The title is a bit presumptuous as I have now been in this small city for not even 7 hours, yet I can tell it's one of the most beautiful places I have been. Zakopane is a small city in the southern part of Poland, which used to be little more than a village, situated within the Tatra Mountain area. It's a popular place among Polish people, and now at least one American. There is skiing, hiking, biking, horse rides and much more available. And plenty of beautiful scenary.
Most of the buildings which are original date to 1900 and have an original style as they were all mainly designed by one man (so I've been informed).The houses and buildings are beautiful, the atmosphere relaxed, and the scenary is amazing. I am supposed to meet someone I met while traveling in her hometown of Bratislava, Slovakia in a couple days and I am seriously considering passing up that offer - or at least post-poning it because of the beautiful city I am now in.
To backtrack a bit, I spent 3 days on the coast of the Baltic Sea, in Gdansk, Poland. It was a lovely city with innumerable historical buildings and remnants of buildings. Bombed heavily during WWII, the devastated remains of some buildings are constant reminders of the rough past that Gdansk (formerly Danzig) endured. I ended up staying an extra day purely because of the charm of the lovely receptionist, Kamisia - and it was worth it as I enjoyed walking the city streets and met a couple of German guys and got into some intense international and political debate - which we managed to not turn into an argument!So perhaps Zakopane for a few more days - some hiking, nature, etc. - then perhaps Slovakia.. or maybe back to Slovenia to do what I missed out on? Or maybe a wild card - a jump into Germany!
