Up in the mountains

Yesterday, I talked about being down in the salt mines. Today, I'll go in the opposite direction, and give a brief tour of a different part of my Budapest and Krakow adventure: my trip up in the mountains in Zakopane. It's a relatively obscure town in Southern Poland and we only knew to visit it because we caught some glimpses of its beauty in the movie General Nil. It was well worth the quick (and cheap!) bus ride from Krakow.

Our tour started by taking an enclosed gondola up a mountain. From up top, we got a gorgeous view of the rolling green hills all around. 

We wandered around the mountain a bit and found a small path that cut through the forest. 

We passed through some fields of purple flowers.

And came upon a field that overlooked a gorgeous farm on the side of a mountain. It looked peaceful and serene. We simply sat in the tall grass and relaxed.

After our the brief respite, we caught an open air gondola back down the mountain.

The view on the way down was stunning.

When we got back down, we got the chance to appreciate the Zakopane architecture style. Wooden cabins with large, very angled roofs.

These people were very serious about their roofs.

Some of the houses seemed to consist entirely or roof.

Gaudi style roofs.

Terraces with roofs.

Benches with roofs.

Fences with roofs.

Bus stops that were 90% roof.

And even a cemetery where each gravestone had a roof.

Each one was unique and intricate.

Including the gravestone of Stanislaw Witkiewicz, who is credited with creating the Zakopane style of architure.