Poland Culinary Vacations

I placed a request in ITN’s “Person to Person” section for information on travel that would combine hands-on cooking classes with touring. One of the people who responded was Sarna Rose, the owner of Poland Culinary Vacations (Bozeman, MT; 888/703-8130).

After browsing her website and exchanging e-mails with her, my husband, Richard, and I signed up for “Cooking Your Way from Kraków to Zakopane,” Aug.12-18, 2012. It was a wonderful experience. The land cost for two was $4,675, which covered transfers, excursions (including a rafting trip), entrance fees, most meals and three cooking classes.

Sarna was born and grew up in Poland and now lives in Montana. She has been taking groups to Poland for five years and was with us the whole trip, guiding us to excellent travel experiences as only a person with inside knowledge can. We also had a local guide, Alicja Natkaniec, throughout the trip to answer specific questions about local history and customs.

There were only six people in our group, which allowed us to be flexible. We met in Kraków and traveled to Zakopane for a 4-night stay and a good mix of food, cooking and exploring. We had two hands-on cooking classes there plus several meals at agritourism restaurants and regular restaurants (all included in the tour price). All the food was excellent.

Back in Kraków for two nights, we attended the annual Pierogi Festival (held every August on different dates). I had no idea you could put so many different kinds of fillings in these Polish dumplings!

Alicja led us on a walking tour of the Old Town. We also visited the salt mines and had a cooking class at the Kraków Culinary Institute. I highly recommend Poland Culinary Vacations.

MARY CATHERINE LARCHEY
Landstuhl, Germany