Almost everybody would agree that the passing year 2020 was a special one. For me it meant switching from travel-intensive work (155 flights last year!) to home office. It also meant more hiking in my home country than travelling abroad. Let me share my impressions of the Year 2020 in 12 Photos - December.

Photo of the month

My readers may have noticed that most of my photos show mountains. I think I have hiked more than 1000km in mountains this year. It is therefore natural that my camera roll overflows with nature views. So my photo for December will surprise you. It is a city photo. Well, not 'a city'. It is Kraków, Poland.

I went there on a gloomy Sunday afternoon. The weather was really awful - just above zero, high humidity. Nasty. However, Kraków was still beautiful and I did enjoy the stroll. I showed the Old Town to a young friend of mine. Read the full story here or on PeakD.

Kraków used to be the seat of kings of Poland. Therefore it is rich in history and legends, too. Now it is an university, tech and tourist city. Vibrant with energy that cannot be found in Warsaw, it never sleeps.

The photo of the month shows merchants' hall in the Main Square. Nicely illuminated, it makes a good photo even on a nasty day.

Sukiennice, Main Square, Kraków, Poland

Runner up

Now, back to mountains :-) I celebrated Christmas by going to the Tatras twice. The first trip was on a cloudy day, with snow falling down lazily. The following days brought about a dramatic change in the weather. Skies cleared up, the temperature dropped to -10 Centigrade. Perfect conditions for beautiful photos of snowy peaks. I have selected on showing 'snow smoke'. It was calm in the valley (Dolina Kościeliska) where I was. However at the peaks there was wind. It blew off the fresh snow and created local 'snow blizzards'.

The Tatras, Poland

Also on the podium

The last photo of my series is from my home town. I went for an early morning power walk to a nearby hill. Having been there so many times, I rarely take photos. This time, however, the morning light was fantastic. So here it is - rising sun from St. Dorothy hill.

St Dorothy hill, Poland

Stay tuned

This is the last post in the series 'Year 2020 in 12 Photos' - December. Stay tuned, I will hike and blog more in 2021! Happy New Year!

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