Winter Break Part 5: ZAKOPANE, POLAND

Happy Tuesday, friends!

We have all the T words today…

Today, I’m sharing my JANUARY TRADER JOE’S HAUL plus I also have our TRAVEL TUESDAY post with PART 5 OF OUR WINTER VACATION 🙂 .

Before you read below, make sure you also catch OUR ARRIVAL DAY IN MUNICH, OUR DAY IN SALZBURG, AUSTRIA, OUR TWO DAYS IN MUNICH & NUREMBERG, and our travel day to KRAKOW AND THE CHRISTMAS MARKET.

If I haven’t convinced you yet that Munich, Salzburg and Krakow aren’t the perfect cities to visit, wait until you meet Zakopane!

We woke up on this January 2nd to a snowy Krakow, Poland.  This was the view from my hotel room.

We were really excited because on this day, we had rented a van to make the drive from Krakow to Zakopane, Poland.  This ski town was supposed to be oh so festive and adorable.  It was about a 2 hour drive each way, so we got up and got going.  We grabbed road snacks and coffee and took the scenic drive there to really see more of this beautiful country…

…Poland, you are SO CHARMING!  I have fallen in love with you.

Since the time was about the same, we decided to take the backroads there and the highway back at the end of the day.  This way, we got a little variety and could make our way through these Polish towns on the way from Krakow to Zakopane.  Each and every little town we came upon was beautiful…

…we legit went over the river and through the woods and up and down a mountain.  I was shocked that I didn’t get motion sick…it was a VERY scenic ride.

More pics from our drive…

Two hours later, and we arrived…

…because at this point you won’t be shocked, our first stop was lunch.  Haha!

My people LOVE to eat on vacation.

Zakopane was BUSTLING with people!

We stopped for lunch…

…here at Bifalo Steakhouse.  It was not only delicious, but it had those huge windows, so we had a great view of town.

Ashby always knows what to order off a menu.  It doesn’t matter where we are, she has a knack for picking the best thing.  On this day, I had a burger (which was good), but Ashby had…

…this delicious ramen.  How beautiful is that bowl?!

After we ate, we set out to explore this ski town.  Even when we can’t ski, we like a ski town 🙂 .

It might have been January 2nd, but the holiday lights were still up, and there were so many stalls lining the streets with yummy nibbles and sips…

My three girls stop at any chance to get candy.

Our plan was just to head up the main street area and check out the action.  It was your typical ski town, so we popped in and out of the shops (selling everything from ski gear to trinkets, hand crafted wood pieces to luxury fur items…it was a big assortment).

Just so cute.

It was such a festive town with the beautiful ski runs in the background.

Me with my favorite guy.

Side note, you can see all of my favorite cold weather finds (boots, coats, etc) HERE!

Cheese, please!  Everything looked delicious!

So festive.

Geez, I love this kid.

And this one too!

As we were walking, we noticed that so many people were pulling their very young children around in sleds (instead of using strollers).  Kensington got the idea in her head that she wanted to pull Mades around.  Mades is 11 and way too old to be pulled in a sled, but K kept insisting it would be so much fun.  (Pulling your 11 year old sister up a hill does not sound like fun to me, but who I am to question sibling bonding…).  Twenty five dollars later and…

…Madeley had the BEST day ever.  Bahahaha!

Off they went UP the main street…

It’s moments like this that make traveling with your kids SO MUCH FUN.  At home, we fall into our “norm” which is lovely, fine and nice…but traveling around and squeezing into hotel rooms and rental cars and spending sooooooo much time just us creates this magic that doesn’t happen at home.  The magic on this day was how much fun these four had with a sled…

Best. Day. Ever. for Mades.

They went all afternoon like this…

…we nibbled and shopped, laughed a ton and thoroughly enjoyed this cozy town in Poland.

Still going.

Everywhere we turned, we saw cuteness.  I could see why so many people were there.  This is a town you could go and stay several days in…especially if you ski.

I kept my hands warm all day 😉 .

Zakopane, you were oh so merry and bright.

The six of us (and the sled!) had the very very best day!

When our afternoon was over, we headed back to Krakow.  Andrew had made reservations for the two of us…

…at Mercy Brown for drinks.  This is a speakeasy tucked away behind another restaurant.  It oozed old charm.  It felt like something out of a movie.  We only stayed for one drink and then we went back to get the kids for dinner.  We walked to the coziest, cutest Italian restaurant called Boscaiola.  It was delicious!

And that was our big full day in Zakopane 🙂 .

If you want to keep the T in Tuesday today, make sure you also pop over and check out my TRADER JOE’S HAUL for January!  It’s a fun read too!

Of course, any travel post needs to end with a shout out to MIX AND MATCH TRAVEL AGENCY.  Did you know that we have trips for EVERYONE.  For instance, if you are a more mature client and would love to see the world but you would prefer an elevated guided experience, we do that!  We can send you all over the world (including some great destinations in New England and into Canada) with a group of travelers similar to yourself and a guide that makes sure you have every single thing you need every step along the way.  They provide the transportation, they check you in to your hotel, they get your excursion tickets and navigate all of the details so that all you have to do is enjoy.  They can even arrange your transportation starting from your home and take you to the airport (no parking!) all the way through your trip and back again.

Or you might be a traveler looking for more adventurous destination.  We do that too!  Want to visit Greenland?  Or the Galapagos?  Or Antarctica?  Or go on a safari?  Maybe see the pyramids in Egypt?  Yup, we got you covered there as well.  From Disney to cruises, land vacations for couples, families, friends and solo travelers…destination weddings and groups too, if you want to go, we want to help.  CONTACT US TODAY.

I hope you all have the BEST day!  I will see you back here tomorrow! xx