Heading southward

We are currently in Zakopane, practically as far south as one can get in this awesome country. Although I was rather sad to leave behind the central area and the incredible fields of canola plants that dot the landscape with yellow, this area is beautiful as well. The mountains are incredible. The town is located in the Tatras, which are part of the Carpathians, and our hotel has a spectacular view of them. This morning we rode a very small train-type thingy up to the top of one small mountain, I guess you could say, to take in the view from the top, which was incredible. The whole experience is surreal, and I can't believe that we have less than a week left here :(

To backtrack a little bit, we had a great time in Torun. The city is beautiful, and I like that the Old Town is small enough to not be overwhelming but is cool enough to hold your attention. And it was so great to be able to sit down by the riverbank to read or chat with friends. I actually met a really nice British guy down there and gave a drawing rock to his little boy (I overheard the little guy looking for one and I happened to have a rock in my backpack), who was one of the cutest little kids I have ever seen. En route to Zakopane we stopped at Poland's smallest national park that has many really neat rock formations. We wandered along the road looking at them and actually discussed Yugos and how they're probably gonna win the Car of the Year competition for 2009 (yes, that would be sarcasm :) along the way. We also spent the night before last in a castle in Uniejow, which is one the quaintest little Polish towns you could ever hope to see, with a lovely garden/park surrounding the castle. Once we leave Zakopane, our last stop will be Krakow, with day trips to the salt mines and to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Chels and I are also going to meet her cousin Piotr, which is pretty exciting. She'll be the first one of her family to have met him. Hope all is well . . .
~Kate