Destination Unknown: Part 2

At the Wawel Royal Castle!

As the restrictions regarding travel got more strict in The Czech Republic we decided to leave for Poland instead. Mjau, we took the train from Ostrava to Krakow. 

Our lovely bedroom at Ventus Rosa.

We really like the small kitchenette.

We stayed at the Ventus Rosa Boutique Aparthotel. We were pleasantly surprised by how amazing our room was. So spacious and elegant interior design. We had a small kitchenette so our butler could make us some tortilla pizza for dinner. The bed was big and comfortable and we even had a TV in the bedroom. We were able to watch YouTube on the TV and could enjoy Disney background music while sleeping.

The hotel is really nice and clean. We really enjoy the free E. Wedel chocolates by the elevator and the free cookies in the lobby. Mjau, our butler could not resist the cookies. We made our butler take several walks throughout the day so she could walk by the lobby and grab some snacks for us. It is always nice to enjoy something sweet with our afternoon coffee.

Enjoying some cereal with almond milk and coffee for breakfast.

Delicious muffins and coffee for brunch.

Free cookies from the lobby!

Yummy, delicious cake!

Krakow is a really beautiful city. We enjoyed taking long walks by the Vistula River. Right by the river you have Wawel Royal Castle. Outside the castle there is a fire breathing dragon. Mjau, the dragon was not as impressive as the dragon resting underneath the castle in Disneyland Paris. They also have small carts with orphan dragons looking for families. We really enjoy walking around the old town. Very nice buildings and interesting shops.

Si and yet another dragon.

Si and Au at the Krakow Mount.

We spent the most time around the old town and the area around our hotel. One day we crossed the river and walked up to the Krakus Mound. It was a bit foggy but still a really nice view from the mound. We also took a day trip to Zakrzówek. It is definitely worth a visit. The autumn colours were absolutely wonderful against the clear water of the lake.

Bu at Zakrzówek.

Zakrzówek from another angle.

Poland has similar restrictions as the Czech Republic. You can only get take away from restaurants and cafés. Due to this we were unable to visit and sit down at all the cozy cafés around Krakow. Fortunately we had our lovely hotel and were able to enjoy our delicious cakes and pastries there.

On the bus on our way to Zakopane!

Our view of the mountains from our balcony.

We wanted a change of scenery so we booked a bus to Zakopane. The bus ride takes a little over two hours. Zakopane is a really cozy and nice small town. We imagine it will be absolutely extraordinary during the Christmas season. 

Si in Zakopane.

Our lovely room at Hyrny.

We stayed at Hyrny and had a balcony with a nice view of the mountains. The room was a bit on the smaller side. However the balcony made up for it. 

We really enjoyed strolling along the main Street visiting all the shops. They had several toy stores and chocolate shops. We really liked the cakes at Cukiernia Samanta. You got to decide the size of the slice and pay by the pound. It was a little embarrassing for our butler as the shopkeeper did not speak English. Mjau, thankfully another friendly customer acted as our translator so we still got our cake. Mjauhihi, it would not surprise us if our butler would just run out of the shop in embarrassment without our cake.

Aunties enjoying delicious cheesecake from Cukiernia Samanta.

One day we took the cable car up to the Tatra mountains. Mjau, our poor butler, we do not know if their legs were shaking due to the cold or from fear of heights. It was very cold and there was already snow on the mountain. Going up the mountain we also had icicles falling on top of our roof which scared all the passengers. As we were nearing the top the cable car was completely submerged by fog and clouds. As we reached the top the clouds suddenly cleared and it made for quite a magical reveal. 

Snow on the Tatra mountains.

Thankfully the sun made it warmer and we got some nice pictures. After a while the mountain started to get submerged by clouds again and soon we could barely see in front of us. Our butler was worried we would somehow slip on the ice and roll down the mountain and thus becoming a hungry bears pre-hibernation snack. We decided to take the cable car down the mountain and return to our hotel for some warm noodle soup.

Halloween in Zakopane.

It happened to be Halloween during our stay in Zakopane. We decided to dress up and take some pictures around town. Unfortunately due to the covid-19 we could not go trick-or-treating and ask for chocolates from strangers like beggars. Fortunately our butler had bought some Wawel chocolates from the store. We decided to grab a roll of toilet paper and go out on our balcony and knock on the door. When our butler let us in we demanded we get all the chocolate. Mjau, yet another successful Halloween.

Mjau, we managed to get the chocolates.

Fortunately we remembered to check the calendar for such holidays. We suspected that the stores would be closed so we stocked up on food beforehand. Fortunately we had the foresight to do so as on All Saints' Day the stores were closed. If not for us our butler would have withered away without food.

The next day we took the bus back to Krakow. This time we stayed at the Hostel Europejski for two nights. We really liked our room. The interior design reminds us of staying at a Grandma's house. Very warm colours and vintage decor.

Our lovely hotel room.

Complimentary candy!

Au and Grandpa enjoying delicious cake!

The weather was not the best, and as we had already explored most of Krakow, we decided to just relax in our room. As our hotel was right across from the shopping centre we went there to buy some cake and food. As we mostly stayed holed up in our hotel room we had time to plan the next step in our trip and booked some tickets.

We took the Flixbus to Warsaw. The journey took around five hours. It was actually quite nice to just take a nap in our bag. Our butler also got some reprieve from our demands.

Warsaw Old Town.

Mjau, we were not impressed by Warsaw. It looks nice during the evening. However, during the day it looks like any gloomy big city. The old town was also not as nice as in Krakow. Mjau, we mostly just walked around. Warsaw was supposed to be our shopping town with stores such as Primark and the Lego store. However several stores closed their doors during our stay. Mjau! We do not know if this was a new restriction due to covid-19 or just a weekend abnormality. On Monday they seemed to still be closed so we deducted it was due to covid-19. However it was a bit odd that some shoe stores still were open. Mjau, hardly an essential business. Legos and Christmas presents are essential!

Unsuccessful Christmas Shopping.

Luckily the cafés were still open for takeaway. We found a shop with delicious pastries and bought some for our Christmas movie marathon. The cakes were just positively scrumptious. 

Deliciously beautiful cakes!

Our stingy butler wanted to save some money again so we stayed in the cheapest accommodation with a private bathroom close to the city centre that we could find. Mjau, we were not impressed by the room. We were so horrified we did not even want to take pictures of the room. Mjau, we were worried about bedbugs so we opted to sleep in our Disney Cruise Line Bag instead of the bed. Our butler thought we were being ridiculous, however, the little freeloader we later found in our suitcase says we made the right choice! Fortunately our room was on the fourth floor of an old building with no elevator. Our butler got rightfully punished by hauling our suitcase up the winding rickety staircase. Maybe this will teach our butler to cough up some money for nicer hotels.

The only thing we liked about our room was the skylight windows. We liked the natural light during the day and the starlight at night. We also had a microwave and a refrigerator which was nice. We were able to store our cakes there. The only thing we will say about the bathroom is that every time we opened the door the line "As we scrub a stubborn mildew stain " from the Happy Working Song from Enchanted popped into our heads.

Goodbye Poland!

Our main reason for going to Warsaw was to catch our flight to Zagreb. We were excited to visit a new country again. Our trip to the airport only made our departure from Warsaw that much sweeter. The ticket validation machine on the train was broken so we were unable to validate our ticket. Mjau, as fate would have it, this was the only time a ticket controller showed up on the train. Mjau, they refused to listen to reason and our butler got fined anyway. Mjau, ridiculous! We were positively ecstatic to leave Warsaw.