The journey to Zakopane involved a fifteen minute 'rail replacement' bus service. Unlike in the UK, where health and safety are king, in Poland we wandered through a road works site to get on the bus and then clambered over the ballast and tracks to rejoin the waiting train.

Once checked into our hotel and after a bit of unpacking there was a smell of smoke and the sound of emergency services close by. Looking out if the hotel window the fire brigade were busy taking their hoses into the restaurant which was under our room. Needless to say we made a sharp exit to the street although the hotel staff seemed rather more relaxed!

Fortunately no real damage was done as the fire was in the extraction system for the restaurant - there was just the smell of smoke to deal with when we got back into the room.

After a rather pleasant Polish meal we found a bar and got chatting to a Polish/English couple. Note to self, don't do the vodka shots - it is lethal and they will remain with you well into the following day.

We did however learn (from our conversation) about the bus service to the cable car that took us up to Kasprowy Wierch. The cable car journey to 1,978m was well worth the trip and to walk about on the snow was fantastic - there were some lovely views too.

Once back down the mountain we enjoyed the rest of the day exploring Zakopane itself as well as taking the funicular railway to Gublowka hill overlooking the town. Sadly the mist/cloud had started to settle and the views were not that good.

After our second night in Zakopane it was time to move on again, this time to Lublin. Lublin is however just 178 miles from Zakopane 'as the crow flies' but was over 300 miles by train and a ten hour journey!