Gubalowka
Gubałówka is as famous as Giewont, or maybe even more famous. It certainly excels among hills and mountains in the number of tourists climbing to the top on their own feet. To the traditional quartet – buried, Giewont, Kasprowy Wierch and Gubałówka, the latter brings a female and maternal element. First, it is not very high (1120 m), second, it is not rocky, third, it is rounded, soft shapes, fourthly, she is friendly and does not punish mistakes severely, fifth, it is easily accessible and inhabited.
Gubałówka can be reached on foot in several ways, or by cable car – only one way.
When you're on top, you can experience a kind of deja vu, because the landscape of the Zakopane pan, that is, the terrace – the most popular place for sunbathing – with the Gubałówka restaurant and the upper station of the cable car is displayed on postcards, folders, movies and pictures from pre-war times. The closest surroundings of the station are for tourists only. You will find a restaurant here, cafe, pizzeria, sun lounger and ski rental. Gubałówka restaurant in the years 50. was considered the place with the most beautiful interior in Poland.
Since then, only the column carved by A.. Aside, remnants of ceramic plates from the highlander collection and a wall painting, the recurring motif of which are the greasy legs of hyraxes.
Over a slope to the south, where bodies thirsting for sun warm with delight, there are photographers with a Podhale sheepdog on duty – There is also a highlander costume or a pony harnessed to a stroller; people renting spotting scopes and binoculars to view the Tatra Mountains panorama, and even vendors of highlanders' food located on two stalls and terrifying with prices. Last year's hit was the Gubałówka slide, the first of its kind in Poland, anyone can use. Inside the winding track of length 700 m and the level difference 50 m, resembling a great gutter cut along its length, going down on something like a flat sledge. A vehicle that develops speed to 40 km / h is equipped with speed control poles and can be a lot of fun for only 2 PLN. In the last stretch, the sledge brakes and is transported upwards with the passenger using a special lift. Either way is right, to have fun, and at the same time look at the wonderful view of the mountains and the city, which hence seems to be quite large.
There are also souvenirs from the past on the top, one of them is the bronze sculpture of Polonia Restituta towering over the terrace, which in 1937 r. was exhibited in the Polish pavilion at the world exhibition in Paris.
There are steps to the road from the cable car station building, leaving behind a vast terrace on the right. You can reach Poronin in the east or Witów in the west by the road called Droga through Gubałówka.. Along the way, you can deviate along marked trails or clear paths to the south – to the city or north – to nearby hamlets.
Underestimated, and a very picturesque scenic route is a fragment of the Road through Gubałówka between the upper station of the cable car and Butorowy Wierch – just head west and follow the red trail to them. Of the Chochołowski Uprising. After approx. 5 minutes walking you can see a plaque attached to the tree trunk commemorating the place of death of two 21-year-old women, which were killed by a lightning strike in 1962 r. Nearby, there is a small wooden chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary, funded by the spouses Marianna and Władysław Bachled in gratitude for the happy rescue during World War II. It was built in 1962 r., eight years later it was enlarged by half, w 1981 r. enlarged again and renovated.