We flew in to Katowice and the snow was already coming down. The girl at the passport control said we were very lucky because it hadn't snowed in Katowice for 10 years. We grabbed our rental car and some snow chains and headed off for the drive to central Katowice. The scenery was so beautiful, cute little buildings and forests all dusted with snow. It was quite a stressful drive - the roads were quite heavily covered in snow and worse, the lane markings on the highway had no cats eyes so it was really hard to see where I was amongst the falling snow.
After making it to the centre of town we parked the car and dragged out suitcases to the Novotel Hotel. The snow was really coming down and the view from our room was of a white world.
After resting up for a bit we headed out for dinner. Jackie had found a restaurant serving Polish dumplings, so we walked for 25 minutes through the cold, found the place and grabbed a table.
The owner spoke enough English so we managed to order without a problem. The service was super slow but the dumplings were delicious. Jackie even ordered an apple cinnamon dumpling for desert!
The next morning we woke up to even more snow coating the city. After a buffet breakfast we drove around the corner to Lidl and stocked up on groceries.
The drive to Milowka was uneventful and we arrived in the centre of town after an hour and a half. We headed to the edge of town for the road that led to our accommodation. A sign indicated we needed snow chains so we pulled over and tried to put on the chains we had got from the rental company. Luckily a local driver past noticed our lack of experience and pulled over to give us a hand. He tried to tighten them up as much as possible but no luck - they were too big. We got started up the road but didn't get far before the chains slipped off and were slapping around the wheel arch. We got out the car and tightened the chains as best we could. After another ten meters the chains fell off again. We got out again and tried to tighten them as best we could. It was no use however, the chains were just too big for the wheels. We finally managed to make it to our accomodation with the chains having come off about 10 times on the hilly road which was about one-and-a-half kilometres long. But at least we had made it.
When we pulled into the driveway of the accommodation the owner came out to meet us. His English was okay - enough that he could explain the things around the house that we needed to know. He mentioned that a snow plow would be coming the next day sometime in the morning to clear the road again - so at least we wouldn't be snowed in. The accommodation itself with beautiful - the house was built in 1864 at a different location and moved to the current place sometime later. It was a huge pine wood building. Even though it was very old it still had all the mod cons with Central Heating great hot shower and a beautiful kitchen, and there is even Wi-Fi. After the trauma we had felt with the snow chain coming up the hill we were loath to leave the premises and was late evening now so we decided to make do with the groceries that we had. The plow would come sometime in the morning so we would be able to drive back into town to pick up some more groceries the next day - we only had the bare essentials. That night it snowed really heavily and in the morning we could not drive the car out of the property. We waited until around 12 p.m. at which point the ownere sent an email to Jackie telling her that the snow was too thick and the snow plow failed. We were stuck in the accommodation until around 3:30 in the afternoon, at which point luckily the snowplow then came through and we managed to drive into town to buy some more groceries. The owner had also warned us that the next day was going to be a public holiday so we really needed to get in there and get some stuff before everything was shut. Most important of all with some marshmallows for Jackie so that she could roast them in the fireplace.
We didn't end up doing much aside from buying some groceries but the most important thing that we did manage to achieve was to buy a set of snow chains which did fit the car. Amazingly we only paid about 80 polish zloty, which is about the same amount of money that the rental car company charged us. The mechanic dude who sold it to us showed us how to put it on using mime as we had no common tongue. The polish people have been so friendly.So far. Hopefully we will be able to get a refund on the chains we rented when we return the car.
The scenery has been absolutely breathtaking with the snow covering everything. From a position up on the hill we could see the town in the distance, pine trees surrounding us which are coated with snow - we feel really lucky to have seen this place and to be here when it's snowing.
After making it to the centre of town we parked the car and dragged out suitcases to the Novotel Hotel. The snow was really coming down and the view from our room was of a white world.
After resting up for a bit we headed out for dinner. Jackie had found a restaurant serving Polish dumplings, so we walked for 25 minutes through the cold, found the place and grabbed a table.
The owner spoke enough English so we managed to order without a problem. The service was super slow but the dumplings were delicious. Jackie even ordered an apple cinnamon dumpling for desert!
The next morning we woke up to even more snow coating the city. After a buffet breakfast we drove around the corner to Lidl and stocked up on groceries.
The drive to Milowka was uneventful and we arrived in the centre of town after an hour and a half. We headed to the edge of town for the road that led to our accommodation. A sign indicated we needed snow chains so we pulled over and tried to put on the chains we had got from the rental company. Luckily a local driver past noticed our lack of experience and pulled over to give us a hand. He tried to tighten them up as much as possible but no luck - they were too big. We got started up the road but didn't get far before the chains slipped off and were slapping around the wheel arch. We got out the car and tightened the chains as best we could. After another ten meters the chains fell off again. We got out again and tried to tighten them as best we could. It was no use however, the chains were just too big for the wheels. We finally managed to make it to our accomodation with the chains having come off about 10 times on the hilly road which was about one-and-a-half kilometres long. But at least we had made it.
When we pulled into the driveway of the accommodation the owner came out to meet us. His English was okay - enough that he could explain the things around the house that we needed to know. He mentioned that a snow plow would be coming the next day sometime in the morning to clear the road again - so at least we wouldn't be snowed in. The accommodation itself with beautiful - the house was built in 1864 at a different location and moved to the current place sometime later. It was a huge pine wood building. Even though it was very old it still had all the mod cons with Central Heating great hot shower and a beautiful kitchen, and there is even Wi-Fi. After the trauma we had felt with the snow chain coming up the hill we were loath to leave the premises and was late evening now so we decided to make do with the groceries that we had. The plow would come sometime in the morning so we would be able to drive back into town to pick up some more groceries the next day - we only had the bare essentials. That night it snowed really heavily and in the morning we could not drive the car out of the property. We waited until around 12 p.m. at which point the ownere sent an email to Jackie telling her that the snow was too thick and the snow plow failed. We were stuck in the accommodation until around 3:30 in the afternoon, at which point luckily the snowplow then came through and we managed to drive into town to buy some more groceries. The owner had also warned us that the next day was going to be a public holiday so we really needed to get in there and get some stuff before everything was shut. Most important of all with some marshmallows for Jackie so that she could roast them in the fireplace.
We didn't end up doing much aside from buying some groceries but the most important thing that we did manage to achieve was to buy a set of snow chains which did fit the car. Amazingly we only paid about 80 polish zloty, which is about the same amount of money that the rental car company charged us. The mechanic dude who sold it to us showed us how to put it on using mime as we had no common tongue. The polish people have been so friendly.So far. Hopefully we will be able to get a refund on the chains we rented when we return the car.
The scenery has been absolutely breathtaking with the snow covering everything. From a position up on the hill we could see the town in the distance, pine trees surrounding us which are coated with snow - we feel really lucky to have seen this place and to be here when it's snowing.
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