A centuries old Hungarian border post
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2006
1
70
100
Trip End
Sep 08, 2008
Niedzica,
Poland
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
My initial plan was to do a little hiking in the Pieniny mountains, either on the Slovakian or Polish side of the border, but given that we were so slow in making a start we didn't really have the time. Instead we decided to take a different route back into Poland, stopping for a few hours at a 14th century Hungarian border stronghold.
Blue skies graced the horizons again, and the road we took was certainly one to remember. We passed through a few Slovakian villages early on, before one by the name of 'Vyborna' struck me. It was a predominantly Roma village, and quite possibly the poorest place I'd seen in Central Europe. The road was poorly sealed, washing hang on lines outside of tiny houses and people gathered in the street with seemingly nothing better to do. It was a little sad to see a minority with so little at the foothills of the most beautiful and popular mountain range in the region.
After passing through Vyborna we snaked our way along a very scenic road with barely a car on it. Every now and then we caught a glimpse of the now distant Tatras, but nonetheless the scenery was still spectacular. Nearing the border, we could see the Pieniny mountains to the east, identifiable by the jagged limestone peaks and pines. The national park covered both the Polish and Slovakian side of the border, and it was somewhere I was determined to visit before long.
We crossed back into Poland soon after midday, and drove alongside the completely frozen Dunajec reservoir before getting our first glimpse of the imposing Niedzica Castle. Perched on a rocky hill above the reservoir, it was built in the early 14th century as one of the Hungarian border strongholds. It was extended a few centuries later and since then has retained its Renaissance shape. I'd read about the castle in a novel about Polish history, and had kept it in the back of my mind as a place worth visiting if I ever got the chance.
The castle itself wasn't that big, but we spent about an hour and a half there, wandering through the short corridors and in and out of the chambers, which included one dedicated to torture. The roof offered fine views over the surrounding area, including over the reservoir to another castle, the Polish counterpart to Niedzica, Czorsztyn. Even though it was quite close, we'd have had to have driven for another half an hour to get there as the reservoir itself was quite long.
Being mid afternoon on a Tuesday, it didn't take half as long to drive from Nowy Targ to Krakow as it did on the Saturday morning, and we reached my favourite city in Poland around 4pm. After a little confusion on the busy roads, we met Ania's uncle Piotrek, who later took us out for a few drinks in Kazimierz, the former Jewish district of the old capital, and in the old town.
I decided to bite the bullet and have a go at driving in a major European city the following morning, and Ania and I followed Piotrek to a spot near Wawel Castle where we were able to park the car for free. We spent the next couple of hours wandering round the big sites, including Wawel (eerily deserted in the morning mist), Kanonicza (once home to Pope John Paul II), the market square and the old university, Collegium Maus.
Continuing our walk, Ania pointed out the Czartoryski Museum, which she remembered visiting a few years earlier. Given we had a bit of time, we decided to go in for a look, and it proved to be a pretty good decision. The historical collection of a once very powerful Polish family included the first painting by Leonardo Da Vinci I had ever seen, Lady with an Ermine, and Rembrandt's Landscape with the Good Samaritan. Other exhibitions included Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Etruscan artefacts, and some Turkish weapons and equipment seized from the historic 1683 Battle of Vienna.
We made our way back down the A4 that afternoon, capping off a great little trip. I'd been wanting to see the Slovakian Tatras ever since I came to Central Europe, and I certainly wasn't disappointed with what I saw. I just hoped the weather would be as good when my brother came to visit three weeks later.
