3+ weeks in Poland

In Poland, we explored both the happy and sad side of Krakow, and we traveled to the picturesque town of Zakopane. We were in Krakow first for nine days and we all did a lot of reading, running, eating, walking, and some schoolwork. It was very cool to see Krakow again after almost five years. We went to one of our favorite restaurants again, and we got to see a lot of familiar sights. Zakopane was next, and it reminded us a bit of Whistler, but with a European flare. It’s surrounded by beautiful mountains, and most of the houses are super cozy, fairly large cabins. We stayed there for nine days as well, and Dad joined us halfway through our stay, which was exciting because we hadn’t him for almost four weeks. Mr. Cox also met up with us at the same time Dad did, which meant even more excitement. Our four days with them in Zakopane included an unintentional off-road hike up to Gubałówka to see Zakopane from above, a twelve mile hike to Morskie-Oko, a trip to Chocholow Thermal Baths, a rock climbing session, and some yummy food and coffee. A highlight for me was taking cold plunges at the thermal bath place. Mr. Cox, William and I went between the cold plunge and the hot tub a few times before buckling down and staying in the cold plunge for a solid fifteen minutes. The numbness felt amazing. After one more back and forth between the cold and the hot, we went into a infrared sauna for about ten to twelve minutes, back to the cold plunge for fifteen, then we finally rested in the hot tub for a while. It felt so nice. Another highlight was a nice long run with William and Tate on our first day. It was about 8.7 miles round trip, with 1,420 feet of elevation in the first 4.35, which was so nuts, but the views were beautiful. After saying goodbye to Zakopane, we drove back to Krakow for a few more days for our more informational/sadder visit. Our last few nights in Zakopane, some of us (minus Tate and Keegan) watched Schindler’s list to refresh our memories about some of the historical events, because we were going to see some sights that were relevant to the movie. The first full day, we toured Auschwitz-Birkenau and learned a lot about the death-camp life and about some of the specific atrocities that happened inside those camps. That same day, we got to see the Wieliczka Salt mine again, which was super cool. The next day, we did a fun golf cart tour of the old Jewish quarters and ghetto, and afterwards we toured Schindler’s Factory, which has been turned into a super neat museum. It was a few days of pretty heavy information, but still a good time. We got to meet up with some friends from home who happened to be in Krakow at the same time, which was also super great! After our final four days in Krakow, we said goodbye to Mr. Cox and Poland, and made our way to France.

Krakow: