Zakopane

After a looooong drive we arrived in lovely Zakopane. This is a big holiday destination for many Poles. The town sits at the foot of the Tatry mountains bordering Slovakia On the Danajec river. This is the Polish highlands. The town is beautiful. There is a basic style of house here but with many decorating flourishes that I could spend days looking at.

We took a rafting trip yesterday. The raft consisted of five narrow, flat bottomed square boats lashed together. It is steered by two pole men. The river is wide and shallow. It winds through tall spires of rock and trees along the border. In fact, there are several times that the river strays into Slovakia. Horay! Bonus country! Our lead boatman had worked the river for 30 years. Eryk, our unofficial American guide, speaks fair Polish and was able to to a rough translation of the highland dialect. Apparently the highlanders have dirty minds.

The river was very gentle with only a few mild rapids. We didn't even wear life jackets. At the end of the journey the boats are unlashed and stacked on trucks to head back up river. We head to Krakow today. Luckily the drive will be a short one. Smaller tour group means smaller bus and I can barely squeeze into the front seat with one leg in the aisle.