This is the main Hotel in the centre of Zakopane, everyone working there wears period dress, and the food is very traditional - and tasty! Next time we go, we're staying here, it's a little more expensive than the B&B we stayed in, but well worth it for the ambience. This is typical of the building design in Zakopane

This is the Zakopane equivilant of Mahon Point shopping centre, lots of little stores selling gifts, food, and clothes, and a river running through between them with little humpback bridges, it's like something from Lord of the Rings.

Another period building, but this time a restaurant where we had some serious fish and chicken. Yum!

Horse and Carts are everywhere, and the mountain people (Or Goralski) all dress in costume.

Before the railway station to take you to the ski resort at the top of the Tatry Mountains, there was an enormous farmers market, where you could buy anything handmade, leather goods, dairy produce, or here, a stall selling kitchen utensils and toys made from wood.

Here's a cheesmaker selling wares, even though those look like textured wooden toys, they're actually traditional smoked cheese, with patterns pressed into the outside. You'll find these on the front of most Polish tourist books.

And here's a breakfast shot from Poland. We had pancakes stuffed with berries and fruit, and topped in chocolate and jam. All for about 5 Euro, to jest bardzo pisne!

And on to Krakow. Here is the main square in Krakow, in between the two churches in the famous Cloth Hall shopping arcade that goes back centuries. All around the square were bars, restaurants, and shops. A few of the shops were being rebuilt on the outside, but so as not to spoil the look of the square, they had photos taken of them pre-construction, printed onto lifesize banners, and draped in front of the building, so the construction could continue, and the ambience would not be ruined. There were also dozens of pidgeons gorging themselves on anything they could find, about 20 horse and carts for hire, and a TV station holding an outdoor music festival here in the square.

Just another shot of the main square.

These guys rock. 4 Accordians of varying pitch, each able to play a portion of what a full church organ could muster. And they were playing Baroque classical music. Much to my delight, they launched into Bach's Toccata and Fugue, and when there was a run of notes up the scale, where one accordian reached it's upper limit in pitch, the next would take over seamlessly. It was like listening to a church organ, but instead it was these 4 guys in perfect sequence. Bought their CD, and it's every bit as good as the live performance.

This crew followed us for ages. Turns out they were involved in a promotion for the Microsoft Zune MP3 player.

And of course, the reason why we went over in the first place. The Christening of baby Marta. From left to right, my extremely hot girlfriend Gosia - the Godmother, Piotrek - the Godfather, Kasia & Marta, and Kasia's partner, Maciek. The ceremony was much more formal, and intense than an Irish Christening, and the meal afterwards literally went on for hours. We were sitting in the local Chinese restaurant for about 5 hours, and the staff didn't have an issue with it. Apparently it's the norm. Christenings go on for a day, Weddings for several days!

Gosia's parents, Basia and Jurek.

And one last photo of course, myself and Gosia at the top of the Tatry Mountains in Zakopane!