Climbing to RYSY in Poland

Climbing to Rysy was a very interesting experience for us. We do not have any skills on rock-climbing, but we really wanted to try something different we're used to in Estonia (a flat country!). Rysy sounded challening - the highest peak on Polish Tatras - although, "if it's your first trip to High Tatras, don't start it with Rysy...". Well. I guess we thought why not to start with Rysy? As it was the first hike what we did there.
Rysy is 2499 metres high. It is a very steep uphill, but does not require technical climbing - so it meant we can do it, if we're strong enough to fight with the rocks.

We started from a huge parking lot - 9 km's to walk uphill on a paved road with many other people. Not that those other people go to Rysy... No, they just want to go to a beautiful mountain lake Morskie Oko, where they make a small hike and go back. Some don't even want to walk that much - they take a horse carriage (on the photo).


Here we are almost reached the Morskie Oko lake, only a few kilometres to go. Beyond, you can see the High Tatra mountains... One of them is Rysy summit.


When we reached the Morskie Oko lake (see on the photo above; elevation: 1395 m), we just enjoyed the lovely view and had our lunch. It was about 1 or 2 p.m by that time. Only then, realizing that the day is beautiful and shiny, Erik got an idea we should really conquer Rysy. I was sceptical - it was already too late... if the weather gets bad, do we have enough time to come down? Usually, people start very early in the morning... But well, I guess our curiousness was so high, that we couldn't stop us at least trying...

So we first hiked to the other lake, in higher level (1583 metres) - Blacklake. There, we could still see quite many people. But not as many as near Morskie Oko...

This photo is taken beside the Blacklake, but beyond, what you can see on photo, is Morskie Oko lake from 188 metres higher point than the lake itself lies.

And now we start the "real" climbing... It's easy from time to time, but most of the time it's exhausting...

Many breathing space have to be taken to get the energy to go further...


As we get higher, the view gets more and more breathtaking - it's such a powerful feeling to be so high up, and see the view over everything... Climbing to Rysy offers one of the widest and richest summit panoramas in Tatras; and we were lucky with the weather - it was stable and shiny. We took many breaks to enjoy the view!
The higher we got, the more we felt that we are "in clouds". And finally we really were!
Unfortunately in almost the top, we lost our way... We didn't see the marking anymore, and were too impatient to look for it, so we just climbed further... Until we realized, we're totally lost and cannot go down or up anymore. It was a bit scary, as it was very steep. But finally, we saw some people coming down... We needed to reach them to find the marking again. And we did:) Then, nothing stopped us to climb till the end...

The very top is so steep, that you need to use several ropes to get higher and higher... And then, it's not much until ....


...the Rysy summit has been conquered:)


We are on the top, having our "own" band to play music for us.... Wow, what a feeling! We just stare the tops of the other peaks, listen to the guitar playing and feel the happiest feeling one can imagine! It's 5.30 p.m.

Going down isn't easy either. It's not physically demanding anymore, but the legs hurt a lot! And you need to be careful not to slip...
But after some hours, we're back near Blacklake again. NO people besides us... and some other climbers who started together with us. What a difference compared with daytime! From there, 30 minutes to Morskie Oko lake, and some 2 hours to reach other car again... It starts to rain... quite heavily. We're lucky we descended just in right time. When we reached the car, we're wet, exhausted and it's totally dark... We have walked+climbed about 30 kilometres - 15 uphill, 15 downhill.
Good-bye Poland, and welcome Slovakia! It's only 5 km-s to the border.

Vilnius and Trakai

Our trip to High Tatras started with the long journey through Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. In Lithuania, we swerved to see the capital of Lithuania - Vilnius - and the "must" tourist attraction - Trakai Castle. It is said, that the Old Town in Vilnius is one of the largest in Central and Eastern Europe. Maybe it's true. For me, Vilnius charmes itself with many and many churches, most of them being small and cute. When we visited Vilnius in the end of July, there were a lot of construction working going on - to be ready for the European Culture Capital in 2009.
Cathedral Basilica - the main catholic church in Vilnius was established in 13th century, on the site of the former pagan sanctuary. Its belfry is 57 meter high and is built on the remains of the defensive tower of the Lower Castle.

This is my favourite building in Lithuania - a lovely tea shop (I love tea:)) with teapots mured right to the walls! I admire this shop every time I go to Vilnius...
The Church of St Anne - the most impressive building in Vilnius. Maybe it's true. But we didn't see anyone admiring it... Just us :). It's a Gothic style church, built at the end of the 15th century. Napoleon liked the St Anne's Church so much, that he wanted to carry it over to Paris... Wow. But he didn't.

Vilnius University - founded back in 1579. By the way, Lithuanian language belongs to Baltic group of the Indo-European language family (nothing in common with Estonian!). The photo is taken in front of the door of Vilnius University Library (founded in 1570) in Old Town.

And finally - Trakai Castle. We were there early in the morning, no other tourists yet, just two of us:) Trakai - the small town built on narrow peninsula dividing lakes Galve, Totoriskiai and Luka - was once a political and administrative centre of Lithuania. The Trakai Castle was built in 15th of century and is the only castle island in Eastern Europe.

Krakow - ancient capital of Poland

Krakow advertises itself: "A city wrapped with legend, where time flows differently, and where every moment becomes a moment of history". Said with skill...

But indeed Krakow is one of the most beautiful towns in Poland (though I liked Gdansk more :), however, I had a chance to know it better as I stayed there for a week), and has an important role to play in Polish history (for centuries, Krakow was the capital of Poland - the seat of Kings).

Krakow was first mentioned in 966. Tourists, who have only a little of time to explore Krakow, usually take the "Royal Route" to see the main sights. So did we.

As our accommodation situates just in the centre of Krakow, it's easy to walk to the Old Town in the morning. It's a little bit rainy, but we don't mind that. And soon, the rain stops. We start our walk from the Planty (see photos above) - it's a narrow ring of greenery (designed in the 19th century) to replace the demolished city wall.

In the Planty, we see the Barbican. In old times, it was both a principal gateway and a key element of defence. Built in 1499, the Barbican has survived, against all the odds, and remains the best example of its kind in Europe.

Next to Barbican, we enter the Old Town via St Florian's Gate, which is the main entrance to the City.
At once, we are in Florianska street, which leads us to the Main Square.
The Main Square (Rynek Glowny) is HUGE. It's 200 x 200 metres, and is considered to be the largest public square of medieval Europe. You do feel that when you enter it! In the very middle of the square, there's the Cloth Hall (see the photo above), which is a rare example of a medieval structure, that has serves as a commercial centre. The Cloth Hall plays an important role also nowadays - Prince Charles and Emperor Hirohito of Japan were welcomed there in 2002.
St Mary's Church - with two Gothic towers, and the largest in Krakow, situates in the Main Square as well. The talles of the towers is 81 metres. Every hour, a bugle call is played from the taller one. We enjoyed that, too :).
Now, we take the Kanonicza Street to reach the Wawel - Royal Castle. It is said that this street has hardly changed over the centuries. You can see Wawel all the time when you walk in the street.And then we climb to the Wawel Hill, to see the Wawel Courtyard. 1000 years ago. In those times the city's heart lay at Wawel, where there was a small fortified settlement. It is much like our Toompea in Tallinn.
The Wawel Cathedral is amazing... It was raised by King Kazimierz the Great in 1320.

We also wonderearound in the part of Krakow called Kazimierz - the historical part of Polish Jews. On the photo you can see one of its many Syngagogues.

We visit Collegium Maius - the oldest university building of Krakow. In Krakow, the University was founded in 1492. The Collegium Maius acquired its present-day shape in the 15th century. When you enter it, it feels like you're in Italy... yes, it does remind the arhitecture of Italian universities a lot.

And then we head to WIELICZKA Salt Mine Museum - one of the most popular Polish tourists attractions. And indeed it is... the expensive ticket and lots of tourists :). The house itself issn't expressive, but the museum itself was 64...135 metres below ground level. It is the only mining site in the world functioning continuously since the Middle Ages.

So, our trip salt mine starts... The first surprise: salt is black?!? We take a long tour, visiting many chambers and two beautiful chapels. This chamber on the photo was excavated in a block of salt in the mid-17th century. In 1967, six life-size figures (made of salt of course!) were placed there, carved by Mieczysław Kluzek.

This is St Kinga's Chapel - such an impressive underground temple. It was laid out in 1896, in the space created after the excavation of a huge green salt block. It is over 54 metres long, about 18 meters wide and about 12 meters high. Under the ground, that looks HUGE. And BEAUTIFUL.