P O L A N D
 (Part Two)



Zakopane & Gorzow

Zakopane is a resort town 80 miles south of Krakow - about two hours by bus.  It lies at the foot of the Tatra Mountains.  It is the only alpine mountain range in this part of Europe.  Very lively, lots of touristy stuff, and beautiful scenery.  It's a big ski area in the winter.  We wished we had more than one afternoon and evening to spend here.	This is the view from the end car of the train ride to the top of the mountain.  The town is below.

 

We spent a couple fun and relaxing hours at the top of the mountain, looking down on Zakopane below from our sun-drenched picnic table outside the bar & grill.

 

Looking for a place to have dinner and watch the USA vs Czech Republic debacle, we stumbled upon one of the major highlights of our entire trip - Rooster Restaurant, the "Polish Hooters!"  WHO KNEW???   (click on the logo to learn all about this wonderul cultural phenomenon, proudly imported all the way from the U.S.A!)

We stayed at Hotel Sabala, one of the oldest Zakopane hotels, built in 1894. It is a beautifully restored historic building - "a historical monument recognizable at first sight."	The fun here was all too brief...	...and the next morning (with a 4 a.m wakeup call), we were on our way to Gorzow, via a quick stop in Berlin.

This is the train station in East Berlin, which was the most unwelcoming and least friendly place on our trip.  There was still a feel of the Iron Curtain era here, unlike what we experienced in Poland.	The train ride from Berlin to Gorzow takes about an hour and a half, not counting the stop at the German - Polish border to change trains and get passports stamped by both countries.	This will probably soon be an open border as Poland gets more and more assimilated with Western Europe as part of the European Union.
The trains were comfortable enough, but hot, especially due to the unseasonably warm weather we enjoyed on our entire trip.  Dragging along all our luggage made this a long day of buses, taxis, airplane, and trains.	We were happy to finally arrive at the train station in Gorzow.  The Polish people are very friendly, even to Americans, which is not always the case throughout Europe these days.	We were even happier to find some sidewalk tables outside a pub next to the train station where we relaxed and celebrated our day of travel finally being over.

Gorzow is Paul and Ewa's hometown, and their moms still live there. Paul's mom lives in the apartment where he grew up.  It is a very comfortable and nicely decorated place, and we felt very much at home here.	We also visited Paul's aunt's apartment, which was equally as cozy and cheerful as Paul's mom's place.  Paul's mom and aunt are Ralph's first cousins, two of the three daughters of one of his dad's sisters.  Their other sister also lived in Gorzow but passed away a few years ago; she was our cousin Hanna's mother.
Marisa, Ewa, and Hanna.	Michael got plenty of attention from his grandma and great aunt!

	Once again, we would have loved to have more days to spend in Gorzow,  but we had some great family time together.  Our big thank you goes to Hanna, who took off work and spent a lot of time helping us get around and plan our stay in Poland.  We hope to see her again soon!

Gorzow is a city with an interesting history.  This 14th century church borders the town square.  Paul and Ewa were married in this church (many, many years ago)   Read more about Gorzow here: http://www.gorzow.pl/en/history.html	These are surviving ruins of the old fortress that once ringed the old city.  Gorzow was tragically heavily damaged at the end of World War II, and much of the old town was burned.  Consequently, it is primarily a modern city today, one of two capitals of Poland's newly formed Lubuskie Region, the other being Zielona Gora to the south, where Hanna lives.
Gorzow is also a city of parks.  Paul & Ewa reminisced about the walks they took here when they were courting.
One of the many new pubs and restauarants that have opened here since the advent of capitalism seems to be named for one of the city's most famous expatriates!	We enjoyed our evening in and around Gorzow's main square.  Like all the European cities that we visited, the town center is lively and fun.

That concludes our time in Poland.  We had a blast!

Click the picture below to see our page on the first weekend of our trip in Krakow.