Zusia

The bit of free time in the mountains provided a unique opportunity to spend some time with the grandchildren of the couple providing us housing.

Zusia is six and currently attends a full day 0-class, similar to the American kindergarten.  Full of curiosity and enough words to fill a library, Zusia invited me to see her life the first night we arrived.  She lives with her mother, father and brother, Antek in a small apartment within the house were were staying.  Ushering me into their space she showed me the bedroom where she sleeps a couple feet from her parents and brother.  Noticing my camera, she showed off a pink toy camera from her drawer of toys, the whole time bombarding me with questions and comments in Polish.  Her mother entered soon after, and attempted to explain to her that I only spoke English as I tried to politely excuse myself from their space.   

The next day, Zusia invited me to go on a walk with her. For a solid hour, I got a tour of her playground, the forests and hills up the street from her house.

Despite her knowledge of the language gap between us and my blank stares and shrugs, she rambled on and on in Polish, telling me where to take pictures and dragging me to where I needed to be when I didn't understand.  Throwing rocks into the stream and making daisy chains, her curiosity, determination, mischievousness and sense of adventure shone through the communication barrier.

Highland Shepherds

The Górale people, commonly translated into Highlander, are known for their artisan crafts which include leatherwork, moonshine production and a variety of sheep cheeses. This flock of approximately 400 sheep graze in the hills above the village of Grywałd in southern Poland.


The sheep are milked three times a day and in the spring produce about 70 liters a day. As the summer progresses the amount becomes lower.

 The sheep are brought into the corral for the evening milking.

The family make three different types of cheese from the milk. The most famous is Ocypka, a smoked and decorated cheese that is unique to this region.

Brynza is a soft, spreadable cheese and Bunc is a firmer white cheese.

Most visits to a home, even when it is simply to buy some artisan cheese, include a shot of homemade alcohol.

The Mountains

One of my favorite experiences from the trip was our stay just outside a tiny town in southern Poland, Krościenko nad Dunajcem. Our accommodations for the week were much different than the hotels we had stayed in previously in Sopot and Kraków. We were staying in a large house (pictured) in the country with two other Polish families. Not as many people spoke English, none of the people we lived with did, and we had to walk 15 minutes to a restaurant for any sort of internet access.

There were tons of sheep, which meant plenty of fresh, delicious cheese made only from sheep's milk. Our first day there we all hiked up the mountain road, Biały Potok,that ran by the house we were staying in. The view as amazing and there was something very refreshing about not being as surrounded by people as we had been in the cities.

During our days there we would explore and take photos. We were able to cross the boarder into Slovakia one day where we visited a monastery in Czerwony Klasztor. We also visited a national park museum and some castle ruins. At night we would critique photos and watch various Polish language films, Blanc, Dzien Świra, and Katyn.

The home-cooked meals were a nice change from usually eating in restaurants and the fresh eggs from the chickens the family kept were delicious. Without all of the modern attractions of the cities it felt as if we had almost stepped back in time and were really able to experience Poland in an entirely different way.