Pysanka Museum in Kolomyia, Ukraine

Pysanka Museum in Kolomyia

It is Easter time... all the preparations, a bit of a hurry, family and friends meetings,
religious celebrations... 

In the meantime, I called to my mind the Pysanka Museum! It is placed in a funny building in a shape of an Easter egg. The museum is the pride of Kolomyia - town in western Ukraine, a center of Hutsul culture. The building was built in 2000 and the museum was opened during the 10th International Hutsul festival. Here you will find some photos of its construction.

Easter eggs collection contains reportedly more than 10,000 exhibits. It includes pysanky from the majority of the Ukrainian regions. Many of them are modern ones but you may also find some that date from the 19th and 20th centuries. Exhibition also includes painted eggs from other Slavic countries and other parts of the world.

I recommend visiting the museum to all who wish to know the local traditions and art. It's a pleasant way to get to know the part of Ukrainian culture. The museum is simple and slightly old-fashioned but the exceptional exhibits make it interesting.

Pictures of some exhibits you can see here. Unfortunatelly the website is only in Ukrainian.

Museum is open whole week except Mondays 10 AM - 6 PM.

Kolomyia

Kolomyia

Why Dunajec River Gorge is so deep and winding?

The Dunajec River Gorge is a famous place among tourists thanks to amazing views and possibility of rafting on a traditional boats. The first rafting undoubtedly organized the owners of the Niedzica castle in the early nineteenth. Year by year more and more summer visitors and patients were coming to the Pieniny and rafting the Dunajec Gorge gained a real popularity.  

The gorge is part of a valley located within the Pieniny National Park. This picturesque limestone ravine was carved from the landscape by a water. Imagine the Dunajec River freely running down from the Tatra Mountains passing through the plains. Suddenly on its way slowly begin to emerge mountains. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation. It means the Dunajec river started to cut through the mountains in order to reach the same elevation as the body of water it drains into. The formation of the gorge took place in stages, refering to tectonic movements in the the Pieniny Mountains.

Why the gorge is so deep and winding? The Dunajec Gorge owes its present appearance to the tectonic movement, petrographic composition and proportion of rocks and geological structure. Especially the last one – the presence of large tectonic faults, is responsible for creation of deeply indented meanders.

In the scientific language the genesis of the Dunajec River Gorge is antecedent-structural. Antecedent – the river maintains its original course and pattern despite the mountain uplift. Structural - course of the river refers to the geological structures.

The result? Nowadays we can admire beautiful steep limestone walls during the raft trip down the Dunajec river :)

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

• Rafting season lasts from 1 April till 31 October every day except for two church holidays: Corpus Christi and the first day of Easter.
• You can choose between four options: 12 km (1h 15min), 17 and 18 km (2h 15min) and 23 km (2h 45min).
• Ticket price: adults 12-15 EUR, children half-price (depends on an exchange rate and it may change)

Hidden in woods. Backcountry (skiing) trip.

More and more I enjoy backcountry nordic skiing! Of course the begginings are difficult and you feel strange with heels free all the time. But after a while you appreciate that the equipement is so light! It is a perfect option for those who are tired with crowds at downhill areas but still not convinced to more extreme alpine touring. You can hike on skis over the hills and through the woods and explore new sites. Suddenly it turns out that in your immediate surroundings there are plenty of interesting places to find and visit.

Yesterday we did a wonderfull trip - it took us around 4 hours. The same trip you can do in summertime on a mountain bike. We made a circle from Brzegi to Rynias and back to Brzegi. Rynias is located between Jurgów and Łysa Polana, 3 km from village Brzegi. It is on a border between Podhale and Spiš regions.

Rynias is a hamlet (a small settlement in a rural area) hidden on a glade in a middle of a forest and offering a beautiful panorama of Slovak and Polish Tatras. You can distinguish many famous peaks like Hawrań, Lodowy, Gierlach (the highest Carpathian peak) and the highest summit in Poland – Rysy. 

In a central place of the clearing you will find a chapel located in an old house from 19^th century. The house, like all houses in Rynias, is made of wood and was built using log construction. Life slows down here, you hardly meet people… the only sound accompanying us was dogs’ barking. Several years ago the well-known Polish actor Michał Żebrowski built house in Rynias, but it seems to be inhabited quite rarely.

There are many "new" places to discover - thanks to finding a new type of outdoor activity you see places in a different way. Something what seemed unattractive turned out to be an interesting trip destination. Wow, there are still so many thins to see! :) 

Alpine touring in Western Tatras

A beautiful March day, cold and stable weather, relatively safe avalanche conditions in the mountains and a group of people willing for a trip. Tatra Mountains and snow - my first thought was alpine touring - a form of skiing which is the best way of exploring mountain areas in winter and spring. Special alpine touring bindings and skins (strips of material that attach to the bottoms of skis peeled off before downhill) allow to climb pretty steep hills.

Alpine touring in the Tatra Mountains, photo by Andrzej Śliwiński

We left around 7:30 AM and reached the Chochołowska Valley in the Western Tatras from where we went to its upper part - Starorobociańska Valley. Snow crunched under the skis reminding us of freeze. The wind above the tree line strengthened the feeling of cold. Beside us were lots of tourists - good weather and low avalanche risk level announced by TOPR (Tatra Mountain Rescue) encouraged them to action. Many of them were heading in the same direction as us - Starorobociański Peak (2176 m).

Near Starorobociański Peak, photo by Andrzej Śliwiński

The wind grew stronger but we didn’t bother much and continued climbing uphill. The route became hard and slippery so we decided to attach skis to our bags and using crampons went towards our destination. From time to time clouds limited visibility but they disappeared after a while and we could enjoy the beautiful view. In the meantime we had the opportunity to observe an interesting optical phenomenon of Brocken spectre. It was amazing!

Brocken spectre, photo by Andrzej Śliwiński

An icy wind was blowing at the top so we didn't make a rest but went 200 meters down using crampons. Everything around was covered with a layer of hard ice – it was also a reason to start downhill the Starorobociański Peak below the summit. Low clouds surrounding us made the orientation difficult but thanks to GPS we didn’t lose direction. Changeable species of snow hampered the downhill. Sometimes the snow was very hard but sometimes the ice shell was collapsing underneath the skier and forced him to save himself before tipping. We finally got to the forest, found a path and traces of other skiers and further down the valley we got into the car ...

Clouds below Starorobociański Peak, photo by Andrzej Śliwiński

Another beautiful day in the mountains ... tired, happy and full of impressions we came home late in the evening :) 

It took us all day to make this trip but we like to rest a lot ;) In details: we started with black marked trail in Chochołowska Valley and after 3 hours reached Siwa Pass. Then we decided to go to Starorobociański Peak – climbing it took us next 1,5 hour. We spent 1 hour skiing down to our car. During 9 hours of our trip we were 5,5 hours in motion and 3,5 hours resting, eating, talking, admiring and photographing landscapes. I think it's a very good result ;)

View from the top of Starorobociański Peak, photo by Andrzej Śliwiński

In the Tatra Mountains you have many possibilities to make some alpine touring trips at similar level of difficulty.

From shelter in Chochołowska Valley you can climb Grześ (1653 m a.s.l.), Rakoń (1879 m a.s.l.) and Wołowiec (2064 m a.s.l.) and after a short rest go down back to the shelter.

From Kościeliska Valley leads one of the most popular alpine touring route through Czerwone Wierchy to Kuźnice.

Above you have short descriptions of 3 alpine touring trips but in whole Tatra Mountains every skier has dozens of possibilities to visit interesting places without crowds known from downhill slopes.

Jewish cemeteries close to Tatra Mountains

I felt like a real explorer. Looking through a guidebook I came across an information about a Jewish cemetery in PODWILK in Orava region. Perfect destination for a short trip! Together with Andrzej we decided to find it. Comparing instructions from a guidebook with a map we finally got it. It wasn't so easy - the cemetery is run down and overgrown with bushes.

Jewish cemetery in Podwilk, photo by Andrzej Śliwińśki

The cemetery was founded in the 2^nd half of 19^thcentury. It served the community of Polish Orava. As we read in a book it contains 62 matzevas but it is hard to count them. The oldest matzeva is from 1880. Tombstone inscriptions were made ​​in Hebrew, there are also epitaphs in German and Hungarian. Matzevas are covered with typical Jewish sepulchral art carvings.

Many of the tombstones is covered with ivy and moss what creates an aura of mystery but at the same time leads to destruction of the gravestones. Several years the cemetery was under the restorations - some matzevas were set vertically, garbage was taken away. Nowadays nobody is taking care of the cemetery.

Matzeva, photo by Andrzej Śliwiński

Matzeva, photo by Andrzej Śliwiński

The cemetery is located high above the village on the slopes of Kuligowa Góra. Coming from Chyżne turn right (before passing the chuch). Then turn right next to the small chapel. The cemetery is hidden in woods.

The remains of other Jewish cemetery you can find also on BACHLEDZKI WIERCH in ZAKOPANE, north-east from the station in Zakopane. You can get there from Zakopianka road - leave car near Luk Oil petrol station, cross the rails and take one road (south-east). After around 300-500 m you will see a fence of the cemetery. The cemetery originated in 1931. In 1941-1942 it was destroyed by Nazis. Nowadays there are no matzevas, only contemporary monument dedicated the Holocaust victims. 

More about Jews in Zakopane you can read here.

   The Jewish cemetery on Bachledzki Wierch.

Another Jewish cemetery is located in CZARNY DUNAJEC. Unfortunately it is also almost completely ruined. You will find there few matzevas, all in very bad condition, and a piece of wall. I have read that after the World Wad II some of the matzevas were used to pave the streets in Czarny Dunajec.  
The cemetery was founded probably in the second half of 19^th century. It is located north from the village, on the way to Rabka, on the right side of the road.

The first mention of Jews living in Czarny Dunajec comes from the end of 18^th century. In 19^th century Jews constituted 14% of the inhabitants of the village. During World War II was built here a labor camp for Jews from all over the Podhale region.

In Czarny Dunajec there is also a synagogue from the 2^nd half of 19^th century. The building is nowadays abandoned.

Jewish cemetery in Czarny Dunajec, photo by Monika Sliwinska

Other Jewish cemeteries are also in Nowy Targ and Łapsze Niżne.

Regional outfit – women's jewelery

Highland women in Podhale region, like many women in the world, like to attire themselves. The most beautiful and most wanted jewelery were bead necklaces made of true red coral. Having them indicated the high financial and social status of the family as well as unique resourcefulness and diligence of the owner. This precious decoration was an essential part of the wedding dowry. 

Typical coral beads necklace consists of several strings called wojki linked together with a metal ring. They were tied with ribbons the same color as the tapes lacing highland women’s bodice. The number of strings (3-5) also proved the wealth. One necklace could weight up to 400 grams. In the middle of the string some necklaces had a religious symbol  – a cross or a holy medal. It could also be a silver coin with the image of Empress Maria Theresa - a gift from godmother.

Women could buy coral beads necklaces at the local marketplace or in Cracow. Tradesmen also used to sell them by distributing in private houses. Women who couldn’t afford the natural corals over time started to substitute them with artificial ones.

Among highland women other types of jewelery have gained popularity too. Those are earrings, bracelets and rings. The most typical are those with natural red coral but highland fashion changes all the time and some new accents are added. Girls like to experiment :)

Where to buy highland woman’s jewelery? You will find it in shops with traditional highland outfit e.g. in Poronin village. It is also sold in jewelery stores in Zakopane. 

 

Hitch-hiking in Poland and Slovakia

I would like to share with you my experiences with hitchhiking. As you know, every country has its customs, unwritten rules, approach to hitchhikers. Here you can learn how to hitch-hike in Poland and Slovakia.

POLAND

Hitch-hiking in Poland is quite popular. In 1957 it was legalised and formalised: hitch-hikers were buying special booklets with coupons. The coupons were given to drivers who took hitch-hikers. Drivers with the highest amount of coupons could exchange them for a prize, the rest took part in a lottery. The system officially discontinued in 1995 but the traditions of hitch-hiking have survived until today.

In Poland you stop the car simply shaking your hand with the index finger pointed at the road or by  sticking the thumb of the outstretched hand upward with the hand closed. Both metods are accepted. You can also write your destination on the sheet of paper and show to the drivers. It may help but is not necessary.

If you want to get out of the big town or city make sure you are standing on an exit road. If you are not sure that you chose the right place, ask someone. People may know where is the best spot for hitch-hiking.

What about hitch-hiking on a countryside between small villages? Paradoxically, it may be easier. Public transport doesn't run frequently there so people are used to hitch-hike between the villages or give somebody a lift to the nearest town. 

Hitch-hiking in Poland is for free, no tips required.

How to get to Zakopane? - read here.

More about hitch-hiking in Poland on Hitch-hiker's Handbook.

SLOVAKIA

Hitch-hiking in Slovakia is not so easy. The first thing is that Slovakian drivers rarely stop. Sometimes you can wait for a car e.g. 2 hours in one place. Many cars pass you but nobody stops. You can stuck mainly on B roads, but the main ones are considered to be unfriendly for hitch-hikers too. The second thing is that Slovaks often drive only for short distances. It means that your journey will be divided into many pieces.

Hitch-hiking Slovakia is for those who have much time and patience. 

Close to some touristic spots you may expect that hitch-hiking will go easier because visitors from other countries stop more often. Many tourists from Poland, where hitch-hiking is popular, visit Slovakia during holidays and weekends. Coming home they can give you a ride on a longer distance. You can also count on foreign trucks driving through Slovakia.

Finding accommodation close to touristic sites is not difficult in Slovakia. There are many possibilities and types of lodging – hotels, guest-houses, farm stay, cheap private quarters and other. The problem may appear when you suddenly end up in a small not popular among travelers village. Better ask the driver if the place you want to go is good to sleep there.

 

What is important - hitch-hiking in Slovakia is for free.