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.
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:
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