Bigos at the Hilton
First: there were no holidays. Second: they opened the slopes and it is not known whether they will close them soon. Third: finally a lot of snow fell. Fourth: I am tired of sitting at home. And fifthly, finally: with my daughter it is the most fun.
We gave up our favorite Bukowina Tatrzańska because of the weekend ski jumping competition in the Tatra Mountains and chose Szczyrk as our goal.
After rejecting the outrageously expensive hotels and highlander's huts on booking.com, there wasn't much left to choose from. I decided on an eighty-meter attic apartment in Żywiec, right by the market square. 150 zlotys per night is a good price, considering that Maja and I will be able to play hide-and-seek and sleep in separate bedrooms.
We set off from Warsaw on Friday, between Maja's fourth and fifth lessons. Maja had her last two lessons in the car, using Zoom on her mobile phone, which is an undeniably useful advantage of distance learning, despite all its unbearable drawbacks.
We ate lunch, like in the good, pre-pandemic skiing days, at a roadside McDonald's. I ate the biggest hamburger with salad, and Maja had chicken nuggets with fries.
The journey lasted six hours. The charming Żywiec welcomed us with a thick blanket of snow and closed pubs. I secretly hoped that maybe in some secret underground bar I could catch a welcome Żywiec, but our nice host quickly brought me back to earth - beer in Żywiec can currently be bought in Biedronka, Lidl, Kaufland, Aldi or Żabka and unfortunately it is not beer on tap.
So Maja and I did some quick shopping at Lidl and had a little get-together evening, sipping Żywiec water (Maja) and Żywiec beer (me), eating fried salmon, watching our favourite films, sitting at one table with headphones on, each on their own laptop.
We didn't stay long, because the next day promised to be very energetic. While Maja was still sleeping, I took a morning jog to Lake Żywieckie, very exciting due to the temperature of minus eight degrees and exceptionally heavy snowfall.
After breakfast we set off for Skrzyczne. Fantastic skiing conditions. A little too little sun, but bright enough to ski very well. Pubs were open, but you could only sit outside. We had lunch in the best bar in Szczyrk, according to the locals, run by a nice couple. The bar, with the ironic name Hilton, is located on the slope, near the Jaworzyna station, and doesn't particularly care about the restrictions. Maja had a sausage with chips, and I had bigos, kaszanka and mulled wine.
I'll be spending most of my time at the Hilton over the next few days.
