A town in the Tatra Mountains near the border to Slovakia, Zakopane reminded me a lot of Gatlinburg, Tennessee with the Smoky Mountains - especially on the afternoon we arrived. There was a lot of fog when we got into the city on the PolskiBus. Because of this, we couldn't immediately see the beauty the backdrop of the city had to offer. I took that evening to really relax at the hostel because I've been getting somewhat bus-sick on our rides between cities and to our various destinations.
The town was used as a sort of healing destination in its early days. Our tour guide said the oxygen content in the air is higher, which might also have contributed to the fact that my legs didn't feel nearly as tired as they probably should have. We had a gorgeous day to hike around the town, though. There were hardly any clouds in the sky, which provided us with a brilliant view. At the top of the lookout point we hiked to, Josh and I were singing songs from The Sound of Music because that's exactlywhat the view reminded us of.
We took a sort of cable car thing to the top of a mountain, and that view was absolutely spectacular. It almost didn't look real. It was nice to have a minute - or thirty - to stop and really appreciate the view. The fact that Slovakia's border is just on the other side of the mountains was really cool to me. I guess it's like how we are with Canada! I was so glad the skies were clear for us, unlike the evening before.
Although the hiking in Zakopane was thuroughly exhausting, I was glad I got to see everything. The scenery and the architecture we discussed, which focused a lot on nationalism and the struggle to find a Polish national identity. It made sense that they would look to a smaller town to find a representation of their national culture, rather than a city like Krakow which had had the influences of the world.
The town was used as a sort of healing destination in its early days. Our tour guide said the oxygen content in the air is higher, which might also have contributed to the fact that my legs didn't feel nearly as tired as they probably should have. We had a gorgeous day to hike around the town, though. There were hardly any clouds in the sky, which provided us with a brilliant view. At the top of the lookout point we hiked to, Josh and I were singing songs from The Sound of Music because that's exactlywhat the view reminded us of.
We took a sort of cable car thing to the top of a mountain, and that view was absolutely spectacular. It almost didn't look real. It was nice to have a minute - or thirty - to stop and really appreciate the view. The fact that Slovakia's border is just on the other side of the mountains was really cool to me. I guess it's like how we are with Canada! I was so glad the skies were clear for us, unlike the evening before.
Although the hiking in Zakopane was thuroughly exhausting, I was glad I got to see everything. The scenery and the architecture we discussed, which focused a lot on nationalism and the struggle to find a Polish national identity. It made sense that they would look to a smaller town to find a representation of their national culture, rather than a city like Krakow which had had the influences of the world.