Terma Białka

Saturday was the hottest of all days that we spent in Pieniny Mountains. It was around 40 C degrees. So, yeah, it was hot. And sunny. What can you do if the weather is unbearably hot?

Soak in the hot waters. Cause when you get out of that water, you might feel chilly. Tested, approved. Works great.

Before we went do the mountains, we thought that we should do something apart from climbing and sightseeing, too. We were afraid that kids might be bored with all the walking.

Before the trip, we bought all day tickets to Terma Białka. The ticket included lunch for three of us. Paulinka got in for 1 PLN and had no lunch guaranteed.

Now then.

Once you leave your belongings in the lockers, you get through showers and right into the indoor pool area. It's hot in there! And loud. Even more than I have ever experienced on a swimming pool. And I have been on a few swimming competitions. But that you can live with, once you get used to it. There's a family slide, some chill-out zone and a corner for the youngest ones. From the pool that's connected with the slide, you can swim outside. Or you can walk out as well. On the outside, you immediately see the beautiful Tatra Mountains. Though a coach or other bus might be getting into your way a little bit.

If you walk a bit higher, you'll find a water playground. Shallow pool with lots of fountains, water splashing everywhere, kids running around, adults lying around. Basically, all kids might want. Almost. The playground was great, really, but there was no slide for the youngest ones. And our kids love slides the most.

That is why, once they were bored with the outdoor playground, we got back inside to take a few rides on the family slide. Ok, I was the only one sliding with them. And, of course, the number of rides had to be equal for both of them and "I want just one more" was the sentence I heard the most. But as long as they were happy, I was also happy.

And lunch. Just a few words about that, cause the experience was... well, not so good. Why? And what in particular? Let me explain. When we got to Terma Białka, we got vouchers for lunch (btw. for those who had online tickets the line was for 5 minutes waiting. For those who didn't, the line was... long). When we got to the restaurant (aka a few tables in a fast food bar atmosphere. Though I dare say that it's better in KFC or McD than it was in Terma Białka), there was no order, no one to ask for help or information, no free tables, no nothing. Oh, wait, there was one thing. A huge, almost never-ending queue.And even though the food was really delicious, the meal was spoiled by the atmosphere.

All in all, it was a good day and we had a lot of fun. Would I go there again? I'd probably look for some other thermal pool in the area, either on Polish or on Slovakian side, cause there are so many in the area right now. But Bialka had one advantage over the others, it was the closest to us. And we didn't want to travel for too long, just spend as much time in the pools as it was possible.

You can see Tatra Mountains in the distance here.