Visiting the Pieniny Mountains
Since COVID-19 burst onto the scene in Poland, Kasia and I had three trips cancelled. During the pandemic, both of our jobs have been busier than ever and, personally, I was feeling exhausted from months of non-stop long days struggling to separate work and home. I needed time-off to decompress and re-energize my soul. Our friends Karolina and Hubert suggested we join them for a trip to Niedzica, a town in the mountains in the south of Poland. We'd be close to Pieniński Park Narodowy, a national park, and Trzy Korony, a famous summit in the Pieniny Mountains. Neither of us knew the area or what to expect but with trips outside of Poland not really feasible, we jumped on the opportunity to tag along. And boy, we're we glad! We were blown away. While I have by no means seen all of Poland, I think Pieniny is the most beautiful place I’ve seen in this country.
DAY ONE
On Thursday morning, Kasia and I somehow managed to wake up at 6:30am, a very early morning by our standards, and hit the road by 7am. Niedzica is just over 5 hours from Warszawa and we wanted to get there by around 1pm so we could enjoy the afternoon.
When we arrived, we went straight to Willa Danielski where we stayed for the first night. It was essentially a hostel but a very nice one that was extremely clean and comfortable. If you want a low-cost trip, this would be a perfect place to stay. Anyway, we dropped off our belongings and drove to Szczawnica to meet Karolina and Hubert for lunch and explore this town in the mountains.
After lunch with our friends, Kasia and I went for a walk around Szczawnica. We decided to rent bikes and ride along the Dunajec river which splits Poland and Slovakia. The town is nestled in the mountains and I couldn’t help but feel like I was in the Appalachian mountains near Northern New Brunswick, Canada. It was a beautiful summer day, the air was fresh and everything was such a vibrant green. My heart was immediately lifted by being here. Being a border town, after 15 minutes of biking along the river, all of a sudden we were in Slovakia without either of us even knowing we were on our way there.
There a was a small shop on the path and we got a Slovakian beer and sat on the river bank to take in the beautiful scene before heading back to meet our friends for supper. One thing I found interesting is that Polish and Slovakian people can't really understand each other. I thought because both countries are Slavic and so close that there would be a reasonable amount of similarities between their languages but nope - not at all!
DAY TWO
The plan was to go rafting on the Dunajec river but before we did that, Kasia and I checked into our accommodation we had for the rest of the trip at Zielona Owieczka. Unfortunately, because we booked so late, we couldn't stay here for the first night but the wait was worth it. This place was charming and cozy. We had our own little flat and it was the perfect place to come home to after a long day of exploring. Next time we go back to Niedzica, we will definitely stay here again.
Karolina and Hubert booked a rafting trip so after a quick breakfast together, we drove to the place where we would launch from. The day was not looking too promising from a weather perspective and we all decided to where rain jackets under our life jackets - little did we know that we would get soaked anyways.
The first part of the trip was through a town but after about 20 minutes, we were completely surrounded by nature rafting through the national park Pieniński Park Narodowy and my jaw was on the floor. I could have easily been in the Rocky Mountains in Canada. The mountains were beautiful and the forests were lush. I was breathing in the fresh air as deeply as possible and feasting my eyes on the beauty of the place while rain poured into my eyes. Oh ya, it started to torrentially rain which I thought made it a unique experience. The rain was warm and the low hanging clouds looked like wisps of smoke on the mountains. To say it was picturesque would be an understatement. This is a place worth visiting.
We had a guide in our raft helping us navigate the river which was helpful because there was some parts where we could have easily gotten stuck. While there weren't too many rapids, there were fast parts through some mini rapids and each time we would get completely soaked. On one side of the river is Poland and the other side is Slovakia. We passed one group of Slovakians who were floating down the river drinking and partying while flying a pirate flag and they were yelling at us in Slovak, "you must drink!". On the the Slovak side of the river, you can drink without issue but on the Polish side it is illegal. As always, borders are weird to me. Along with the rain, by the end of the trip, we were completely drenched - down to our underwear. But it didn't matter, we had a blast.
After rafting, we put on some dry clothes and found a place for an early supper. It was no meal to write home about but after paddling for a few hours, any food would have been good. We slowly made our way home and fired up the grill to cook some late night eats and played Codenames (this game rules!) along with a few drinks. It was another great day in the mountains.
DAY THREE
We were repeatedly told we had to go to Morskie Oko, a mountainous lake in the Tatra mountains, and after seeing our friend’s pictures from going the day before, we agreed! Morskie Oko is close by to Zakopane, a famous city in the south of Poland, so we planned to visit there too to make a day of it.
The hike to Morskie Oko isn’t really hike at all. It’s a long paved road through the forest. At the end of the road, there is a trail you can take but for the most part it’s a paved road. For me, I like rugged paths but it is nice that this beautiful piece of a nature is very accessible for all. I should note that while it is a paved road, you must walk it or you can pay to take a horse drawn carriage but you can’t drive.
Once you get to Morskie Oko, there is a shelter with a restaurant and a patio to take in the spectacular view. I highly recommend the placki ziemniaczane (potato pancakes) with goulash - delicious and perfectly crispy. From Morskie Oko, there is a trail that takes you up to a higher mountainous lake, Czarny Staw, which gives you a birdseye view of Morskie Oko. The hike up to this second lake is a bit steep but it’s reasonable even if you aren’t in the best shape. It’s definitely worth it for the great view.
One thing that stood out to me in this beautiful place was how many people were smoking cigarettes. It seemed at times that everywhere we went we would smell cigarette smoke which kind of sucks when you’re in nature. People would be taking a break from walking and resting with a cigarette. To me that is strange. You have this amazing fresh air and you ruin it with a cigarette. Well, I’m not a smoker so no judgement but in Canada I feel like I don’t see people smoking in nature too often.
In the end, we walked over 22km in around 7 hours with a few breaks and a stop for lunch. I was impressed by how many people walked all the way up to Morskie Oko. Little kids, grandparents, they were all walking up. Because it is so accessible with most of the hike being a paved road, there were lots of people wearing fancy designer clothes which is a pretty funny juxtaposition. In Canada, I feel like most of us dress like bums when we hike or really do anything in nature.
After the hike, we drove to Zakopane. Along the way, we had a traumatic experience when we saw a car hit a dog. Kasia chased the driver down and got the driver to get in our car (Kasia is a badass). Then, we went looking for the dog and its owner so the driver could make sure the dog was ok and exchange information. We parked our car with this random stranger and Kasia and I started running around to find them. We finally found the dog and its owner and we could see that while the dog seemed to be extremely frightened, it looked to be ok - thank god. But while we were running around, the driver ran off and fled the scene. It was a terrible experience that made us feel horrible about humanity. The owner told us she was going to take the dog to the vet to make sure everything was ok. Fingers crossed.
After that startling event, we tried to calm ourselves down to enjoy the rest of the evening. We found an Italian restaurant, Cristina Ristorante & Pizzeria, in Zakopane which was delicious. I had a great pizza and a perfect Cuba Libre. Kasia had mussels with an Aperol Spritz. It was a nice way to end the day. In the town square, we saw there was an outdoor theatre so after supper, we watched the first Mission Impossible movie. Wow, that movie looks crazy old now. When I was a kid that movie blew my mind. Watching it in 2020, it is so dated and Tom Cruise’s acting is so corny. Nonetheless, it was fun to watch.
DAY FOUR
The weather forecast was showing a beautiful day so we decided it was going to be a beach day at Jezioro Czorsztyńskie, a man-made lake. I do miss the amazing lakes back home in Canada but this lake worked well enough! We got to Plaża Zamajerz just after 11am and it was busy right away but we found enough space to practice social distancing. After an hour or so, the place was completely packed and our personal space was gone so we got out of there. We walked five minutes down the road and found a low key place, Przystań Wodna, to get food, drinks and rent paddle boats. At the beach, there was an hour queue to rent a paddle boat but here we were able to rent on one right away.
One thing that makes this lake so cool is that there isn’t just one but two castles overlooking it - Niedzica Castle (built around 1320) and Czorsztyn Castle (built around 1246). We paddled over to Niedzica Castle and made it our home for the afternoon. We swam in the water which was the perfect temperature to be refreshing and we read books on the paddle boat. I was a big fan of floating on my back and enjoying the view of the castle with the beautiful rolling hills in the background.
After the beach, we headed to the trailhead for Trzy Korony, one of the most famous mountains in Pieniny. When we got there, we realized we were too tired and too hungry for a 3-hour hike. Luckily, there was another easy trail that cut across the top of a hill and offered a panoramic view of the Tatra Mountains. We came across a flock of sheep grazing with a Shepard and herding dogs. With the sun setting and the fields being a golden colour, it made for quite the magic hour. We took in the sunset and then headed to supper. Our friends told us there was a pizza place close by that we should try so off we went.
The restaurant was L'Arte Del Sud and simply put - it was divine. Seriously amazing pizza. The first bite sent me to Italy. In fact, Lorenzo from Italy was making the pies. I asked him how he ended up in this small town in the south of Poland and he told me, “they dragged me here!.” I don’t know what the heck he meant by that but I figure it had to do with a Polish lady. It’s a recurring theme here. Man meets Polish woman and man moves to Poland :)
The restaurant itself was nothing fancy but the pizzas are seriously upper echelon. Hands down one of the best pizzas I have ever eaten. Definitely not a part of the world where you would expect such good pizza but the world works in magical and mysterious ways. Now I am forever in pursuit of pizza that good and so far I haven’t found anything that can compete - not even in Warszawa.
DAY FIVE
It was shaping up to be another beauitful day so Kasia and I decided to do round two at the beach. To be honest, both of us are big fans of lying on the beach and doing nothing. Because it was Monday, the beach was pretty much empty. The place where we rented paddle boats from the day before was deserted so we were able to rent their best paddle boat, which was huge! We had front seats to paddle in and in the back we could both lay down and tan. I could also jump off the paddle boat and dive into the water without causing too much trouble to Kasia so I was in heaven. This time we paddled over to the other castle, Czorsztyn Castle, to get a better view. This castle was destroyed in a fire in the eighteen hundreds so now all that remains are ruins.
On the other side of the lake, it was pretty much just us there and it felt like we had the lake to ourselves. Kasia tanned and I swam for hours. The water was incredible and I was very much in my happy place. After spending most of the afternoon there, we returned the boat and ate Zapiekanka (a popular Polish sandwich) to give us some pre-hike fuel because today was our last day to hike Trzy Korony which was a must do on our list.
The hike took around 2 hours and 45 minutes. We were doing a brisk pace because it was almost 5pm when we started and we didn’t want to run out of daylight. The hike wasn’t too difficult and along the way there were great views but of course, the view at the top was the most impressive. The summit of the mountain is a steep cliff face but fortunately there are stairs to an observation deck on the very top. If you're scared of heights like us, it is a bit nerve-racking but the view is breathtaking. After taking in the scene, we had to hustle down because we were starving and most of the nearby restaurants closed at 8pm plus daylight was starting to be in short supply.
Close to the end of hike’s path there was a hotel and restaurant, Schronisko PTTK Trzy Korony. Truth be told, we wanted to go to L'Arte Del Sud again but it was closed on Monday (saddest news of my life) so we went to this place with low expectations but it turned out to be great and after a long and active day, it really hit the spot. Next to the divine pizza, it was our second best meal. I'm not sure if it was just because we were starving but we really enjoyed the meal. They had amazing placki ziemniaczane (potato pancakes) that were topped with goulash and Polish mountain cheese. Damn, this was a fire dish that had a lot of flavours going on. We also had Żurek (my favourite Polish soup) and, of course, Pierogi. We topped it off with szarlotka, a Polish version of apple pie, and an espresso. I wanted to be rolled home but Kasia wasn’t willing so I reluctantly walked the last part of the trail to get back to our car. We headed home to pack and then watch movie but good luck watching a movie after paddle boating and swimming for 3 hours and then hiking for another 3 hours. It was the perfect last day of our vacation. In the morning, we packed the car and headed back to Warszawa on a cool and rainy day. I'll be thinking of Pieniny - which for now is the most beautiful part of Poland I have seen.
