Road to the Swarms
Behind Marduła's house, from ul. Kościeliska is turned right by a block called Droga do Rojny, which once led to the property of the Roy and Sobczak families. The narrow road runs north first, then turns suddenly west. Further north, all the way to the important communication artery of the Silesian Insurgents, leads Sobczakówka, which in part is called Ubocz. At no. 5 there is a house built in 1860 r. by Maciej Sieczka – famous guide, who turned from a poacher into a defender of chamois. It was visited by, among others, Seweryn Goszczyński, Adam Asnyk, Jan Gwalbert Pawlikowski.
Behind the Road to the Swarms, at Kościeliska no 52, a little further back is a cottage with a blackboard, from which content it follows, that a year 1866 The novelist Józef Ignacy Kraszewski lived here. Doesn't mention, that they were also staying here in 1874 r. Helena Modrzejewska with her husband and son, and also Henryk Sienkiewicz. Before World War I, Maciej Sieczka, known as Kulawy Sieczka, was gazing in the historic homestead of the Gąsieniców Sieczek family, which was in universal respect, for he provided marmalade fat – a medicine highly appreciated by the highlanders. Fat melted with milk or even better with half a quart of vodka was supposed to help with rheumatism, pains in the crosses, female ailments, scandal, that is, as the folk proverb says – helps with smallpox and roses and eggs too big. A belief in the salutary properties of fat, kept in tradition for centuries, caused the extermination of marmots. This species is under strict protection today.
Marmot (pour. Marmot marmota) despite its appearance, the rodent is not a harmful animal. He lives in halls, scree of the Tatra Mountains, Alps and Velka Fatra (Western Carpathians). In October, he hibernates, from which he wakes up only in April. In the middle of winter, poachers were digging up the sleeping ones, nice and warm creatures, intoxicated by sleep, devoid of any chance of defense, they pulled out of the burrow, they killed with a flap or a stick for it, to sell their fat. The highlanders called this activity “burying a groundhog”. The practice was most intense in the 19th century. Today, the marmots' great enemies are poachers, who surpassed the nineteenth-century by cruelty “diggers”. They use drills to get marmots out of their burrows, which pierce the bodies of animals like a spit.
Lame Chaff, which also pushed the birds out, he had a tame marmot at home, living under the fireplace. Sometimes the pet attacked guests, but they could be tame with some tasty morsel.
Just another block, running to the right – behind Droga na Szymoszkowa, leading to Polana Szymoszkowa, where the Kasprowy hotel stands, Kościeliska becomes ul. skibs. The bodywork is getting a bit looser, you can see the houses of southern hamlets – Bundówek, Krzeptówki, Mrażnica and northern Skibówek – district of the same name, what street. One of the peculiarities of ul. Skibówki is the Gruszczyński Garden Gallery at no. 26, to the right, open in the summer and winter season on clear days from. 11.00 until dusk. The uniqueness of the gallery is this, that in the garden, pictures are displayed against the background of green or white snow, mainly landscapes by Gruszczyńska, music by Gruszczyński is playing in the background.
A further walk with Skibówki to the southwest allows you to see, how much and at what cost is built in Zakopane. This applies not only to residential houses. An example of building gigantomania is standing in the distance 10 minutes walk from the garden gallery of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima – a new temple with a great gable roof and a round white tower topped with a pointed dome. The splendor of the interior – mainly white and gold – is breathtaking.