I slept in a little bit Friday morning before heading in to work. I was pretty tired from the night before. When I got to work the guys wanted to take me out to lunch at the main square, the student festivities were reaching their pinnacle. When we got there I was shocked to see how much the students had trashed the square. Garbage and broken beer bottles were everywhere. I was even more amazed at how quickly it all got cleaned up. By the next day you couldn't tell that there had been several thousand drunken partying students in the square the night before.
We had lunch at the Sioux cafe, which was an American themed restaurant complete with Cowboy waiters and Indian Squaw waitresses. Funny, it didn't make me homesick for some reason.
That evening after work Paul and I made plans for our big excursion to Ojcow National Park the next morning so we went to scout out the tram and bus schedules. After that we headed back into old town and had a nice long leisurely dinner and Szara. It was a very well prepared meal and we drank an excellent Argentinean Malbec as we savored it. We even stayed for dessert and a glass of Hennessy Cognac. It was a delightful evening.
I went to bed early since we needed to catch the 9:04 bus to Ojcow the next morning. I met up with Paul at 8:00 after a quick breakfast and we headed off to catch out bus. Paul was much more prepared than I for an all day hike. I hadn't thought to buy water, or bring anything other than a banana to eat. We stopped at a small market across from the bus stop to buy a few more things for the trip. Paul picked out some smoked sausages for us.
While we waited for the bus we met a pair of travelers who were also planning on spending the day out at Ojcow park. I never got their names but they were a friendly couple of guys. The most talkative of the pair was from Brazil and said they had been in Krakow 13 days already. We sat next to each other on the ride out and chatted. They got off at the first stop and planned to hike North. Paul and I were getting off at the last stop and hiking South. We wished them a good day and said we might see them along the way.
The bus took us all the way out to the extreme North end of the park, to Pieskowa Skala. Kazimierz the Great built this stone castle in the 14th century. We didn't go into the museum, but we loitered around outside for awhile until we were ready to start our hike.
The hike was very nice and the park is beautiful. About a third of the way into the hike we reached the Grodzisco Monastery and took a short break. Along the next third we had to be very alert, because the trail signs were very easy to miss. We got off track a couple of times, but we always found the most interesting paths to hike and eventually ended up back on course. After two thirds of the hike was done we caught up with the guys from the bus headed the other way. They were having a bite to eat at a small kielbasa stand at a point where the trail and the road met. We exchanged tips on the trail and said a hearty good luck and good bye.
The rest of the trail was very beautiful and steep at times. We took a break soon after passing our friends and sat to have our hikers lunch of bread, sausage, chocolate, and water. The mosquitos flocked to me and I have some itchy bites on my arm, but it was still very pleasant to be out and exploring. At this point both Paul and I were thinking about a beer at the end of the trail. So we got back on our feet and pushed on.
Just before coming to the end of the trail at the ruins of Ojcow Castle, we arrived at the Kapilca Na Wodzie, a small church built over a stream on a bridge. The story goes that when Poland was under Russian rule there was a moratorium on new buildings "on the land of Ojcow" so this was the rebellious response to get around that law.
At last we reached Ojcow castle ruins at the end of the trail. We spent a good amount of time seeing what there was to see and enjoying ourselves. Not much remains besides the gatehouse and the one tower on the hill above it. The view of the park was nice from atop the ruined walls.
Now our minds were definitely on having a beer so we wondered down to the town below and had a couple rounds. We had over an hour until the next bus was scheduled to pick us up and take us back to Krakow so we took our time.
When the bus arrived, somehow I wasn't surprised to see our hiking friends on board and on their way back to Krakow as well. The timing just seemed to be working out that all day. It had been a gorgeous day and was just now starting to rain. I didn't mind so much.
When we got back to town we stopped for a hearty bowl of zurek and tea and then wondered over to Paul's favorite bookstore, Massolit Books. There they cater to English speakers and serve up some delicious carrot cake. I confused the Polish guy manning the cafe by ordering an Americano. When he asked about it I said it was espresso and water. So he brought me an espresso mixed with ice water. We got it straightened out eventually.
Paul thanked me for an excellent day, and I thanked him for sharing it with me. I would not have had such a good time without him as a guide and a friend.
I came back for a short nap and then went out into the evening to find some dinner and a drink. I grabbed a quick kielbasa at a kebab stand and then checked my guide book for suggested hangouts. I ended up at Prozac, which had a very interesting interior design, with bars on three levels, and a maze-like warren of passages and stairs connecting them all. After checking the scene there and having a beer I moved on and decided I would end the night with a Guinness at the Irish pub I had seen a few nights earlier. It was very quiet down there, with only a few couples playing a game of pool together. I watched them for awhile, drank my stout, and then went home to bed. I was starting to feel the first pangs of homesickness.
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