Day Seven - Zakopane and Morskie Oko Lake

We've had a long day getting the bus along the road past the Slovakian border and on towards Morskie Oko. The buses park at the end of the road and then its 9km up to the Lake. Although we went in a bumpy horse and carriage up the mountain we walked back down again - so including the walk around the lake we walked around 15km today.
Despite the weather we had wonderful views and all agreed it was truly amazing.
Suffice it to say we are all knackered and having found new muscles that we didn't know existed we are all off to bed for an early night.
Here's some photos to keep you going! More blog entries to come.







Day Seven – Morskie Oko
Yesterday we went to Morskie Oko Lake. We got up at 7:30 and went to have breakfast. Then we got a bus that took us to Wolsienica. The bus ride was about 30 minutes, and when we arrived to Wolsienica we paid to get the horse and cart to take us up to the lake. The places in the carts were 40zl each, so in total this cost us 880sl. (£220). The horse ride was for about 1 hour to reach the top. However, they didn’t take us the whole way to the lake, when we got off we had to walk for about 30 minutes to get to out destination, Morskie Oko Lake!

We then had to split into our groups and walk around the lake. It was quite chilly and the water was freezing, but the view was incredible. When we were walking around the lake we could see Poland's tallest mountain, Rysy, which was 2499m high! Walking around the lake, we had to climb over rocks all the way round, some were easy and some were tricky, but we all made it back in one piece. We also saw a waterfall which was beautiful, but it made all the rocks slippery. The walk was suppose to take around 30 minutes, but for some groups it took a little longer. As my group was 5 minutes from the end, it started to rain. But we got back just in time. We then had lunch and as usual we had cheese sandwiches. But we also had a lot of fruit and yoghurts.

After lunch we decided to walk down the route we came, so we could save some money, and have a nice hike! We had to walk for 9km, and this took us around 3 hours to complete. We had to take a lot of rests and also had to drink a lot of water because we needed to keep hydrated. We saw some great views of the mountains and another waterfall. To make the time go faster, we sang some camp songs and many of the polish people waved and smiled. When we finally reached the bottom everyone was relived and couldn’t wait to sit down on the bus. We got on the bus and the driver took us into town, where we split into our groups, and were able to do some shopping. After half an hour of looking around town, we all met up to have dinner. We went to a restaurant called Owczarnia Grill. Here everyone got a platter of meat, which was filled with mainly pork! It was huge! The group was split into 3 tables, 2 tables for the girls, and a table for the leaders. Between 9 girls, we still couldn’t eat all the meat on this one board, however, it normally serves 3-4 people!!! The vegetarians however had jacket potatoes and 2 of the vegetarians, Ellen and Sarah had some potato pancakes. Each table also had a salad bowl, which we found hard to eat because everyone was extremely full. After dinner, we went to get ice creams which were delicious! They are about 5 inches tall and are a combined ice cream of chocolate and vanilla. We then walked to the shops to get some food for tomorrow’s dinner, and then we went home. Sharon then called everyone to a team meeting to talk about the day, and we all got into our pyjama’s and watched the last half of the film, ‘p.s I love you’ Then at 9 o clock we were all off to bed as we had a long day ahead of us tomorrow. (5 30 am wake up call!!!). Then we were all asleep after our tiring walk down the mountains.
EB - On Behalf Of The Team.

The Adventures of Mr.Fred Bear: Zakopane and Morskie Oko

Greetings Pallies!
Today in Morskie Oko I was lucky enough to ride on a horse and cart. It was fantastic! (Although at times a little bumpy). There were some amazing looking horses; their coats were so shiny and smooth! There were also some fantastic views. We were so high up in the sky.

We took a nice stroll up to the beautiful lake where we had a chance to walk around it and have a look at all of the wonderful sightings we could see. You could see right through the glistening water, as the sun shined brightly. It was great! Around the lake were lots of big rocks which acted like stepping stones as we jumped on to each one to try and get around. (some of the distances away from each of the stones were to hard for my little legs to manage, so I got a lift around in some scorching hot backpacks, it was handy though!)


On the way back to our coach we had to walk down the mountain! (5 miles! My little legs couldn’t handle it, so I was carried down in someone’s arms! It made me feel much more loved). It took us a very long time to get down the mountain, as everyone’s legs were getting tired. (I can’t understand why though!) Also because we had to keep stopping to let more horse and carts by. I found it very enjoyable because everyone was singing the camp songs I love so much!

Kathy told us to stop, so we could look at a waterfall. It was beautiful, everyone took so many photos!
Then we continued to walk down the mountain to the car park where our taxi-bus was waiting. Then we went right into Zackopane, where everyone had some free time to go shopping for some last minute gifts from Zackopane, everyone mainly bought shoelaces! The were very funky and bright!
After we went to a big grill where we had lots of food to eat. It was brought out on a platter type plate, and we got to pick what we wanted to eat off there, I tried a bit of the curly sausage! It was bigger than my head. Ellen also let me try a bit of her jacket potato! It was scrummy.

After we had all finished eating the yummy sausages and meat and jacket potatoes! We were able to buy ourselves an ice-cream, they were huge! I tried a bit of Harriet’s with out her looking. HeHe.
After the ice-creams that filled my little tum, we walked up to the bus station where we got on a bus and went up to our hostel!
Then when we got to the hostel, everyone was given a choice as to whether they wanted to have a shower, go on the internet, or watch the end of the film! I was tired from the long walk down the mountain, but I decided to stay up and watch the film with everyone else! Then at 21:00 we were all sent to bed so we could have an early start in the morning as we had to get up very early!
When my head touched my pillow I was fast asleep… Sweet dreams.

The Adventures of Mr. Fred Bear: Krakow

I last had time to blog when we were on the train from Berlin. What a jam packed few days its been!

My favourite part of this trip has been when we went to the salt mine because unlike you peculiar humans, I have a nice warm coat of fur covering my skin to keep me warm. Aunty Sharon lost her fleece; I chuckled to myself when she wasn’t looking. Haha

The worst bit has been the weather! All this heat is not very good for the bears you know! Very sweaty, the last time I saw deodorant for bears was in Brazil and it was rather expensive.

I’d recommend you coming to Krakow because the people are very nice to the teddies of Poland, I had many “Dzien dobry”s. Also, the streets are very clean and there’s such a friendly and warm atmosphere!

I’ve mainly been looked after by Ellen, Ella, Elle and Harriet (I reckon it’s something to do with the “E”s; they’re particularly friendly. They’ve kept me in their shady backpacks, Pockets, around their lunch filled waists – Everything you could possibly imagine, it’s all rather exciting.

I’ve shared a dorm with everyone really, mainly my friend Ellen but blimely do her room talk a lot! Sometimes I wonder whether some of them are capable of shutting their eyes for more than 10 seconds. They’re sorry in the morning though when the sleepers get in the shower first.

The thing that most surprised me was how low those birds flew in the beautiful main square in Krakow when there is a Ted around. I’m kicking myself for not jumping for those tweeting flying things. Ellen said it was because they were much quicker than me which got me in a right huff. She’s still wondering where her chocolate biscuits went.

The tastiest meal I’ve had on the trip was the food in the polish restaurant, I had chicken meatballs with boiled potatoes and dill sauce. I asked Kathy whether I could come and live in Krakow because I liked the food so much but she said I had to wait until I’m older. I know that she’d just miss me too much, I have that effect on women.

There are so many reasons as to why I like Krakow: The buildings are beautiful, friendly people, good food, lots of souvenirs to buy and because we all enjoyed ourselves! The people working in the hostel were also very helpful and the hostel was clean and new.

Today the lovely people in Ella’s group bought me a new pair of leather shoes! They’re absolutely gorgeous, much better than walking around BEAR footed! GET IT?! Oh my, I’m so funny.


Very much so looking to the trip to Morskie Oko tomorrow, we’re going on a horse and cart! Until next time, Bye friends!
I’d also like to thank EW for typing this up as I said it because I am just simply too busy drinking iced tea and eating cake.

Day Six – Last minute shopping and heading for the Tatra Mountains

After a great lie-in followed by a late breakfast we packed our bags and we got into our groups from yesterday and then went back into the square to try and find postcards and stamps. Once we found them we had to find our way back to the hostel, but we knew the way by now. Some people needed batteries for their cameras, because we have used our cameras loads. There has been so many nice churches and beautiful scenery to take pictures of. We then all went back to the hostel we then started writing our postcards to many different people who helped us raise money to get here, through giving us grants or helping organize fundraisers.

After we were all in the hostel Sharon checked all the rooms to check that none of us had left anything in our rooms. We then all filled our water bottles and headed off to the bus station via the supermarket, where we got things for lunch. Once we had finished in the supermarket we walked to the bus station that was a bit like a national express bus. We knew we were going to be on the bus for 2 hours, so we knew to pack our iPod and books in our day sacks. When we got to Zakopane we nearly lost a couple of jumpers and we did not know whether we lost a bag, but we didn’t - two people just got mixed up. On the bus we had lunch (which was a bit complicated but tasty).

The scenery was amazing; there was lots of countryside and some very nice house that were a bit strange but massive. When we got off the bus we got onto another smaller bus, which was very squashed and hard to fit on with our big packs. When we were driving through the town there was lots of shops and looking around really made me feel that I was really away in a European country. When we arrived at the hostel we were all stunned by the place we are now staying.

We all had a look around the place and put our things away. Next we got a small bus back into town in our groups to have a look around.



We have just finished dinner of pasta bolognaise and are now watching the DVD “P.S I love you”. Our new hostel is great and we are looking forward to travelling up the mountain by bus and horse and carriage tomorrow.
Speak soon
Missing everyone
Lots of love the girls and leaders of HOE
EO xx

Day 5 – Auschwitz, Birkenau, free time & Photo competition

This morning we had another early start as we went to Auschwitz in the morning which came with a 1.25 hour couch ride each way.


Even though we went to the Holocaust exhibition in London before the trip it was still a shock visiting a place where over 1 million people died under Nazi occupation. There were rooms full of hair and items from the prisoners at Auschwitz. We also saw gas chambers, residential areas, watch towers, punishment rooms and the place where victims were taken off the carriages for selection.
Especially in Birkenau many of it was unchanged and for some of us it was more moving than the main museum.


We had a picnic just outside Auschwitz and then returned to the hostel for a team debrief. We’re glad we’ve had the opportunity to see the death camps in person and feel privileged. It was very interesting and thought provoking. Its important people learn about the horrible things that happened so we can make sure it doesn’t happen again.

This afternoon we had free time from half 2 until 5.15pm. In that time we split into small groups and we did sightseeing, shopping, visiting Internet cafés and got some washing out of the way. In the sightseeing we had a competition for the best photo of selected landmarks in which the winners are being announced tomorrow.
As it was our last night in Krakow we were treated to a Polish restaurant where we tried some Polish delicacies, which was different and greeted with mixed views. We could order what we wanted and it was very popular place with locals.


However the atmosphere was excellent and homely. We had things like chicken, potato cakes, sauerkraut, beetroot and dumplings.

Afterwards we went for an evening stroll around the old town and watched entertaining street performances like breakdancing and puppet theatre acting out Elvis, Michael Jackson and Tina Turner. The crowds liked watching us dancing to the music - as much as watching the puppets! (ED)

Day 4 – Underground

In the morning, we woke up a little earlier than yesterday because we had to get ready and have breakfast before a coach came to take us to the salt mine. On the coach we met our guide for the morning, Jacob. When we got to the Salt Mine, we went down 54 flights of stairs before we were lead round by the guide and he told us lots of interesting facts about all the different chambers that we went in to. It was amazing to learn the size of the mine, and to find out that we had spent about 2 hours just looking around one per cent of it. It was really beautiful and the sculptures that we saw were so intricate. We were 135 metres under ground which is 400 feet – yet there was still mobile phone signal!



We returned to the hostel for a quick sandwich lunch before we got back on a coach and headed off to Ojcowski park, which was a beautiful national park. Our tour guide, Kasha, told us lots of interesting historical information on the way there, to do with people and animals that had lived there previously. When we got there, we went to a castle ruin which was almost completely gone but still very interesting.


Afterwards, we went to a cave which was very cold but also pretty. It had loads of stalagmites and stalactites and also amazing natural patterns on the walls and ceiling. We then went for a walk down a rocky path before reaching a café and stopping for a refreshing drink.


After finishing our special treat of a fizzy drink, we headed off again to finally flop into our seats on the coach. As we trudged through the winding path through the valley, we passed a number of wooden houses, which we decided were extremely reminiscent of ginger bread houses! Slowly we came closer to resting our aching legs, but alas we were abruptly halted by much ‘awwing’ and petting of a few stray billy goats. After being shepherded along by the wilting leaders, we were finally on our way back to Krakow and much needed food. Our lovely guide for the afternoon had kindly booked us a table at a local vegetarian restaurant. Much to our delight the food was delicious, and to the leaders delight very cheap!

So once dinner was over, we split up into two groups, the sleepy heads who wanted to get into their sleeping bags, and the brave souls who offered to help with the shopping for tomorrow’s lunch. After much buttering of bread, and a few e-mails home, all heads are now on pillows, and for the time being the group is quiet.

Day 3 – a spot of cycling and aqua aerobics

Planned for day three was a cycling tour of Krakow where we expected to see all the sights this city has to offer in an interesting way. We started the day off with a 7:30am breakfast with everyone looking tired and with bags under their eyes! Soon after breakfast, we left for our tour of Krakow by bike. We walked from our hostel to a bike hire and tour company where we got the bikes that fitted our height. We also met John, our tour guide for the morning at the bike hire place. John had been living in Poland for ten years, but was originally from Florida. We boarded our bikes and headed for the centre of town which was only about a hundred metres away from the place where we hired our bikes. We were told about the famous clock-tower in the centre of town that had a story behind it. John told us the story that took place hundreds of years ago when someone was watching from the clock-tower for potential attacking armies. The trumpet-player saw an army heading for Poland and raised the alarm. He was playing a tune to warn the Polish army on his trumpet, but got shot in the throat while playing. This is why the tune the trumpet-player plays every hour, on the hour, stops half way through a note.

From Heart of Europe

Then after the bike ride we came back and rushed our lunch so that we could get to the aqua park in time to stay for two hours. We went to the water park and listened to a presentation about safety. We got changed and all ran into the pool. There was a whirl pool thing that was really hard to get out of and many people had to go around it lots of times before they could get out! It was great fun and there were lots of really cool slides!


After the water park we decided to go to a shopping mall and we were given 15 zloty each and had to pick something original and new to eat for our dinner. There were lots of different things and most people had kebabs or salad and pasta. After we had eaten we had an hour to go shopping. A few of us went to the ice cream shop and looked around in h&m.

Saddle sore...

Just back from cycling around Krakow. Bums are a little sore but we saw loads and covered lots of ground. Wonderful weather, blue skies and hot :-)
John gave us a fantastic tour and we learned lots about Krakow's history. We had a midway break at a new shopping mall and got some cold coke from KFC,
Lunch next once the shoppers get back from the supermarket and then its the Aqua Park this afternoon to cool off and chill out.

Hello from Krakow

Just wanted to let you know that we are safely in Krakow and settling into our hostel. Much more blogs to come but we are now off to go on a cycling tour of the city so we have lots of water, our sun hats and sun screen on!
Everyone says "hi"!

Jamboree Fun!

Hey!!

We have been at the Jamboree for five days now, enjoying making international friends and the activities.

Yesterday we went Whale Watching!!!

We are all having a great time and the weather has been glorious (apart from the wind that managed to snap a few of our tent poles!)

Here are some pics

Iceland Explorers!

Group Pic - Reykjavik

This is the group in Reykjavik. We had a nice walk along the coast road to dinner when we arrived.

Day 2 – Berlin to Krakow

This morning started bright and early, with our overnight sleeper train pulling into Berlin at a quarter past eight. With only an hour till our connecting train left, we hurried off to explore what we could of the station. A supermarket was quickly located and the leaders stocked up on supplies of water and food for the next leg of the journey. The girls having found a McDonalds were quite contented to munch away on their egg McMuffin rolls, where they were later joined by the leaders.
After a short time ‘chill-laxin’ it was time to go to the platform to catch the train. However we weren’t as lucky as the previous night and had to dash down the platform to our designated coach. Once settled on the train we sat back to enjoy the view as we travelled deeper into the heart of Europe.

The further adventures of Fred Bear

After 18 months of hibernation I’m finally on my adventures again. 18 excited girl guides and rangers are taking me on an adventure to Poland and the Czech Republic by train, would you believe it! I arrived at St Pancreas station at 3.30 and had lunch with Sharon and Kathy. At around 4 the guides started arriving with their parents. After the goodbyes we went and checked in at Eurostar. The girls looked after me and took lots of photos of me. I’ve been adopted by Ellen who looked after me in her sleeper cabin last night. We were woken by the leaders at 7.00 so we could get dressed and clean our teeth. We got off the train and explored Berlin Station. At 9.35 we got onto the train that we would be on for a further 10 hours. I’m on the train now and we have about an hour and a half left till we arrive in Krakow

Day 1 – Saying Goodbye

So after nearly a year of planning and preparation, the day finally came round to the start of our adventure. We are all very excited. Our packs are not too heavy and we have all we need for two weeks inter-railing round Europe.
We met at “The Meeting Place” at St Pancras station at 5pm under the enormous clock and then said our “Goodbyes” to families and took some photos. From there we headed to check in and security and then settled down in the lounge area.
It wasn’t long before we were boarding our train and settling in for our two hour journey to Brussels.
Onboard we got out our mp3 players, magazines and snacks and let the train take the strain as we sped through the Kent countryside.
It wasn’t long before we were into France and watching the sun set as we sped through Belgium to Brussels.
Once at Brussels we found a base to stack up our packs (which happened to be at Hagen Daaz) and then wandered around exploring and finding loos and places to get water, etc. We did find an automated 24/7 supermarket which was quite cool.
We had a scheduled wait for the next train so just chilled out. It was still quite warm. The train eventually came in and we happened to be standing in exactly the right space so we got on board and found our couchette cabins. Everyone was very excited about sleeping on a train and with it being 23:30 (local time) they washed their teeth and got ready for bed.
Soon everyone was in their bunks and waited to be rocked gently to sleep by the motion of the train speeding through Belgium, Holland and Germany to Berlin.

Update from the Jamboree

The jamboree has officially started! 23.07.2008
The interNational Jamboree 2008 in Iceland had its opening ceremony at 20:00 last evening in a very good Icelandic weather. The ceremony at such was formal but very enjoyable. After flag ceremony the chief scout of Iceland Ms. Margret Tomasdottir gave a speech followed by the chairman of the city government of Akureyri (the attached town) Ms. Elín Hallgrímsdóttir. Finally came on the stage Mr. Birgir Örn Björnsson lthe camp chief dressed as a viking and addressed the participants and announced the camp has formally started. Then a group lead the crowed in the camp song: "On the Vikingtrail." When the formal part was ower one of the most popular singer in Iceland Páll Óskar came on stage and song several of his most popular songs and the Icelandic participants sang along and our foreign scouts/guides did their best to follow but everyone enjoyed. A very good start of hopefully a very enjoyable and good jamboree.

Exploring Reykjavik!!!

Hey!

We have been having a fab time in the city! We´ve seen The Blue Lagoon, The Geysir Area and the very impressive Gulfoss waterfall.

Later today we are to explore downtown Reykjavik with our wonderful guide Regga.

Weather is a bit wet today but the weekend was wonderful with us all in sunglasses and short sleeves! Who said to bring thermals!?!? :-)

Anyway, enough of this, we are far too busy and having way too much to sit around on the computer!!

See you soon

Iceland Explorers!!!

Farewell to the Iceland Explorers

The Iceland Explorers from Girlguiding London over the Border set off this morning. They were full of nerves and excitement!
"Go well and safely"

T Minus 6 Days!

Its less than a week till we depart for our Icelandic Adventure and the leaders team are getting more and more excited by the minute, packing the equipment and making sure all plans are in place for a great trip!!!

The final preparation event for the Heart of Europe team

This was the final get together for the team going to the Heart of Europe by Rail.
Next time we are all together will be at St Pancras :-)