Krakow, Poland—Day 150

Today Sarah and I left in the morning to the small town of Wielickzka to the 1000 year old Salt Mines that are there. After getting breakfast and having quite the time figuring out where our bus was, we finally were on our way to the Salt Mines for a mere 2 zloty. We got to the mines, signed up for an English tour, and by 10 o’clock a.m. we were descending 100 meters below the surface.

Now I’ve been in mines before, but nothing I have seen has been like this. Not only were the mines used for, well, mining of course, but the miners sculpted statues out of the salt deposits, and even chambers as well as a spectacular chapel called St. Kinga’s Chapel which is complete with an alter, chandeliers and the lot. Absolutely amazing and the 2 and a half hour tour was just great.

Afterwards we caught the bus back to Krakow and had lunch in the center before walking over to Kazimierz, the old Jewish quarter of Krakow, where over 68,000 Jews lived before being “resettled” during WWII. We spent the afternoon walking around despite the rain and visited several synagogues in the area, all of which were beautiful.

As it began to get dark, we walked back to the center and had dinner before heading back to the hotel.




(c) 2004 Sarah Galbraith. All Rights Reserved.