I can't stop thinking of
POPRAD...
It is so beautiful at the base of the mountains...and has a lot of tourist attractions all within an hour or less...plus around an hour and a bit, also gets you into
Poland » Krakow » Distance from Krakow to
Poprad is 114 kilometers. This air travel distance is equal to 71 miles.
By bus through the High Tatras
Trans-Bus Bukowina run regular scheduled services during the spring
and summer months from Zakopane to a remote beauty spot in the High
Tatras called Morskie Oko. Along the way, these services stop at Lysa
Polana on the border, but they do not actually cross into Slovakia. From
Lysa Polana there are local buses on to Poprad. You just need to walk
over the border bridge, a hike of about ten meters, to connect between
the two bus routes.
This is a journey that need not be rushed. It covers some glorious mountain country. Our top tip for a stopover is the
Slovakian village of Zdiar.
It is a long and straggly village, strung out along the flank of the
Biela Valley. It is bypassed by the main road and is easily missed. But
last month we took time out for Zdiar and it is an absolute gem. With
the land rising up north of the village to the slopes of Mount Magurka,
and superb views south to the Tatra summits, the location of Zdiar is
hard to beat.
Goral style
The village styles itself as a hub of Goral culture. The Gorals are
the local mountain people, pastoralists by inclination, who populate
parts of the Carpathian region. Several guest houses and small hotels in
Zdiar play the Goral card, offering food and entertainment that is
evidently typically Goral in character. It’s a neat piece of cultural
theater. Ultimately, though, Zdiar is above all just a good place to
be—a place to stop off for a day or two, breathe the clear mountain air
and relax.
From Zdiar to Zakopane
I guess from living in the flatness of Hungary all these years, where you can see from one side of Hungary to the other, on a clear day as it is so flat...any bump in the ground looks amazing!
So, I added a few clips from online about the area for you, as it is very historical too.
 |
A beautiful day on the side of a mountain... |
 |
You name it and they have built it up here...Not one house design seems to be repeated! |
 |
The snow had been pretty deep last week... |
 |
Heading back from the little ski slopes in the village...a 15 min walk from the Ginger Monkey...Will spend the first few days there next year, now I know my way around. Have to get my sea legs back before I go anywhere! |
 |
A very nice afternoon... |
 |
Little streams gurgling under the many little bridges... |
 |
Wow, there was a lot of snow around last week...They have a lot of newer tin rooves...must be better to cope with the snow, than tiles of the past??? |
 |
Almost every 3rd house is a restaurant here! |
 |
Accom everywhere... |
 |
The main highway passes through here to Zakopane in Poland, less than an hour away. Same distance from here to Zakopane as it is to Poprad. All mountain roads, in the snow. |
 |
Just more houses... |
 |
...and more houses...all different. |
 |
Spectacular... |
 |
They love their house art work here... |
 |
Some places are local shops... |
 |
Hahaha...funny little place, but it is a business! |
 |
Back at the Ginger Monkey car park area... |
 |
Night time cometh... |
 |
Find the driveway! |
 |
A little cosy restaurant... |
 |
Nice inside... |
 |
Thankfully the camera has better eyes than me. I couldn't see these people inside...Everything is sooo dark inside these places. |
 |
The bar!!! |
 |
Next day, the boys invited me to go to the ski resort about 20 mins away... |
 |
Right...OK...a bit of a freeze job overnight! |
 |
I'm surprised the cars start at all! |
 |
Gradually cleaning it off. They have special windscreen scrapers they use to clear the ice and frozen snow from the windscreens... |
 |
All good to go!Garry in the passenger seat, Andy driving...and the 17 yr old nephew sat in the back with me. |
 |
Heading off to the mountains for a few hours...a great ski area is 20 mins away... |
 |
This is the top of one mountain...and they had an overflow car park way up here! |
 |
Nice views up here... |
 |
Leaving the car park... |
 |
We had to park about a mile up the mountain as all the car parks were packed out! |
 |
Ski hire and lift prices...Cheap as...compared to the rest of Europe and even Romania is twice as much! |
 |
Inside the new lifts... |
 |
Brand new lifts this year... |
 |
Coming out of the ski hire shop and looking towards the new enclosed ski lifts. |
 |
This is one of the restaurants in this village... |
 |
All sorts of people have shops and accom places up here... |
 |
So...off the guys will go, up to the top and take the other lifts from there to the better slopes... |
 |
Nice cosy medium sized restaurant... |
 |
So many customers...amazing. |
 |
Jam packed at lunch time... |
 |
Found a fireplace and sat here while the boys did their thing on the ski slopes! |
 |
Hand craft overload...everywhere you looked! |
 |
Another busy waitress... |
 |
A display table in the restaurant!!! |
 |
The waitresses wore national costume... |
 |
The colours are so bright too... |
 |
The handiwork in these mountain places is amazing...Everything is sooo detailed. |
 |
Hahaha...one of those metal bottle guards... |
 |
So busy from 12 till 2pm...amazing. |
 |
OMG...I ordered a hot chocolate...and this is it! It was thick and like melted choc...Amazing. Had to eat it with a spoon...along with the thing they brought with it. |
 |
I have to get a shot of me in this position next year. |
 |
Not me...sighhhh... |
 |
So wishing this was me...but next time for sure. |
 |
Ooops... |
 |
I wished I was ready in time, but the guys were walking out the door to the car at the hostel and asked if I'd like to go with them...They were the brothers and nephew of the English owner, over from UK for the weekend. So I jumped in the car...and went for a look see...so glad I did. |
 |
At the bottom of the ski run, waiting to jump in the new enclosed chair lifts... |
 |
The guys headed off up the mountains... |
 |
A beautiful hand carved piece of wood in the tourist info office..., waiting to be hung... |
 |
Up back of this place is a kids ski school area... |
 |
Up the top of this slope, there are 3 more ski runs down each slope of the mountain...lots of lifts and chairs etc... |
 |
It was cloudy, then sunny...a weird day overall... |
 |
I toured this mountain top resort while the 3 guys went off skiing for a few hours on a 2 hour ski pass. Great idea. |
 |
Meanwhile...out on the balcony... |
 |
Nice sitting area to break up the eating areas... |
 |
Soooo much internal hand carved wood...amazing. |
 |
Back at the Hostel for a shower and get ready for the fun night and pub trivia game they have on Friday nights...Love the real colour of these tiles here...the blue colour ones were beautiful, but would not photograph the right colour! Nice hot and clean showers though... |
So, my couple of days up in the Tatras touring around is coming to an end, but next year I'm booking in for a 2 week stay and will head of into Poland and Zakopane and go to Krakow as it is not far away. the boys I went to the ski resort with said Krakow is an amazing city...everyone that goes there says the same. So many historical buildings and the sheer beauty of it all is wondrous.
OK...will go now...forgot to add the pics of the completed bathroom...looks rather like a whiteout in a snowstorm, but it is what I wanted!
Will see you all next week...
Stay safe. cool and big hugs to all,
Love,
Mary
xxxx
No comments:
Post a Comment