Posted on 02/26/2006 11:49:47 AM PST by lizol
A Polish paradise February 18, 2006
It added even more old-world charm to the scene. Homes were decorated with holiday lights and religious icons, many of which were built right into the side of the houses.
Parents pull high-sided wooden sleds along the streets. Inside are their pink-cheeked babies nested in fleecy blankets, caps, snowsuits and mittens.
Look on the corner and you’ll see a T-shirt vendor and someone selling fuzzy puppets on a stick.
Look the other way and there’s an old woman in a patterned headscarf selling cheese and pickles.
You can catch a horse-drawn wagon ride, mingle with the street performers, duck into any number of really good restaurants, museums or churches, stroll over a quaint wooden bridge, or sign up for a more modern diversion — a bungee jump.
The main shopping street is Krupowki, where you can find quality European fashions, bookstores, gift shops, household items, glassware, jewellery, ski clothes and warm outerwear, and of course shoes and boots. And while I did pick up some souvenir items on Krupowki, I found a better selection on one of the side streets where vendors set up rows of wooden stalls.
They were full of sheepskin and leather goods, fur, glassware, rugs, slippers at around 12 zlotys (R24) and local rough wool sweaters for about 30 zlotys (R60).
You can also find a huge selection of carved wooden boxes, religious icons, chess sets, nut crackers and kitchen utensils.
My favourite, though, were the starched and embroidered linens. I bought several of them, thinking they’d make wonderful gifts. Unfortunately for my friends, I fell in love with them, and now they’re all over my house.
This market also had a variety of cheeses and farm products, military items and several litters of St Bernard puppies. Cute, but wouldn’t fit in my suitcase. The food in Zakopane is very good – except for an odd concoction I bought on the street. It turned out to be a piece of bread soaked with thick hot bacon fat – definitely an acquired taste.
Other than that you can expect a good selection of sausages, pork, bread, cheese, potatoes, other hearty vegetables, and beer. Many restaurants feature servers dressed in highly decorative local costumes and musicians playing a local form of Polish highlander music called muzyka goralska.
Oh, and one more thing about Zakopane.
It has a good environmental reputation.
A large part of it is heated by geothermal energy coming from hot water underground.
Local officials are proud of their recent efforts to keep the area’s water, air, land and views pristine. But best of all, it has some of the finest skiing in the world.
I hate snow.
This year I hate it too, there is to much of it.
And it lasts to long.
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