From Pieniny mountains of Poland, we drove south and crossed into Slovakia, headed east along the lonesome countryroad number 77, passing by hills upon rolling hills of grasslands and several villages with Russian names written in Cyrilic. Our destination? Dukla in Poland. Dukla?!?!? What the heck’s in Dukla??? Here it is in pictures. We came here to Dukla for this: The Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, likely one of the few churches named after her. The idea was to to simply drive through Slovakia and maybe stop for a meal. That didn’t happen. There was nowhere to stop. Saint Mary Magdalene. Th ..read more

Castle ruins, lakes and … beer (at least for these weary parents). That seems like the theme for our road trip this year–all in Poland. Here’s another castle on Lake Czorsztyn in southern Poland: the 14th-century Castle Dunajec atop an outcrop that guards the entrance to when the lake turns into the Dunajec river. What is it about throwing stones into a pool of water that is so fascinating to kids (and the kids at heart)? Before they stormed the Dunajec castle (in the background), the boys had a little stone-throwing competition. It is the more developed and therefore more touristy. But if you ..read more

Found an alternative to mountain hiking in the Pieniny mountains! More castles!! There are so many castles in this neighborhood! The 15th-century well-preserved remains of the Czorsztyn castle is a family-friendly, kid-approved thing to see in southern Poland. Onwards, upwards, the boys marched on. . . It’s about a half a kilometer uphill walk from the parking lot to here. So, take your time! Atop Czorsztyn castle overlooking the Lake Czorsztyn and Dunajec river. That’s a heck of a view for the nuns who once called this home. Czorsztyn Castle on the north side of the lake (with a heart next t ..read more

Camping with a view of “Trzy Korony” (or Three Crowns peak) in Pieniny mountain range in southern Poland. It’s actually a municipal camping in a 700 year old village right at the Polish-Slovak border. In a word this municipal camping in Sromowce Niżne village is about simplicity and that’s what we liked about it. Here is our camping review of Pole Namiotowe OSP Sromowce Nizne in pictures (… and NO, we are not getting paid for mentioning it or anything else here in any way at all). With a view like this and hardly anybody else around, you can’t go wrong with municipal Camping Sromowce Nizne (in ..read more

It’s near Krakow, between Energylandia and Wieliczka salt mines and Krakow–that’s what’s good thing about this Camping Smok. Here is a campground review in pictures. . . on our family road trip number 5. Five different camping areas. Ours (shown) is near the top level and it’s quite shaded. We have an extra tent for the boys cousins who joined us for a week. What we don’t like about it? It’s quite pricey at 275 something-zlotys per night for all four of us with car, tent and electricity. We found apartments cheaper than that in the Krakow area. But of course, the apartment doesn’t have the ben ..read more

Salt–essential to life and once a commodity that gave rise to cities and civilizations. And it doesn’t just come from the sea. Duh to me! Wieliczka salt mine in southern Poland fueled the rise and wealth of the Kingdom of Poland. Did you know that the word “salary” came from the Latin word “sal”? Apparently salt was once sooooo expensive that Roman soldiers got paid in salt. Carved in salt, God. Located in the town of the same name just 20 minute-drive from Kraków, the Salt Mines of Wieliczka (Kopalnia Soli Wieliczka in Polish) is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Our boys with King Casimir III th ..read more

One of the most beautiful places to visit in Poland is undoubtedly Krakow. Story goes that Krakow was so beautiful that art-loving Hitler himself ordered his generals NOT to BOMB it. Imagine that! Here it is, our family-friendly, kid-approved visit to Energylandia (aka kid’s heaven) on our camping road trip number 5, in pictures. With 123 attractions over a huge swathe of land 50 kilometers near Krakow, Energylandia is the largest amusement park in Poland that is guaranteed to entertain the young, the really young ones and the young-at hearts. With so many things to do and places to see near K ..read more

From the five ruins of castles on the trail of the Eagles’ Nests that used to guard the southern border of Poland in the age of kings and queens and jesters and inbetweens, we moved to the one that mattered the most–Wawel Castle in Krakow. It’s been said that Krakow apparently was so beautiful that the little angry, dog-loving, vegetarian artist with a funny moustache, himself, ordered his Nazi/Wermacht generals NOT to BOMB Krakow. Imagine that! Big Smile! Here it is, our family-friendly, kid-approved visit to Krakow on our camping road trip number 5, in pictures. Krakow’s Wawel royal castle c ..read more

On the first part of our family road trip this year we went to “conquer” castles in southern Poland on the trail of the Eagles’ Nests–a chain of 25 castles that used to guard the southern border of Poland, between Krakow and Częstochowa (you know, thh Christian pilgrimage site of the Black Madonna?!?!), a long long time ago. Places rich in history date back to 1400s. The Swedes couldn’t conquer them in the Swedish Deluge in 1655, but we sure can even with our short legs After a family-frinedly, kid-approved visit to Olsztyn castle, here’s the other 4 castles, in pictures. #zamekolsztyn#zamek ..read more

What to do or see in Poland? Here’s day 2 of our POLAND-ONLY family camping road trip… number 5 too see the iconic image of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa in pictures. And my kids thought we were going to a Black McDonald. Don’t look up! Oh by the way, if you do go, make sure you do NOT associate anything rainbow-colored with the image of the Virgin Mary/Black Madonna. Otherwise, you might go to jail like these two women who held images of the Black Madonna with rainbow haloes during an LGBT march. I know, right?! They actually had an expert testify that the colors were of LGBT rainbow and ..read more