Zakopansney Land

I need to be less sporadic with these blog updates, don’t I?

Krakow has been absolutely beautiful these last few weeks. You should wish that you lived here. Really… crystal clear blue skies, cool breezes and warm sun, fewer tourists. I don’t mind the tourists, really, it’s just that there are so many of them. It’s nice to be able to walk around Old Town without constantly running into someone these days. Now I just have to watch out for the flying rats… I mean, pigeons. Those are still everywhere, unfortunately.

Last weekend, I was able to experience the Polish Tatra Mountains for the first time. International Messengers had their staff conference in Poronin, Poland – a town a few miles away from Zakopane which is a popular hiking and skiing and other miscellaneous outdoor activities destination. Here’s the thing about Zakopane: It’s really pretty there, but I felt like I was in Disneyland the whole time. You know how when you go to Disneyland (and I don’t really know this, since I was only at Disneyland once, when I was 6… but this is how I picture Disneyland) they have streets that make you feel like you are in some old-timey town in, let’s just say for the sake of this discussion, Eastern Europe. Perhaps even Poland. Well, that’s what Zakopane is like. As you walk down the main street there, you are surrounded by kitschy souvenir stands and “traditional” music. I was expecting to see a sign for Ye Olde Snowboarde Shoppe any second, and have Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck walk around the corner decked out in their “traditional” Polish mountain people outfits. No sooner did I express this thought to the people I was with, when I saw this:

Yes, that is a giant man-squirrel, my friends. Not Mickey, but close enough. *Cue Twilight Zone music.* That is the best picture of the man-squirrel that I could get without him chasing me down for money. Next we moved along to the It’s a Small World ride… wait, no. That wasn’t here. We continued walking down the street, bought some gofry – a waffle-like food with whipped cream and/or fruit on top – and encountered the next clue that we were, indeed, in some sort of amusement park.

The somewhat creepy – change that to totally creepy - giant Smurfs. Money also required for photograph which is why you again see only the backs of these blue giants.

But I have saved the best for last.

At least they have beautiful, life-like horses that you can insert money into to ride in the Polish mountains. Zakopansney Land would be nothing without these magnificent stallions. See how excited I am?

And here are the houses around the facility we stayed in during the conference. Fun times.

The end.

Always bring the TP, or a cabbage leaf.

It's probably time for me to update this little weblog, isn't it?

Recently I had a friend visit me from America, and we were able to travel to North Poland - to Torun, Gdansk, and Malbork. I learned several things during this trip:

1. All of these places are really beautiful and you should visit them.
2. The pigeons are everywhere. They are inescapable.
3. The Teutonic Knights built some five star medieval castles, which even included toilet towers and a place to dry out your cabbage leaf toilet paper! Nice!
4. Germans are everywhere. They are inescapable. In Gdansk, which was once known as Danzig, I think there were more Germans than Polish people. It's interesting to note though that the default language of choice, even in Gdansk, was English.
5. Nicholas Copernicus was born in the same town where gingerbread was created. Coincidence? I think not! 6. The Gdansk shipyards, where the Solidarity movement started, are ENORMOUS. We're talking miles upon miles upon miles of ships, half-ships, and scrap metal.
7. Always bring a roll of toilet paper with you.
8. Poland has gone through so many things that are historically significant over the last thousand years that I can't even wrap my mind around it.
9. Generally speaking, trains are nice forms of transportation.
10. Pictures are more entertaining than lists of things I've learned. Enjoy!

Asia, a student from one of the summer camps, allowed my friend and I to stay with her in Torun. Here is a picture of me and Asia looking (or at least trying to look) intelligent in front of Copernicus' house.

What does any normal tourist do in Torun? Eat gingerbread of course! But we weren't normal tourists, so we went to one of the coolest coffee houses of all time and played Rummikub.

Asia took us to a nature preserve across the river from the main city. It was purty.
Gdansk was purty too. This picture was taken in the main square. Most of those building behind me were rebuilt after the war. All of those people behind me are probably German.

Look! Beyond the water in the foreground, and that small spit of land and over yonder past those trees... the Baltic Sea! Beautiful, isn't it? That's as close as I got, unfortunately.Been to any castles built by the Teutonic Knights lately? No? That's a pity, cause I have, and it was awesome! This picture shows only a very small portion of this place. Toilet tower not shown.

These kids were playing soccer (football for you international readers) next to a castle built in the 1300s. How cool is that?!? (Toilet tower behind the tree on the left.) Ok, so maybe you wonder why I am so fascinated with this toilet tower. I'll tell you why... because it was brilliant! It was designed so that any waste would drop down into the moat (where those kids are playing soccer now) and then it would flush out into the river. This meant that the castle was very sanitary, a great feat during the 1300s... this also meant that the people using the river in the next town probably didn't have the best water to drink... but you can't think of everything, right?

So, I hope you enjoyed your pictoral journey through North Poland. And if that picture of us playing Rummikub doesn't make you want to visit, or even move, to Poland, I don't know what else will.