2015 - plans vs. reality

Year 2015 was full of exciting adventures. It was also a year when we changed our travel plans more than we usually do. We visited new countries, new places, learnt a lot and had a lot of fun doing what we did.

At the beginning of this year, I wrote a post about our travel plans for 2015. How did we do with it? Which of the places did we actually manage to visit? Here's a quick summary:

1. Spain. We wanted to spend a week in Fuerteventura. We were almost packed ok, just kidding, but we already had a detailed plan of what, when and in which order we wanted to see there, when we found out that our flight back got cancelled. So, sadly, we said bye bye to Fuerteventura and decided to go to... Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. We no longer had any sightseeing in mind, though we still managed to see bits and pieces of the town itself.

2. Germany. We wanted to spend a long weekend in our neghbouring country. First, a night or two in the Tropical Islands and then a few more days in Berlin itself. Yes, we managed to do that. One night in Tropical Islands and two more nights in Berlin meant a lot of fun and a lot of sightseeing. And, on the way back home, we managed to see the Crooked Trees Forest as well!

3. Poland. Our main summer holidays. A hundred per cent successful. We did more than we wanted to do. We visited every single place we planned to visit: Czestochowa, Ojcowski National Park, Terma Bialka, Sokolica, the Three Crowns, Czorsztyn, the castles in Niedzica and Czorsztyn, Homole Gorge, rafting down Dunajec River, and also, on top of that, we managed to see the turn of Bialka (and get in its freakishly cold waters), climb to the top of Wdzar and get back down through the rock gorge, and hop over the border to see Slovakian Red Monastery. On the way back home we discovered the new land of Solilandia, hidden deep below the earth level, in the magnificent Wieliczka Salt Mine. I hope I haven't forgotten about anything.

4. Egypt. We wanted to cruise down the Nile River, see Cairo and spend two-three days at the coast. No, we didn't do that. We got informed a month before our trip that there's no chance for the cruise. That was our second attempt to cruise the Nile. We rebooked our flights and ended up exploring wonderful Thailand. Which was truly amazing. Despite the occassional rain. And despite the smog shadowing the beautiful sun (due to the controlled forest fires in Indonesia! I can't believe people do that :/).

So, all in all, two out of four turned out the way we planned them. The other two were more spontaneous. And it absolutely doesn't mean they were worse! Both Fuerteventura and cruise on the Nile are not cancelled, though. They are postponed.

On top of that, we managed to visit a few more local places, as well. Traditionally, we went to Bliziny to get lost in a corn maze. 

And we finally managed to go to a Railway Museum in Koscierzyna, which we've been meaning to visit for over three years now.

These are some of our adventures of 2015. And how was your 2015?

May 2016 be full of many more travels and adventures. 

Have an amazing year!

The famous pine tree

The next day, after we got to the Three Crowns, we decided to hit the other famous summit of Pieniny, meaning Sokolica. It's a bit lower, but not really easier to conquer.

We decided to get up early in the morning and hurry up as much as we could. It was still unbearably hot and sunny, so we wanted to hit the trail before the hottest part of the day.

Even though most of the trail is hidden in the forest (which means a lot of shade!), it's still a huge challenge when you're sweating like hell. And this trail is steep. The trek takes only about 45 minutes, but it is difficult 45 minutes.

What you can find on top of the mountain, is a rocky summit, also steep, might be slippery when it's raining. And a wonderful view. Dunajec River right below you, lots of forests and little villages around. Rings a bell? Yeah, it seems a bit like the view from the Three Crowns, but it is a bit different, trust me. Besided, on top of Sokolica, you'll also find the famous pine trees that are over 550 years old. And one of them, as though hanging over the rocky summit, is a kind of a symbol of Pieniny Mountains.

The trek down, together with getting to the other side of Dunajec, took us just about 20-25 minutes. So much less. And no, we were not running down. And yes, we didn't have to wait for the transport across the river. And it might take a while at times.

But once you get to the other side, you might think of stepping into the Nature Park building. Inside, you'll find a tree-trunk, born in 1848. On it's tree rings you'll find numbers, in roughly three columns. Each column marks different things in history, since the birth of the tree. One is devoted to the history of Poland. The second one is devoted to the history of the protection of Pieniny Mountains. The third one is devoted to the history of environment protection in Poland. That's all only in Polish, which is a shame, but the way it was presented was interesting.

The famous pine trees from both sides:

Delicious blueberry cakes

The tree-trunk

Where raftings on Dunajec end in Szczawnica

Finally a bit of climbing... The Three Crowns, Sokolica and "leftovers" of a castle ;)

Today, we’re going back to the “life-threatening” climbing experience ;) Yeah, I know that they probably couldn’t have been safer. But, hey, I’ve lived all my life by the sea so what are you expecting? I know that my hometown isn’t totally flat, it’s got its hill all around us, but still. They ain’t mountains! I have never been skiing, I’ve never seen mountains covered in snow (how many of you have seen beaches covered in snow, huh? I have, many times ;)), so all I have left and all I’m letting myself do is climbing in the summer time.

The last (and only) part of climbing to “the cross” on Zugspitze did raise my adrenaline level. That was sooo cool. This time it’s not going to be that scary but much more tiring. So, here we go!

I’ve already described that, when in Pieniny Mountains, we rafted onDunajec and we visited the two castles. During the raft we did see some of the peaks that we knew we wanted to climb to. And we did that :) Well, Pieniny Mountains aren’t high, all below 1,000 metres above sea level. However, they are quite steep for that height.

As our first goal we chose the Three Crowns (Trzy Korony). One of the routes to the peak started quite close to the place where we stayed. At first it was quite flat but looong. And then it started getting steeper and steeper. On the way we could observe sheep in the fields, shepherds’ houses where oscypki were being produced and some other little towns somewhere down there, below us. In order to get to the sore peak called Okrąglica (the highest of the peaks of the Three Crowns mountain), you have to pay a fee that allows you to enter the Pieniny National Park. That one is valid for a day, so you can get to Sokolica the same day and just show the same ticket. You wouldn’t have to pay the second time. But on a different day, of course, you’d have to pay again. When you’ve already received your ticket, prepare for climbing many stairs and waiting in a line (if you’re there in the high season). Up there on Okrąglica there is a special platform on which a limited group of people can stay for a while and look at the marvellous views. Forests, Red Monastery, villages, fields and Dunajec.

On our way back to Czorsztyn we’ve decided to visit one more place. Zamkowa Góra (the Castle Mountain). As I’ve already mentioned, I’m neither a climber nor an alpinist. So we left Sokolica for another time. But we managed to get to the Castle Mountain. I’m glad we were there, but I’m not going to write anything more about that. That’s simply enough. There are some ruins of a castle there, hence the name. But that was it for me. Was I too tired? Maybe. Don’t judge ;)

The third peak In Pieniny Mountains that we climbed to was Sokolica. That was a strange kind of adventure. It was raining that day so you can imagine that the weather was no fun. And when it’s raining in Pieniny Mountains, everything changes into pure mud! Horrible. Clouds were hanging really low, visibility was close to nothing. And people say that views from Sokolica are gorgeous.

Still we had two options. Either to miss on that one and resign from climbing altogether or to go on climbing no matter what. We chose the latter option. The guy from the National Park that e were paying the entrance fee to warned us that the clouds were so low that we wouldn’t be able to see anything from the peak. We weren’t discouraged anymore. He didn’t say anything knew to us, anything that we weren’t prepared for. And you know what? I’m so glad we kept going! At first, as we anticipated, everything was surely covered in clouds and mist (or whatever that was). But after a really short while our eyes got a chance to get a glimpse of Dunajec somewhere deep below us. And suddenly most of the clouds started disappearing! We got the whole picture! I was so happy!

There is that one characteristic picture of Pieniny Mountains which is actually taken at Sokolica. That’s a tiny, twisted, lonely pine tree with all other trees and Dunajec deep below it. Kind of like one of my pictures. The pine trees up there are up to 500 years old! Real relicts, aren’t they? So lonely, standing as if on the verge of the world…

And when we were on our way back down, sun was getting to us from between the trees! So I was truly happy for the decisions we made on that particular day! Never ever lose hope for a sun to shine. And I mean it literally this time ;)

On the way to the Three Crowns

 Views from Okrąglica

 The Castle Mountain (Zamkowa Góra)

 Refilling our water supplies

 Sokolica