First of all of you may have noticed the sudden appearance of a blog which I wrote weeks ago being published yesterday: it's a total mystery to me! Very confusing? !!
Anyway I have definitely scored some points in the Perfect Tourist Awards today under the category of 'Modes of Transport '. Not once, but twice (!) I have been on a horse-drawn wagon today!! There must be lots of points in that surely!
I would like to be able to say that it was because I am a horse lover from way back or I wanted to use an ancient form of transport or....... But the truth is it saved me walking up a hill for 9kms, and then down the hill on the way home. NB In my mind I could hear the voice of my private physician (aka Lauren) telling me to not overdo it, so I didn't walk with the others.
The point of the excursion was to go to see Morskie Oko, the Eye of the Sea, which is a beautiful green crystal clear lake surrounded by snow covered mountains in the Tatras.
First step was to catch a bus to go to the starting point, so we left at 9.00am to allow plenty of time before the rain predicted for 2pm started to fall. The air was crisp as we jumped on the bus and head for the mountains.
To our horror when we arrived there were buses and people everywhere: busier than Bourke Street.
Graz and I climbed aboard a horse-drawn wagon which soon filled with people not keen on walking to the top. The others started walking and for about an hour the two horses slowly followed the meandering road as it zig-zagged up the mountain. The scenery was beautiful: pines and cypresses reaching for the sky, burbling brooks, colourful wildflowers and glimpses of the craggy mountains and their snow covered tops. When we reached a flat part of the road the horses sped up but for the most part we trotted sedately along.
When we arrived Graz and I were trying to calculate how long it would be before the walkers appeared when suddenly they did appear - literally only a few minutes behind us. There were lots of shortcuts, which they had taken, that cut off some of the long curves in the road that the horse wagon had followed.
After a warming coffee and some delicious apple slice ( not strudel unfortunately!) We set out to walk the final couple of kilometres to the lake. It drizzled a bit so we kept getting our umbrellas out of our bags, and then putting them back when the sun broke through the clouds. It was chilly and we all had puffy jackets on, but very pleasant.
Finally we arrived at the Lake which was very beautiful so hundreds of photos were taken. The good news is that you will not be forced to look at them all - only a select few!
The others decided that one Lake was not enough for them and they had to climb up the steepest path they could find, so they set off for a walk around the lake and up to another ridge to get a closer look. In the photos you can see the dark ridge on the opposite side of the Lake and the second Lake was beyond that.
I, on the other hand, walked back to the wagon station and jumped on another wagon with a few other old, disabled or unwilling walkers and eventually when the wagon was full which took some time before we set of. But the wagon driver was concerned that I would be cold so he gave me a thick woollen rug to wrap around my legs as I only had 3/4 length pants. Nobody else got that special treatment!
All of the wagon drivers wear a traditional outfit consisting of embroidered cream woollen pants, brown jackets and flat brown leather hats. They reward the horses with huge feed bags at the end of the journey, which is very fitting as they work very hard.
I retraced my steps, caught the bus back to Zakopane and had some quiet time on my own at the apartment.
I did attempt to learn some Polish on the Rosetta Stones app but really Graz is a better teacher and it's easier to learn useful words in situ.
We are now having quiet time and a G&T before heading out for dinner.
Later. ......
We have had two sensational meals in local restaurants!
The previous night we decided to try a Polish Grill which we'd walked past a few times. We had assumed it to be a tiny homely restaurant but it was a huge restaurant complete with dance floor, live music and. ..meat! Huge amounts cooking over flames or in pans bubbling away. We ordered a mixed grill for 4 to do the 5 of us plus warm sauerkraut and salad. Finally a HUGE platter appeared with sausages, potatoes, chicken kebabs, lamb, bacon slabs and most importantly - the largest pork hock ever! To pep it up there was lots of horseradish, mustard, tomato sauce and garlic sauce. We made an excellent job of demolishing the lot, resisted the temptation to join the dancing and waddled home.
Tonight we had an incredibly cheap and very tasty meal at a cute little restaurant called the Milk Bar. Lots of pale wood and patterned light shades. For the princely sum of $6.00 AUD we had crunchy schnitzel with salad, more warm sauerkraut and beer or soft drink. It was self-service and at the end you had to return the dishes to a servery, which was quaint.
The most popular drink here is undoubtedly beer, and often with a slurp of berry cordial in it. It certainly makes it sweeter but also turns it a delightful pink.
Graeme gave it the thumbs up!
The good news is that tonic water is available to go with the gin the others arrived with (phew!), and I discovered that there is a delightful tomato juice that has tabasco in it. The lack of wine was thought to be quite a problem by some initially but we seem to have tracked some down, and we seem to be surviving on other alternatives!
Your well-fed and well-hydrated correspondent
Dianne
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