Oscypek-licious

 Oscypek is a traditional cheese in Zakopane (town in the south of Poland, at the foot of Tatry mountains).  It is served warm straight from the grill with some cranberry jam.  We ate it several times per day, and still not sick of it.

We were so lucky to have tour guides with us the whole time.  Agata and Sebastian visit here every year and know their way around some great sights and restaurants.

They took us to a typical Góralska restaurant on the first night and we had an incredible dinner, washed down with Śliwowica (70%).  Gosia doesn’t remember the main course :)

(This is pig fat / lard spread with dill cucumbers - yum!)

Before all fun in Zakopane began, we had the sobering experience of visiting Auschwitz and Birkenau on the way.  What to say…It was as horrible and confronting as you would expect.  We were all shaken up for days.  Śliwowica was therefore a much needed medicine.

Maybe the only “fun” fact from the experience was the guide explaining a random-looking water dam in the centre of the huge area that was the Birkenau camp. Apparently Allianz (the same one still in business today) would only insure the camp if it had such a storage unit for use in the event of a fire!!!

Interestingly, Auschwitz was somewhat of a trial run at the beginning of the war, with only 1 crematorium and 12 accommodation blocks.  Once it was over capacity (within 2 years), forced labour was used to construct a camp nearby (3km away) - Birkenau, which was orders of magnitude larger.  It had 4 additional crematoriums to keep up with the demand for burning of up to 6000 bodies a day.  

On a much lighter note, once Gosia sobered up from her first (and last) Śliwowica experience, she proceeded to get lost.  She claims she couldn’t find the ski jump landmark we said will be right in front of her as she was walking to meet us for a hike:

She told me she was in the Scouts with Agata at school and she knew how to use a compass.  Clearly a false memory.

What Gosia missed out on my getting lost was an awesome hike. Took a few hours to weave our way up through some beautiful forrest, and then the last few hundred meters (above the tree line) was rocky and steep. The views of the whole valley that hosts Zakopane laid out before us. Perfect.

In fairness, I was prepping an eulogy for my aunty’s funeral, so maybe getting lost is excusable…?

The next day, we did another (more leisurely walk) to Gubałówka.  In fact, we took a chair lift up.  

More oscypek, sausages and beer at the top.

Apparently we needed some encouragement along the way, in the form of sipping from a bottle of Wiśniówka at 10am…(this one was only 32% - no problem)

The weather was perfect until the last day.  But we spent it well, doing some shopping, browsing some tourist shops in the Main Street and the market.

We got to enjoy the luxuries of our apartment, too.  Which was pretty specky.  Thanks Agata!

The cobblestone streets are a little uneven, and I accidentally fell into another gofr:

Łhy Łouldn’t You Go To Łódź

City much improved.

5 star Hotel Agata exceeded expectations.

Gosia cried for 4 days straight.

The End.

This one is a tough one to write.  I’ll keep it brief, so I don’t cry on day 5.

Agata and Sebastian welcomed us with champagne, delicious home baked treats, and the warmth of a lifelong friendship. Kuba gave up his room, Agata did our washing, Sebastian’s Uber service was reliable and their dog Abbi (their gorgeous golden retriever) made sure we had our slippers.  Livin’ the dream.

Their hospitality far made up for the sad news we received of my aunty’s passing. Although not entirely unexpected, the news hit us all hard, especially mum, who is also here with us and not able to be by her BIL side.

Bitter-sweet few days.

After many years, I saw my dad, my beautiful cousin and her family, old friends of my mum and spent unforgettable hours with old school friends.  Agata organised a 30 year class reunion.  A tender reminder of how deep and genuine our friendships are -  transcendent of time and place.  I miss you all already.  But, they all promised me a visit, so no problem.  See you again very soon! (As I write this in the car on our way to Munich for the Oktoberfest, Sabek is playing “Nie płacz Ewka”…So I’m crying again…)

I will keep the details of these few unforgettable days to myself, because it is impossible to put to paper.  Photos will have to do.

Next stop - Zakopane. 

Mazury - oh deer! It’s beautiful!

Jake’s wish to see a bear did not come true this trip, but we managed to nearly kill ourselves just missing a deer as a welcome to Mazury Consolation Prize.

Once we finally found our quaint little cottage in a small village called Pogobie Tylne, the magic began.

Mesmerising sunrises, bonfires, walks in the forest and a trip to Mikolajki (a town set on the largest lake in the region) were but a few of the highlights.

There are about 2000 lakes in the area, so 2 days was obviously not long enough to explore it, but we got a good taste and appreciation of just how beautiful my country is.

On the way to Mazury we visited Malbork castle.  Given the fact that it is the largest castle in the world measured by land area, we didn’t have enough time to explore it fully, but admired it from the outside.

Ooops….

Cheers, Piers and Diabetes Fears

Sitting at Canis bar, 3 min walk from our apartment, capturing our thoughts of Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot before we farewell  the Baltic region for Mazury:

In today’s episode of ‘Eating Your Way Through Poland’:

(For all those confused at home, this is a dried sunflower head that you pick the seeds from and shell/eat one at a time.  Zazu would have had a field day!  Jake is also having a field day, because it keeps me VERY quiet for a VERY long time.)

No shortage of dietary nostalgia so far 😀

On matters not related to food, we feel like we’ve made some great choices so far.  Staying in Gdansk and specifically in the quaint apartment overlooking the main drag enabled us to make the most of our time here.  

We took a day trip (on the dreaded Polish train!) to Sopot and Gdynia yesterday.  Unsurprisingly, the ticket machine was broken (no problem = Gosia “speaks” Polish so she got this.) In an even more stereotypical fashion the grumpy train driver who was responsible for manual ticket sales, but ABSOLUTELY ONLY after he made Gosia go inside the carriage, he turned his chair around and opened a little metal window into the cabin and proceeded to make the $2 sale. 

Sopot immediately had quintessential beach resort feel (we would have thought this even if there were not flags everywhere celebrating the town’s 200th anniversary as a spa holidays destination).

The vibe was like a hybrid of Santa Monica and the French Riviera.

Standout feature is the Molo (wooden Pier) which (at over 500m in length) is the longest wooden pier in Europe. Gosia was dirty about paying $2 to walk on in, but undeniably good value…..

 

(The long pier had a restaurant tourist attraction mid way out, just like low-rent Santa Monica.)

(The Grand Hotel and the boats had Cannes/Nice feels - again, on a lower but still significant budget!)

The ‘famous’ crooked house on the Main Street leading down to the pier could 100% be avoided - only downvote for this charming place. 

Next stop was Gdynia only a short train ride further away from Gdansk. It was pretty disappointing as it had a really industrial feel, the “attraction”of the central sculpture and fountain (Kosciusko Square) failed to take our breathe away. We did, however, find a nice beach area and had a late lunch and some beers before jumping the train back to Gdansk. 

Today, based on unanimous recommendations, we spend the majority of our day at the WW2 museum in Gdansk (some of it was looking for Jacob who was missing in action for 1.5 hours).

(ADDIT: Jacob actually paid attention and learnt something from this visit, unlike other people who just wanted to hunt down more desserts).

Solemn and severe as expected, but a beautifully curated museum and a worthwhile experience.  

We’ll spare you the history lesson, but check out Gosia at the front and some fun Xmas ornaments:

See ya in Mazury!