On our second day in Poland we finally head to the Silesian Beskydy Mountains. We will climb the Szyndzielnia mountain and reach the Polish Spindle village of Szczyrk.
Szczyrk and the peak Skalite
Zanet can't sleep and I'm waking up earlier than usual. As a result, we go out unusually early for us, already before eight in the morning. Our first steps lead to Biedrunka in the Galeria Sfera shopping centre. We have to buy snacks for the day. From the shop we go to the "Hotel Prezydent" bus stop, where bus number 8 takes us to the Szyndzielnia bus stop. This is a short walk from the cable car to the peak of the same name. We bought our tickets from a machine on the way. To my surprise, the machine did not take cards. A single ticket was 4 Zloty. There is a terminal on the bus where you could buy tickets electronically, but it was missing the credit card symbols, so I don't know if it works with them. There was a kids tour packed on the bus with us, so the bus was full to the roof. Feet trampled at least ten times by the kids. Unfortunately, they rode with us all the way to the end. All of this is happening before 9:00 and on the bus I wonder if the cable car will even run that early on Monday. I hadn't checked this out beforehand, so we were surprised on the spot. The cable car is a few hundred meters from the stop. Of course, we can read there that on Mondays it runs from ten o'clock (on other days from nine o'clock). So we're deciding what to do now. Yesterday Zanet expressed her wish that she would like to try to walk up the hill. I ask if she still plans to dare to do it and she says yes, so we set off on our hike. I'll add that tickets for the cable car can be bought online or at the machine by the cable car. I didn't see a manned cassette here.
Lower station of the cable car to Szyndzielnia
There are several different routes to Szyndzielnia. One is easier but longer, the other is shorter but more challenging and steeper. Both routes intertwine with each other and we combine both based on how Zanet feels. After two hours of slow walking, we arrive at the Szyndzielnia hut, which is a short distance from the peak of the same name. Here we rest for a while and continue to the top, from where we walk along the ridge to the Klimczok peak. From the hut to Klimczok it is basically flat. From Klimczok it's downhill on the blue trail to Szczyrk and it's pretty bad going.
Szyndzielnia Cottage
Klimczok
Klimczok Cottage
The first stop in Szczyrk is the Sanctuary of the Mother of God of Poland, where we rest for a while. We then continue our descent further into the town and come across a megalomaniacal construction underway, which from our side looks like a football stadium is being built. But it is a giant hotel with the stylish name of Eagle's Nest with 450 rooms. It's only a few hundred metres to the city centre.
Szczyrk - Sanktuarium Matki Bozej Krolowej Polski
We walk around the city and look for a place to have lunch. In the end, the stylish-looking Stara Karczma wins out, where I get Bigosz and Zanet's tomato soup and steak and chips. The prices are quite reasonable by Czech standards. Mega cheap by Spindleruv Mlyn standards and a bit expensive by Polish standards. You could tell that two houses away there was a restaurant with a third lower prices.
Szczyrk
Szczyrk - Stara Karczma
We return to the centre of Szczyrk, walking a short distance along the stream, where we come across the ski jumps, on which they are currently training. They look even scarier in person and from below than they do on TV. Unfortunately, we don't have much time left, as we have a bus coming, so I don't get as much of the jumps and run to the bus to meet Zanet, who went ahead. The connection here is run by Komunikacja Beskidzka and line 120 runs to Szczyrk and takes us to Bilsko-Biała for a ridiculous 5 Zloty. The journey took about 30 minutes.
In Bilsko-Bela we go straight to the room to shower, change and rest. We are so full from Szczcyrk that we are not going to have dinner anywhere and just go to Biedrunka to buy breakfast and snacks for the next day. We will spend it in Wisla and Skoczów.
Useful links:
e-podroznik
Komunikacja Beskidzka
Dom Turysty PTTK w Bielsku - Białej
