Blogs from Lesser Poland, Poland, Europe - page 62

Went to Zakopane which is located at the base of the Tatry Mountains. You may recall that I went to the High Tatras in Slovakia. Well this time I am on the Polish side. I wanted to do a nice 6-hour walk, so went to the Tourist Info who showed me a decent route from Kuznice to Gasienicowa Hala and then to Czarny Staw (pretty lake). I'm not exactly the world's fastest walker as I like to enjoy the scenery and take photos. Even so I got to the lake in 1.5 hours without raising a sweat. This wasn't good enough as I needed to burn off the many Czech beers and carbs I had ingested the previous week. So I decided to keep going and took the green route to Zadni Granat. I must explain ... read more

Poland is an extremely rewarding and fascinating tourist destination. The geographic location of the country in the heart of Europe has led to a turbulent past, including several occupations by foreign invaders, yet the country has embraced it's future in the European Union with alacrity and is destined to again be an economic power in the region. My focus on this visit is the beautiful city of Krakow, the medieval capital of Poland that is crammed with historic buildings, as the city was spared the destruction wrought on Warsaw by Luftwaffe bombing in World War ll. Krakow can also serve as the gateway to several fascinating day trips, and I've spent nearly a week in this enjoyable city. To recap from the previous journal, dear reader, I took a night train from Prague and arrived early ... read more

Here is finally a continuation of the summary of the three-cities tour. After Prague, we went for three days to Krakow, Poland. It is a very simple but beautiful city. A few parts of it strangely reminded me of Minneapolis, actually, which is random. Anyway, the people in Poland were very friendly, and I felt very comfortable there. It was the least dazzling and fancy of all the three cities, but that can be a good thing. And the lack of tourists was a wonderful change from Prague. We toured a castle, which you will see in one of the pictures, and we went to the salt mines, which was a site like none other. Auschwitz was what I was totally NOT looking forward to because when I went to Dachau it was really emotional for ... read more

After an extensive bus ride to Krakow via Wroclaw, I went to a feast of traditional Polish food. I ate Pierogis, which are essentially dumplings filled with meat. After dinner, I walked through the city. Krakow was alive with street acts such as accordion players and people dressed in outlandish outfits so as to entice those who pass by to purchase their peddled goods or to persuade the gesture of appreciation marked by the dropping of a coin in a hat. The night was passed with drinks while we watched the hundreds of people crowded and passing through the square. The following day, Thursday September 14, was spent on a morning walking tour of the city. I visited St. Mary's church in the main square known as the Rynek. In the middle of the Rynek was ... read more

Magda was kind enough to send us a copy of the newspaper article in the Krakow Gazette, as well as translate it from Polish to English so that we could understand it. Here's the translated text: Gazeta Krakowska Volunteers from United States were helping family with two disabled brothers. They want to live in house without barriers. Twelve’s group of volunteers from Thrivent Financial organization from United States was helping in constructional works for Tomasz Krzyszkiewicz. The help was able thanks to partnership between Habitat for Humanity and Polish Red Cross. Tomasz Krzyszkiewicz is taking care of his two disabled brothers, Czarek and Konrad. Both with birth palsy, one brother is blind. Both are moving on wheelchairs. Two years ago, Tomasz has started construction of the wooden house. But in meaning time, mother of three brothers ... read more