Wow. We got to sleep in this morning! Aneta didn't want us at the van until 10:15 am. We lingered over breakfast and laughed about our wild night out. Everyone was in good spirits and probably still full of good spirits! Before I recount the activities of this day I want to back up and share some of the things that have happened that I failed to put in their proper sequence.
One morning before breakfast there was a knock at our door. Aneta was in the shower and Annie had already gone down to breakfast. I opened the door and poor Mary was standing there with the funniest look on her face. She said, "I was drying my hair and when I finished I pulled the plug and it shot sparks back at me and all the lights in my room went out." I offered her the use of our bathroom but she said she had finished drying her hair and she could see to put on her makeup in the light from the windows. I said I would have Aneta let the staff know about this event. Mary was worried she'd blown out the entire hotel's electric system. She needn't have worried. Nothing else was blown but the fuse for her room but I will long remember the look on her face.
When we visited the Goral Village I was looking over a low fence at some of the strangest buff colored birds I had ever seen. They looked like ducks and they had bills like ducks but they croutched down really low in the grass and scooted really fast over the ground. I was puzzling over this peculiar behavior when Joe walked up to me and said, "Those are Norweigan Racing Ducks. Haven't you ever seen one before?" I looked up to see if he was serious only to realize that he had a good grip on my gullible leg and was pulling hard. Every time I think about those Norweigan Racing Ducks I start to laugh. I still don't know what they were but I can guarantee you they weren't Norweigan Racing Ducks.
And then there was the morning I just couldnt get awake. My eyelids were swollen from sleep - or lack thereof - and I was struggling at breakfast. Annie was fresh as a daisy and sitting at the end of the big table. Fran and Dennis were sitting at the window side of the table. I sat down at the opposite end from Annie. Annie kept talking to me and asking me questions. I wasn't very responsive so she finally got up and left. Then Fran started. She jabbered. She talked. She asked questions. Finally I just looked at her and said, "would you just shut up?" Dennis looked up and said, "I know. It's kind of like having a parrot in a cage sitting next to you isn't it?" Poor Fran. I was so embarrased that I had blurted out what was running through my mind, unfiltered and then Dennis hit her with that zinger. She left the table but returned shortly. I apologized and said I was sorry if I had offended her. Fran just laughed and said, "Oh, It would take a lot more than that to offend me." She is a good sport and I have had a few good laughs over Dennis's droll sense of humor.
Back to Sunday.
We drove out of the parking lot at exactly 10:15 heading for mass at the church in Chocholow where the Gorals in traditional dress would be attending. We arrived a bit early and had a ncie walk through the village. When the bells began to toll we all made our way hastily to the church as Aneta assured us if we didn't get there promptly we would be standing in the back of the church. We listened to a nice mass in Polish, watched three babies get christened and enjoyed seeing the young families all dressed completely in traditional garb. After the mass they all filed out and one young couple climbed into a horse drawn carriage with their baby, swaddled in yards and yards of white lace and openwork. It was all very picturesque and we enjoyed the peaceful start to the day.
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| Fot: A horse drawn carriage, Linda |
Next stop Slovakia! We drove up and up through the beatiful Tatra Mountains. Evnetually we crossed into Slovakia and then Aneta stopped for lunch. We had a nice light lunch before moving on to the next village where we caught a train to StrbskePleso, the highest settlement in the Tatra Mountains. The ride was breathtaking. The mountains rise up as sheer rocky cliffs all along the way and the valley below is beautiful. This is a very popular skiing and hiking area and we saw many mountaineers with their walking sticks trekking through the rugged terrain. The train made many stops along the way to pick up hikers and leave off those who had worn themselves out for the day.
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| Fot: Strbske Pleso, Linda |
When we arrived in Strbske Pleso we left the station and begin a long climb up the hil away from the village. We didn't know where we were going but Aneta assured us it was worth the trip. Eventually we arrived at a stuningly beautiful lake by the same name as the village from which we could look across to the rugged mountains and magnificent ski runs and ski jumps. We walked along the lake taking photos as we went. Aneta gently led us on up the hill and around a corner toward a very grand looking building. This was the Kempinsky Grand Palace Hotel and it is a stunner. We went to the piano bar overlooking the lake and mountains and ordered a coffee or hot chocolate. We sipped and talked and just felt a new kind of closeness settle over the group. Poor Joe was still suffering with a terrific cold and all the ill feelings that go with it but he was gamely trudging along with his bad knee and his headache without complaint. Annie was suffering with a terrible cough and cold and struggling with her bad knee as well. Climbing that hill from the village was no small effort for me either with my hip, back and knee issues, not to mention my excess weight. But all together we made the climb and the reward was to luxuriate in this beautiful hotel lounge with the most extravagant view ever and enjoy each others support, sympathy and company. Finally Aneta announced that this was where we were having dinner also and led us into the dining room where our table awaited, as usual. Now to say this place was upscale would not do it service. This was a palace and it showed in every nook and cranny. The waiters were highly trained professionals - the kind who are at your elbow removing a plate or filling a glass the instant it is required without a word from anyone. They were so officious though that we all started to get kind of a kick out of watching them perform their hoity toity duties like we were the royal family dropped in for a visit after a day of hiking. We had a single dish meal of pasta with mushrooms, drank a couple of bottles of fine wine and then left to make the last train out of Strbsko Pleso back to our van.
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| Fot: Our group, Linda |
The walk down the hill was much easier than the trek up had been and we all made the station in good time. Annie had gone to the restroom and somehow missed our departure so Aneta went back to look for her when they realized that she wasn't with me. She was so appreciative that Aneta came back for her so she didn't have to try to find her way alone in the dark. We boarded the train ahappy bunch of travelers and started our peaceful journey back to our parking lot and the comfort of the van. Wrong. Not five minutes into our hour long journey the train came to an abrupt halt. I jokingly said, "The last time I was on a train when this happened I ws stuck on the track for over 8 hours before they got the thing started again."
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| Fot: Strbske Pleso, Linda |
Everyone laughed and we waited for the train to start up again. Then we realized that people were running up and down the tracks, opeining electrical panels in the cars, conversing with each other about what to do and generally acting a bit paniky. I fired up the old iPad and downloaded two episodes of Parenthood and Annie and I sat and watched both episodes. Then I showed everyone the photos I had taken with the iPad that day and generally tried to keep everyone entertained while we waited to find out our fate. Eventually we heard a loud thump and felt a big bump and the train started to move. We were all rushed to the front car to put more weight in the front of the train until we reached the next station where another train waited to take us the rest of the way. We hadn't degenerated into singing"99 bottles of beer on the wall" yet, but we were really glad to be off the train. We had a two hour delay but finally made it back to our vehicle at 10 PM. Riding in the back of the van on the way home Fran and I felt like tossed salad as Aneta hurried us over a shortcut through the mountains that was one hair pin turn after another. WE arrived at the B&B at 11:30 and everything was locked up tight!
"Oh no," I said, I have a B&b and I lock it up at 11 PM. I hope they live close by. Aneta pulled out her phone and made a quick call, found where they had left a key for us, took us inside, found the envelope hidden in a nook in the wall with our room keys in it, passed out the keys and told us to be at the van at 8:30 AM to begin our trip to Krakow.
Linda
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