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NOWY TARG |
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From Rabka the main road continues over the Obidowa Pass (812m),
then down onto a plain crossed by the Czarny Dunajec river and towards
Podhale's capital, NOWY TARG (New Market). The oldest town in the region,
established in the thirteenth century, the key attraction of this squat,
undistinguished place - the home of many a Polish-American - is, as the
name suggests, a market , held each Thursday (and increasingly at
weekends too) on a patch of ground just east of the centre. Once an
authentic farmers' event, with horse-drawn carts lining the streets was
done here, accompanied by a lot of serious animal trading stalls laden
with local produce and crafts. Of late, however, both the character and
the appeal of the market has been diminished by a glut of Western
consumer goods and, although the folsky items are still here, you'll
have to search a bit harder to find them. For visitors, the main
shopping attractions are the chunky sweaters that are the region's
hallmark - prices are lower and the quality generally better here than
in either Kraków or Zakopane. Be prepared to haggle for anything you buy
(wool and crafts especially), and arrive early if you want to get any
sense of the real atmosphere. The market has also been invaded by droves
of Russians, Ukrainians and Slovaks, the latter turning up weekly by the
busload to benefit from the relatively cheaper prices in Poland, their
booty duly wafted through the laxly policed crossings along the Slovak
border. By 10am or so, with business done, most of the farmers retreat
to local cafés for a hearty bout of eating and, especially, drinking.
There's no point in staying in Nowy Targ when a range of far more
enticing mountain destinations are so close at hand, and once you've had
a browse round the market, you'd be well advised to move on
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