To Zakopane style. In era and aspiration. Willa Koliba was built for Zygmunt Gnatowski. Gnatowski needed a building where he could store his collection of ethnographic artifacts. Originally he aimed to build a simple hut based on existing Tatra architecture, but was convinced by Stanisław Witkiewicz, painter, to have a house in the newly emerging Zakopane style built instead. Witkiewicz, already a well-known artist, draughtsman and playwright, was eager to introduce a new local style of architecture to the region when he noticed that wealthy local residents began erecting houses in the Swiss folk style. Witkiewicz was aiming to introduce a national variety of rustic architecture to Poland, and based his sketches on local decorative motifs. Sketches of Koliba Villa were made in 1891 ... read more

Zakopane... A small town located in the southernmost part of Poland... and yet it attracts on average 2,5mln tourists a year... What makes it so desirable then? For one it’s the incredible Tatra mountains, and what comes with that are the endless opportunities for trekking in summer or skiing and cross country skiing in winter... But it’s also the different culture, slightly different language, different style of architecture and of course the food... I love it and I’ve been to this town many times already and even though each time I had the accommodation booked some time in advance, it never crossed my mind that it might be difficult to find something a week ahead of the arrival... As that’s more or less when we started looking for a place to stay there. And what a ... read more

Next morning we woke up to rain! We were due to get the bus to Zakopane so set about finding somewhere for breakfast then the bus station. Chaos! Long queues everywhere and very difficult timetables to follow. After standing in a long queue for ages and not moving we were advised to just go and try to get on the bus and pay the driver. We did this and thankfully were on our way soon after midday. The rain continued all day making the bus journey twice as long due to crawling traffic. We arrived at our accommodation in Zakopane like drowned rats! Thankfully it stopped in time for us to go into town for an evening meal. Next day dawned bright and clear and we headed for the mountains. We spent the rest of that ... read more

After the strenuous walk the day before, we decided to take it easy and chose a light trail through Dolina Chochołowska (Chochołowska Valley) for that day. Before we started our walk, first we drove to Chochołów itself. The village has a population of a bit over than 1000 people and for such a small village it certainly is very unique in its kind. It comprises mostly of the traditional highlanders’ wooden houses, dating back to the XIX century, lined up closely one to another along the main street. These kind of houses inspired Stanislaw Witkiewicz to create the Zakopane style of architecture. One thing that seems to be a bit out of place here is the stone gothic church set in the middle of the village, but besides that all the other buildings are aligned in ... read more

When we arrived at our guesthouse on Saturday evening, there was only 12C outside! What happened to the Polish summer??? I have to say I might have overestimated the weather a bit and quickly scanning through my bag in my head I realised that I might need to buy an extra long sleeve around here somewhere… But then we checked the forecast and it was meant to get better the next day so postponed shopping for now… that’s right, it was MEANT to get better! Ah well… I guess there’s no guarantee with the weather anywhere nowadays… After unpacking (meaning me dumping my bag next to the bed and my parents folding their clothes in the closet), we headed to the centre of Zakopane, Krupówki Street. You can find all sorts of shops here, quite a ... read more