When I got to Zakopane, I dropped my stuff at a hostel, a really quiet hostel, and I headed into town.
I took the funicular up the mountain. At the top was a huge mess of souvenir stands, restaurants, and fair ground games. At the top of a mountain. It was really disappointing. But what did I expect? I took a funicular up!
I walked along a path to see if it led anywhere special. It didn’t really, but it got me a little away from the stands. Seeing the Tatras was pretty cool, but nothing really special, not in Zakopane anyway. Shit town.
I had committed to the hostel and I was really disappointed in what I found in Zakopane. I was feeling down and lonely. I sat down to read my book and then a cat came purring. She was all over me. Lonely as I was. And she looked just like my sister’s cat, Kit. I gave her lots of attention and people smiled at us as they walked by. Then I decided to keep walking. Polish Kit came with me. She trotted along behind me, pausing every once in a while. I’d pause too and wait for her. Friends!
I walked around the town a little and discovered it sucked. Not surprising. Then I went back to the hostel where only one other guy had checked in. An old British guy. I didn’t really want to talk, but we ended up having the same conversation I’d had many times before. Where are you from? How long have you been traveling? Where have you been? How long will you stay here? Where are you going next?
The next morning, I got out of the hostel early and went to the bus station. I wanted to catch the only bus going to the Ukraine border at Przemysl. I had no idea I was about to begin the worst travel experience of the trip.
