Zakopane - What to See, What to Taste

As we had settled in the neighbouring town of Murzasichle, we went to Zakopane only to shop, refuel, eat, and pass the time on rainy weekdays. Through the entire town a river winds, over which there are several small bridges. One pedestrian street, around which all the shops, pubs, souvenir stalls, and snack booths are concentrated. One of these sweets is kurtosz - a sizeable warm dough roll with a hollow centre and various toppings - cinnamon, chocolate, pieces of nuts, etc.

In the stalls along the roads and in the town, local smoked cheeses are sold - oscypki - which visually resemble sweets: roasted, yellowish with patterns. Cheese made from sheep's and goat's milk, quite salty and smoky. Ice cream here is served in an unusual way: three scoops in the middle and two wafer cones on either side - lody bałwanki - which really does look like a snowman.

Both in Zakopane and elsewhere in Poland, the church architecture was striking - both the ancient traditional buildings (wooden shingle roofs from the ridge almost to the ground, with wood-carved decorations) and modern ones with an interior unusually ascetic for a Catholic church. We visited the wooden Kaplica na Jaszczurówce (built 1904–1907) right before entering the town - worth stopping for. And in Zakopane itself, a modern place of worship with large colourful stained glass windows. At every corner travellers are accompanied by the many crucifixes - on roadsides, by houses, in small shrines at tree trunks along the paths.

Despite the fact that the town is fairly noisy, in one of the river's tributaries near a park path one can, for example, come across a family of roe deer. Quite a few sports clothing shops in town, along with shops belonging to the affordable brands we know well - such as H&M, CCC, Reserved, etc. One should not expect a particularly good quality shopping trip here, though prices are more attractive than at home (due to the EUR/PLN exchange rate).

Kasprowy Wierch - 1,987 m above sea level

Near the town, at the place called Kuźnice (accessible on foot in approximately 1 hour from Zakopane's centre), there is a station from which a cable car can take one up to the summit (ticket price per person, return - 69 PLN; incidentally, buying online is more expensive). The cable car first runs to the intermediate summit Myślenickie Turnie (1,360 m above sea level), then one must transfer to another car for Kasprowy Wierch.

You are lucky if the weather is clear and sunny - the views, of course, are fantastic. In our case, on the second leg upward we could see absolutely nothing - a white wall of fog outside the cable car windows. The day was overcast, drizzle was falling. At the top the wind was unpleasant and rain fell, but spirits were lifted by the awareness of standing on one's very first mountain summit. The maximum permitted time at the top is 1 hour 40 minutes. There one can enjoy the views, shop at the souvenir stall, and have a bite at the bistro.

Incidentally, a very good resource in Latvian about mountain trail routes and the like is www.tatri.lv, where we also found information about the possibility of riding up to the top.

Where to Eat?

I can definitely recommend Restauracja "U Studniara" (Sądelska 119, 34-531 Murzasichle) - a place where one can enjoy the local colour. The pub is furnished in a restrained national style. On weekend evenings a local folk group plays. An interesting and veeery filling dish is Placek po zbójnicku - two potato pancakes with a hearty goulash between them, served with an assortment of three different salads. In southern Poland the menu features a lot of hałuski - flour dumplings, served with a bacon sauce, sour cream, or other accompaniments.

The second place I want to recommend is also fairly close to Zakopane - Karczma U Leśnego (Tadeusza Kościuszki 170, 34-530 Bukowina Tatrzańska). Polish cuisine dishes, among which I tasted something unusual for my palate - zupa chrzanowa - horseradish soup, served with a potato pancake and pieces of bacon. The inn is set over three floors: solid wooden furniture, wall paintings, and hunting antlers on the walls.

In Zakopane itself I recommend going into one of the cukiernia (confectioneries), where one can indulge in fantastic sweets. One confectionery chain that owns several outlets in the area is Góralskie Praliny. There one can both buy chocolate confectionery and sample various desserts.