Day 24 Zakopane, Poland

Tatra Mountains

"Zakopane, Poland's premier mountain resort, is one of the country's most popular holiday destinations, both in the winter for skiing and in the summer for hiking and camping. Zakopane has long been a playground for Poles and travellers from Eastern Europe, but is just now being discovered by the rest of the world for its splendid natural scenery, world-class ski slopes, and great value-for-the-money (http://www.zakopane-life.com/)." Great value! My room cost $26.50, breakfast and wifi included. For $12, dinner included a large bowl of pea soup, roast pork in goulash with three types of salad, a half liter of beer, and a glass of wine. Outside the weather is beautiful, the scenery breathtaking. I must decide, do I stay tomorrow and hike the mountains or continue into Slovakia where I hear it's even more beautiful.

The day started off bad, thinking I would catch the train to Bielsko Biala and hoping I could upgrade to first class the ticket I bought the night before. "No first class on this train," the agent said in English. The night before the agent couldn't speak English or German, took my money, gave me a ticket, and gruffly said what must have been "next" in Polish. I left uncertain. This morning I wondered whether the ticket would actually get me to the main station in Bielsko Biala. A friendlier agent looked at the ticket, did some research, and said, "You must transfer to a bus in 'some unpronounceable town.' You have only ten minutes to make the transfer." Stunned, no way am I going to pull this off. It's hard enough getting off at the right stop, let alone getting off at an interim stop, at a place I can't pronounce, and then transferring to a bus somewhere, who knows where, all within ten minutes. Walking back to my hotel, I saw a sign for Avis - what? Remembering Gdansk, I thought there weren't any car rentals in Poland. I was wrong. Avis had one car. I could have it for $40 per day. I could take it out of the country but had to bring it back to Wroclaw or Krakow. "It's a deal, three days."