Day trip to Morskie Oko

After how wonderful Kinga's first tip turned out to be yesterday, we decided to see her second advice, Morskie Oko, too. This little lake is out of town so we had to catch a bus to bring us nearer. The trip is rather short and the sights on the way are really beautiful.

Visitors to the Morskie Oko (I've been told it's name means Eye of the Sea) are dropped of some 8 or 9 kilometers away from the lake. From there on you enter the national park and so cars can't go any further. For those who don't want to make the small climb (the walk is rather boring, following a paved tarmac road) there are also horse carriages to bring you up. The rides to the lake are said to be more expensive than the rides back, but we didn't buy one so I can't tell for sure.

It is a very easy stroll to reach Morskie Oko, and it is definitely worth it. The sky was rather clouded the whole start of the day, but miraculously it opened up when we reached the lake. The place is very beautiful indeed. The water is so clear and is surrounded by the high peaks of the Tatra mountains. Truly an amazing setting.

Close to the lake are plenty of places to have a drink or something to eat. So first thing we did was have a snack. After that we took a closer look at the lake. From the point were all tourists arrive it is really buzzy. The small rocky beach in front of it is full of people taking pictures and enjoying the view. But of course one doesn't need to stay right there. Several walking routs depart or pass by this place. So are long ones going up in the mountains and others are short strolls through the neighborhood. We just planned for a walk around the lake.

This is again a very simple route, but unlike the walk to Morskie Oko, this one offers amazing sights and is very calm and peaceful. It think this place must be most beautiful in spring, when snow is melting in the mountains and many little and bigger waterfalls run downhill. There still were some little waterfalls now, but not so many. It didn't matter however. We really had a great time walking around this beautiful lake. We've been lying for quite a long time just aside in the sun, gazing up to the blue skies and the mountain peaks. Only when the sun disappeared behind a new load of clouds we decided to go.

At some point it looked like it was going to start raining again, but luckily it didn't. We reached the exit of the national park very quick and dry :) The place was by now crowded with minibuses to drive tourists back to Zakopane. Even though dozens of people arrived at the parking lot at the same time there was no need to wait. We rode back and enjoyed the sunset from out of the van, and all the mountains and valleys were covered in beautiful colors.

To end our stay in Zakopane we had diner in the restaurant were my father had his first Oscypek yesterday. The place is right down the main road Krupowki and is called Karcma Po Zboju. It was a wonderful place, and we regretted not to have came here yesterday either. It was the perfect ender of an amazing stay in the Zakopane Tatra mountains. I'm sure I'll come back here again one day, to enjoy more of it!