We started our holiday trip quite late, at 9am. Usually, we try to leave home earlier to avoid traffic on the roads. This time, we let the children sleep longer, and we had a chance to finish packing. One of our rules for this trip was that we would not be in a hurry. Finally, we have holidays and we don’t have to chase anything.
The route from Poznań to Wrocław went very smoothly. On the way, we saw a lot of ongoing work related to the construction of a new section of the S5 express road. When it is completed, it will shorten travel time to the south. In Wrocław, we decided to take a short break. After about an hour we went back on our way to Międzygórze, where the first attraction of our trip was waiting for us.
Garden of Fairy Tales in Międzygórze
We decided to visit the Garden of Fairy Tales in Międzygórze. We (the parents) had been there a dozen years ago and we wanted to show this place to our children. This garden is located in the forest, about half an hour from Międzygórze. There is a special trail for kids. The older children managed to walk the route themselves, and for Iwona, we provided a ride up in the stroller. Pushing the stroller up was quite exhausting, especially on the last meters where the road passes over bumpy stones and the trolley had to be carried.
In the end, we’re at the Garden of Tales. It looks the same way as in our memories. It’s a sign that time has stood still here. We bought tickets and entered the garden to admire sculptures of fairy-tale characters.
The garden can be explored on foot by walking along paths leading among the sculptures made of wood. The paths are very steep at times, so we left our stroller at the entrance. Every now and then we passed fairy-tale character sculptures and wooden houses, eg. a gingerbread house, Baba Yaga’s house, a youth house. You can enter some of the exhibits and put your head out through the window so that someone outside can take a picture of you.
While walking, we tried to recognize the characters we saw. Unfortunately, most of the exhibits did not have any labels and we weren’t sure who the characters were. On the way we met characters from Polish tales like: Koziołek Matołek (yes, the one from Pacanów), Hansel and Gretel with Baba Yag, Smurf, Little Mole, Pinokio, Bolek and Lolek, Pszczółka Maja, Shrek and Fiona, as well as less popular.
When we were walking by the companions of Winnie the Pooh the children were worried that Piglet was in prison. Actually, Piglet was being repaired and nothing bad happened to him.
We got the impression that the garden hasn’t been renovated. It seems that no new figures appear there. No wonder that children do not know the characters of some fairy tales. I think the only breath of fresh air is the sculpture of SpongeBob, and that’s not good.
We’re going to Międzygórze
The Garden of Fairy Tales visited, so we go down to the city. This time, knowing the route thoroughly, we decided to shorten the road a bit and we took a steeper path down. As always in the mountains, going down is faster and easier than going up. On the way we stopped by a forest spring. We knew there was a trail to the waterfalls, but unfortunately this route was under renovation. We had no choice and we had to go down the same path we entered.
In Międzygórze, we decided to have dinner in the restaurant. We chose one of those that are at the end of the trail.
To the Czech Republic
Once our bellies were full, we had to fill up the car. On our way to the border, we drove to the gas station and drove to the Czech Republic. We were driving in slightly mountainous roads, and got to our campsite. The route headed due south, and there was no expressway or highway. We could, therefore, admire the beauty of the Czech villages.
Interestingly, when we passed the border, we noticed that traffic was much lighter. You could tell the Czechs obey speed limits, especially in built-up areas.
We chose Camping Hana for the night. When we arrived, we were greeted by a sign reading ‘no vacancies’. Fortunately, we had previously sent an email to make a reservation. As it turned out, the place was waiting for us. We set up a tent, took a bath, ate supper and went to bed. During supper we looked at the sky. The sky over the campsite was covered with thousands of stars. We remembered saying: “How many stars does your hotel have?” We sleep under a million stars.