Kościeliska Valley, Gubałówka and an aching ear

Our first morning in Zakopane started with a visit to Biedronka, where everyone once again made their own breakfast choices. Many went for drinking yoghurt, fruit, bagels with Philadelphia cream cheese, salami and cheese. This apartment didn't have a coffee machine, but that wasn't going to stop us! A kettle, a glass and a hair tie turned out to be perfectly adequate tools for making our morning coffee. The bigger problem was that we couldn't adjust the temperature of the fridge, and the little freezer compartment inside was missing its door. The result was that everything we stored in the fridge quickly became frozen solid. Iced latte, anyone?

Another concern was that Freja had woken up with a blocked ear, probably from yesterday's swimming. We weren't sure whether it was an infection or a blocked ear canal from wax, but after doing exactly what you're not supposed to do (googling the symptoms) we decided to give her some Ipren and wait to see how things developed. It hurt when she hiccupped but not constantly which was at least somewhat reassuring.

After breakfast, we packed our backpacks with water, nuts, apples and salami sticks and took the local bus to Kościeliska Valley. The valley is one of the most popular hiking areas in the Tatra Mountains and it was easy to see why. The wide path wound its way between towering limestone cliffs, dense spruce forests and green meadows. Along the entire route, the clear Kościeliski Stream rushed alongside us, its icy water flowing between the rocks. Everywhere we looked there was something beautiful to see. We stopped several times to sit by the water, have a snack or simply enjoy the scenery.

On the way back, we made a detour from the main trail and followed a partly dried-up stream bed. We passed through small caves and between the trees until the path suddenly ended at the foot of a tall ladder leaning against the mountain wall. The trail continued about ten metres higher up!

Tilde refused to continue that way, so I turned back with her. Bengt, Freja and Viggo, however, were brave enough to carry on. So here is a guest contribution from Bengt:

"After climbing up the rocky path, we reached a tall ladder and a sign explaining that from this point onwards the trail was one-way, meaning you couldn't turn around once you had climbed up. It looked quite steep, and not everyone was keen, so we split up. Sandra and Tilde went back the same way, while Freja, Viggo and I climbed the ladder.

I kept reminding them to hold on properly. After the ladder came a steep rock face, perhaps with a 70–80 degree incline, with some natural footholds and metal steps to use. Chains ran along the sides as handrails. At this point I was genuinely nervous that someone might fall. It could have ended very badly. I have never experienced anything this exposed on a marked trail in Sweden. By the time we reached the top, I was completely sweaty- not from the physical effort, but from the nerves. 😐

Once we were up, the hike became much calmer again, while the views remained absolutely fantastic. A real adventure."

Eventually the family was reunited and we took the bus back to Zakopane. There we bought pasta (and rice noodles for Freja), pasta sauce, sausages, and tomatoes with mozzarella, and prepared lunch in the shared kitchen. The kitchen worked well but previous guests had not been quite as careful with the washing up, so I started by washing everything we needed to use again. The lunch turned out really tasty, and it felt good to prepare something more homemade for a change after all the fried food that Polish cuisine had often offered us during the trip.

After an hour or so of rest, Bengt, Viggo and I went looking for the cable car up to Gubałówka. The short ride quickly took us above the tree line, and from the top the entire town of Zakopane stretched out below us, framed by the impressive Tatra Mountains. It was difficult to tear ourselves away from the view. We stood there for a long time trying to spot people down in the town, but from that height everything was so tiny that it was almost impossible.

On the way back, we got in touch with Tilde and Freja and asked them to meet us for a walk along the lively main street before we ended the day with dinner together at a grill restaurant. Viggo chose pork chop with fries, I had a slow-cooked pork cheek, Tilde ordered spaghetti bolognese, and Bengt and Freja chose sauerkraut soup.

As if Freja's painful ear wasn't enough, it turned out that the soup most likely contained gluten, and she had quite severe stomach pain afterwards. Her ear also became more painful during the evening. We managed to find an ear spray intended to help dissolve earwax, which she tried, but so far it hasn't made any difference. Luckily, we will be heading home soon. If she isn't better by then, it will be time for a visit to the health centre.Read more