August 20, 2003

We spent 10 days in the Southern part of Poland, hiking, biking and splashing in the Dunajec River and it's tributaries along the border with Slovakia.  Click the map for a geography lesson.

There are many trails in this area, and many hills that are rather steep in height.  It looks much like the Catskill Mountains, but the peaks are a bit higher.  The river has cut many gorges through the hills, so there are many rock formations to climb over, around or float past.  Most of the pictures on this page are video stills, so you'll have to wait for the video version or visit us when the film gets developed.

Monika's parents and her brother, Bogdan, and his daughter Joanna stayed with us at a very nice tourist hotel.  No phones or computers made it a real escape.  We did break down once and awhile and watch the news in the evening in the TV room. Meals were served in a dining hall, or you could take a sack lunch and hike all day (which we did.)  This is the kind of place where there is too much to do and never enough time to do it all.  Of course there are no lines and no real commercialism in the American sense of the word -- although the long arm of commerce reaches tourists everywhere. The best part is that it isn't as persuasive when you can't read the signs.

The weather was good.  No real heat like that has invaded most of Europe this summer.  There were a few humid days, and a few raindrops now and then.  Nights are cold -- the building had no air conditioning.  The rivers are all running a bit lower than normal.  Probably because of the climate in Europe this summer.

Back to Kraków for the rest of the trip.  We'll have a few more snapshots before we go (and maybe a little video for you too.)

(Click any image to enlarge)

Bill, Monika, Anna, Eva and Maria Darron

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