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Published: August 18th 2008
Just so everyone knows, if there are any wierd spellings in this entry it's because this Hungarian keyboard is crazy. Z and Y are mixxed up, and every symbol key is in a different spot. Crazy, I say - or is that Crayz?
So yep, I've been to Poland 5 times now! Count with me here. First I entered from Lithuania a few days ago, as I've already mentioned. That's one.
The day after my exploration of Krakow I took a train to Bielsko Biala, a city in southern Poland, to meet up with mom's cousin Monika and her husband Mirek, along with their daughters. They showed me around some of the local country, then treated me to lunch. In the evening we went for a walk up a small mountain near their house - nice views over the valley and the twinkling city lights of Ustron in the twilight!
The next day was rainy in the morning, so rather than do a planned hike Mirek and I just took the girls for a short walk before meeting up with Monika and going to Monika's mother's house in Jaworzynka for lunch. This is also right next to the
This one's for Mike
New K120 under construction in Wisla!house where Papa was born. It's amazing to see the countryside I've heard so much about!
In the afternoon I was handed off to Jozek, another of mom's cousins, and his family. They couldn't wait to show me around the area! We saw a residence of the Polish president, a new ski jump under construction, had a great view of the area from Koniakow, ate dinner with Jozek's parents and various other relations, and then went to the point where Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia all meet (very close by). So I walked into Slovakia, then Back to Poland; that was two. Then I walked into the Czech Republic, and back into Poland; that was three. Then we went to a good resturant just over the border in the Czech Republic for supper and came back to Poland afterwards, and that makes four. I guess you could even count a few half points for standing right at the point all three countries meet, but I'll ignore that for now.
Thursday I took my leave of the relatives. It was too short a stay! I definitely need to go back some time to spend more time meeting everyone.
The Gathering
Good times with the relatives! It felt like home! Anyways, around noon Jozek and his son Peter took me over the border into Slovakia to get me on my way. We stopped briefly at a really cool hilltop castle, then made a longer stop at some caves where we took a one hour tour. Really neat place! The caves were much bigger than any others I've seen before, and had millions of stalactites, stalagmites, columns, waterfalls of stone, and other crazy features. There was also an underground river and ponds that looked like they could play home to Gollum.
In the evening we found me a place to stay for a few nights in Nova Lesna, a tiny town on the foot of the Slovakian Tatra mountains. That's right, more hiking! Friday was a bit cloudy in the morning, but I headed off anyways and had a really good and long day up and over three passes and one mountain peak. Lots of fun sections scrambling up and ignoring the chains! Saturday started out sunny but quickly clouded up. I went ahead to tackle Mt. Rysy, and made it to the top in the middle of a cloud. Too bad, no views! However, this
peak is on the border with Poland (and is, I believe, the highest mountain in Poland) so I went to Poland one last time, my 5th, on this trip. On the way back down the weather continued to worsen and I got soaked in a thundershower - just glad I wasn't on top when that happened!
Sunday was more relaxing. I took a train to Kosice, Slovakia, where I spent a few hours. Very nice small city with a green belt running down the middle of the main avenue, and full of fountains and canals. I then caught another train to Budapest, where I am now exploring the city. Big place! It's a very dirty town though - I don't know if I'd like to spend much time here. And I still don't know where I'm going next... future update from a mystery location!
Until next time!
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Jozek
non-member comment
Bravo Liam
Greetnigs for You. We're glad that You're satisfied of beeing in Poland and Slovakia. We're waiting for updates on Yours blog, and we wish You all the best. Ela, Jozek, Piotrek, Adam