Street Scenes

Here are some pics from the Main Square...we go there almost daily..even if only for an hour. It is fun to just sit and watch.....

Wieliczka Salt Mines

Yesterday we spent the day in a suburb of Krakow; Wieliczka, where there is Europe's oldest salt mines. It is a famous tourist attraction and the lines to get in were huge. We waited nearly 1.5 hours and as all of you know, I am NOT the most patient person so this truly tested me. The 2 hour tour was worth the wait. The mines are amazing..we were 135 meters below the earth visiting various shafts that have huge salt carvings of various figures of history. There is a large chapel with magnificent chandeliers made of salt. The size and scope of the place is hard to comprehend; as well as its age. It has been in operation since the Middle Ages. OK.. there will be a test on all of this when I get back. But once again, the crowds were here and waiting in line, outside in the heat, with people who do not believe in deodorant...well you get the picture (unfortunately, we SMELLED it). I think though that we were blending in with the locals in this regard if you catch my drift...or my scent. Later that day (after a shower) we went to a Mall in Krakow. This place has 3 levels and makes Ross Park Mall look tiny. Despite its size and grandeur, it was NOT air conditioned...what is up with that....no matter what you do or where you go you end up sweating...and I am back to writing about B.O.
Today we rented bikes and went al along the Wisla River near the Wawel Castle. It was raining but it was still fun to get out and ride. They have special side walks for bikers so it is a great way to get around in the city.

Stasha and Jan in Krakow

Today we had dinner at the home of Stasha and Jan Kaganek in their small apartment in Krakow. They are both in their 70s and Stasha probably spent the past 2 days cooking. We had the delicious mushroom stuffed cabbage and home made pierogis that melt in your mouth. She would light up with joy when she saw someone taking 2nds or 3rds and always ran over to their plate to put more gravy or sauce on whatever you put on your plate. We were all apparently being rather skimpy on our gravy and sauce portions. Jan talked me into 2 shots of very cold Polish vodka and pressed to fill my glass a third time but I held firm at two. Lyle held firm at....I I lost count. We sat around and talked most of the evening with the help of translations by Kristopher and Jan's niece Helen who lives in England and was visiting. She reminded me strongly of my Slovak aunts..very pretty..very talkative. The kids were rather bored on this evening as they were often asked questions in Polish by Stasha or Jan that they did not understand, were being force-fed or they were being squeezed, kissed, hugged or otherwise man-handled. They did like most of the food and they got lody (ice cream) for dessert which always brings a smile to their faces. Nick was eager to play Jan at chess and was even a bit nervous. He won the game much to Jan's surprise and we all were teasing Jan the rest of the night about the loss. I think he does not like to lose and it kept weighing on his mind throughout the night...he kept saying that he had not played in 35 years and that Nick had an unfair advantage because he plays against computers. It probably did not help that he had a few shots of vodka prior to the game...but maybe it does help...who knows. We were invited to the home of Peter (Stasha and Jan's other son) later in the week for another family meal.

Arrived to Krakow

I am posting some pics of the typical houses that we saw in Zakopane even though we are not there anymore...I thought that the Valeriano clan would appreciate them as we all love houses. We took a 2.5 hour bus ride from Zakopane to Krakow. The bus was big & comfortable and the driver chose NOT to pass other cars at high rates of speed..thank God. We got into our new digs...yet another 4th floor apartment...at every stop we have had to climb and climb to get to our place; dont these people know that there are elevators now in the 21st century. It is in an old building with big rooms and high ceilings. It is a bit decrepit...the towel holder fell right off at the weight of a dry hand towel and the bathroom is situated right next to the kitchen..well actually IN the kitchen. But the apartment is located in a great spot though so for what we are lacking in modern amenities, we make up for with location, location location. It is right next to the famous Florianska Gate and only a 5 minute walk to the Stare Miaste (Old Town). We met briefly with Jan and his son Christopher....they both said that I have not aged a bit...no snickering out there; so they both have declining vision..let me bask in the moment. We are having dinner with the Kaganek clan tomorrow...Stasha is similar to Slovak mother as she cooks and cooks and fusses over what you have not eaten. She makes awesome pierogis and golabki (stuffed cabbage) so I have told the kids that they are not allowed to eat anything before we go so that we are good and hungry. Hopefully we will NOT be presented with the now infamous (to IAG) mushrooms in spit.

Mt. Gubalowka, Zakopane

Our final day in Zakopane was today as we leave for Krakow in the AM. We decided to visit a the small Mt. Gubalowka which over looks the city with great views. We planned to go up by cable car but, as usual the ticket line was LONG...it is like Disney here. Anyway, being the impatient Americans that we are, we think, hey we are tough...we climb this little mountain; afterall we walked 9 km yesterday (our chests puffed out with pride). Little did we know that this 300 meter climb was STRAIGHT up...I mean, I felt like the old Batman TV show where he and Robin are climbing straight up the side of a building (but without the bat-rope). And when we all finally reach the top, huffing, puffing, wheezing and gasping for air..we are greeted by the two hot sun bathers (view above)...one look at these two would stop even the most die hard sun worshipper cold turkey...and to think they are only 35. At the top, the ridge is lined with more booths of Polish traditional wares, foods, activties and other attractions. It was a carnival like atmosphere where we tried some gofry , waffles with fruit and whipped cream, some lody, ice cream and still more ocsyki, smoked goat cheese. In all of Zakopane there are literally an ice cream or cheese stand every 5 feet...the lactose intolerant would never survive. After we ate and took in some views, we headed down the mountain via ski lifts. Nick was not thrilled with this mode of transport..but it beat walking down. And as with everyday here, it got dark and gloomy around 3PM and a thunder storm came and went.

Lake Morskie Oko (Eye of the Sea)

Our 3rd day in Zakopane took us about half hour away to a mountain lake: Morskie Oko. It is near the town of Polana Palencia and you can only get to within 9 kilometers of the lake by bus or car as they do not allow anything but people or horses along the road leading to the lake. So you must decide to walk the 9 km or take a horse drawn carriage. The Grabers toughed it out on the way there....and pooped out on the way back. It was amazing to see the crowds of people once again...the young and the old just flock to these places. When we were climbing the 9 km and all feeling pretty tired, we would look beside us and see some 80 years old couple with canes walking..or worse yet, the physically challenged...we were humbled (OK, humiliated) so we forged on to the end. We also noticed and admired a bit the way that these Poles make money on EVERTHING. We have to pay to use the toilet, pay to walk a trail, pay to take a freaking photograph...it is ridiculous...but now we can understand where Nick gets it from..it is in his blood. Once again the mountain weather was fickle..starting out nice and sunny and ending with clouds and rain. Anna and Ed went to Krakow today so we will meet up with them on Wednesday when we arrive. Now we are all resting in our guesthouse after the long day of walking; we will all certainly sleep well this night.

Tatras National Park, Zakopane

Our second day in Zakopane was much better than the first...and warmer. It was a bit chilly but at least there was no rain and we did not need to resort to any drastic measures such as reading...Lyle, Rina and I went on a 2-3 hour hike in the Tatras National Park along the famous Droga Pod Reglami, I have no idea what it means. Nick was protesting the exercise by going to McDonalds while we took the walk. He found two McDonalds, a KFC and a Pizza Hut here``sort of sad really but hey, why should we Americans be the only ones dying of heart disease.
The hike was very different than the Slovak mountain climbing we did. It was all very dense forest...a bit damp..and not as difficult. After the hard work we treated ourselves to Nalesniki, a sort of crepe wrapped around cheese and fruit topped with powdered sugar and Zapiekanka, a kind of cheesy bread with ketchup and smoked goats cheese and other items sold all along the main Krupowski Street. This street is closed to cars but it is so clogged with people that you literally have to stand and wait until a space opens up to move forward. After that we met Anna, Ed and the kids for a quick kava, coffee and then we went up some cable cars for a view above the city...our camera died but we are going there again so we will post some pics there. We just had a sauna and whirl pool in the basement of our guest house and there is a pool table as well. Nick is fast becoming the Polish version of Minnesota Fats....he will start to hustle the locals for afew zloty if we stay here much longer.

Bad Weather in Zakopane

Since it is freezing and pouring down rain..we are all bored so I am allowing Rina to pick ANY pictures that she wants on my blog....be prepared to see me looking bad. We are hoping for an improvement in the weather tomorrow or we may have to resort to drastic measures....reading a book....the one of the creature is a hedgehog that we saw wandering around the yard at Peter and Monikas house in Slovakia.....come to think of it...he might have been part of the famous Slovak meal that Slovak Mother prepared for us....tastes like chicken.

More Pics

Here are some more pics.....Slovak Goodies...YUM

Sink for Midgets

Curious about my title I am sure...well our last day in Poprad was pretty casual. The morning was spent visiting Poprads main square. We were going to go to another castle but the weather took a turn for the worse so we opted to spend the rest of the day at AquaCity at their indoor thermal pools (OK, I wanted to sneak some more peeks at the Speedos...you all caught me). So I am posting some pics from the square.....so what about the sink for midgets. Well, on the day we arrived to Spisska Sobota, the kids noticed an additional apparatus in our bathroom. Nick yelled that we had a sink for midgets. We went on to explain the name and purpose of this device...the kids were incredulous...they really thought we were kidding. They had trouble remembering the name (bidet) so they referred to it as the bum washer. It later served as my laundry station as we could find no place for laundry service and there aint no laundromats in Slovakia. Yes this grossed out the kids a bit...but we really never used it for its intended purpose so stop looking all disgusted.
We got a driver to take us to Zakopane Poland today....I had to close my eyes during most of the drive. He liked to pass other cars at hairpin curves at high rates of speed. I lost a few years of my life on that 2 hour drive through the mountains.

Poprad/Stary Smokovec

We arrived two days ago to Poprad-Spisska Sobota Slovakia thanks to a 3 hour drive with Peter. The guest house in which we are staying was built in the 17th century...it is really cool with a medieval theme. the kids have their own loft with a small wooden door that tall folks would have a hard time fitting under. Poprad was our city choice because of it's close proximity to the AQUACITY park and to the High Tatras mountains. Our first day was spent in the AquaCity.....Nick was quite pleased to see that he was not the whitest person in a bathing suit for a change. We started out doing the "speedo alerts"...but got tired as EVERYONE was wearing them here!! I really did not know where to look sometimes!! The weather was quite cool but the pools are thermal...naturally warm from springs. There were slides, saunas, thermal pools with bars for drinking and a huge lap pool.
Our second day (today) was spent taking the train up the mountain to Stary Smokovec... a small mountain village. We then took a cable car up even higher so that we could hike up some trails in the mountains. We managed to go up to about 2000 meters high..the views were amazing! The trails were pretty tough too..lots of climbing over big boulders...looking out over the edge made me a bit queezy...the kids were troopers. Actually, i was the one that pooped out and wanted to turn back. In my defence, I have a cold...we ALL do! And we have long since run out of "puffs plus"..I love the Slovak mountain views...their rough tissues...not so much. All in all we must have walked 12-15 miles today. the kids are swimming again at the Aqua City while Lyle and I unwind on the computers.....hopefully someone won't have to come and pick up our faces off of the keyboards......

Dolny Mostenec, Slovakia

I am a bit behind on the blogs due to lack of access to the internet so please bear with me! We arrived to the tiny village of our friends Peter and Monika a day late. The Slovak village is complete with dirt roads, chickens, cows, old "studda bubbas" in shawls and two, count 'em two small pubs. Needless to say that the kids were sorry about the passing of the goat...or maybe he was last Sunday's dinner (no one really knows...) the Slovak Mother, as we refer to her as we never did learn her name, was also the typical Slovak mother. She would prepare enough food for an army and frown when we only managed to eat 1/2 of it. She fussed over Nicolas the most for some reason much to his frustration! He has never been hugged, kissed and squeezed so much in his life. We were even blessed by Holy Water (I am NOT kidding!).
Our first day was slow...we just hung out in the village, visiting with various family members who now live in their own homes on the property of the Slovak Mother. They all have small children who viewed us with the same kind of curiosity one shows to a strange animal...you want to see it, maybe even pet it; but you don't want to get too close lest the creature bite you!
On our 2nd day, Peter took us to a cool city of Bojnice...complete with a castle! i will post pics of this castle as it was very beautiful and reminiscent of those that you see in fairy tales. We took the tour....in Slovak of course. We just learned to laugh when everyone else did and look where everyone else was looking. Lyle would throw in his own versions of translations of course....Nick was admonished for touching stuff.....Rina was taking pictures...lots of pictures!
the next day was our final day with our friends. Slovak Mother made a huge meal....and I am not talking about anything LITE. Her food was delicious...but we all felt the tug of our jeans tightening up a bit after only 2 days of her cooking! We said our good-byes...Slovak Mother cried and kissed us, and hugged us, and kissed us again. She gave us food for the trip...you know it is a 3 hour trip so we must have enough food for 3 days! She gave us gifts of Slovak liquor, handmade doilies, candies and other Slovak goodies. It was great seeing our Slovak family..it felt like home.