Underground Salt Mine

Old Town and Wawel Castle

This morning started differently, with band music from across the road.  It turned out to be a military band practice for a big event tonight.  Breakfast consisted of a huge cold buffet.

We took a tram around 0900 towards Krakow’s Old Town.  We couldn’t find a kiosk nearby and had to pay onboard.  We didn’t have exact change and the driver may have waived part of the fare.

In the old town, our first stop was an internet café to check on Kim’s upcoming roster with work and the loads on our standby flight from London to Auckland.  We then made a booking for visiting the salt mine out of town this afternoon.

Krakow’s Old Town is one of the most intact and delightful (probably along with Prague) as it escaped much of the mayhem of WWII.  We enjoyed a walk around it before heading up to Wawel Royal Castle.  There appeared to be a big crowd going uphill with us but fortunately there was no queueing for the tickets.

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At Wawel Royal Castle we visited the Cathedral first.  It was very ornate and busy with visitors.  We then explored the compounds before entering various staterooms.  After a while, one can overdose on these rooms typical high decorated ceilings, fancy furniture and paintings.

We paid to enter a separate section, the Treasury and Armoury. As to be expected, there were armours, guns and crossbows in addition to the more mundane plates, clocks etc.  It wasn’t really me.

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Wieliczka Salt Mine

We grabbed Pizza Hut on the run, as we didn’t to miss the Wieliczka bus.  We also got a custard dessert to eat on the way.  We got to Wieliczka early and hung around the plant building to wait for our turn.  This salt mine started in the 13^th Century and was only stopped operating commercially in 1996.

The plant building which we entered to descend into the mine.

Once inside the building, we descended down steps that went forever.  I looked down between the handrails of the staircase and it went right down, illuminated by lights.  We were told that our visit would take us down to over 100m in depth but the mine reaches a depth of 327m and has horizontal passages of over 287km.

Looking down between the stairs handrails. It goes down a long way!

When we stopped descending, we were guided through the labyrinth, interspersed with heavy wooden doors and what looked like rock sculptures.  These sculptures were actually carved from salt despite their rock-like appearance.

Overall, the visitor route is 3.5km, comprising less than 2% of the total passageways.  The highlight was the St Kinga’s Chapel where Ave Maria was wafting through the air while a wedding was in progress.  This was one of four chapels underground here.

We also saw an underground lake.  I also particularly like places where you can appreciate the height of the supporting structures (or depth of where we were).  It was like looking a shaft-tunnel, with an interleaving weave of wooden supports.

The underground setting was used by the Nazis as a weapons factory, utilising forced Jewish labour.

The tour finished in a grand waiting hall and souvenir sales area.  We waited here before being taken up to the surface in lifts.

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Evening

We took the bus back to town.  For dinner, we had another Polish meal.  Kim ordered a sausage meal while I had bigos again.  At the end, he said he wanted another sausage but didn’t.  He was probably testing as to whether I’d stop him, after his performance and accusation last night.

We took the tram to Kazimierz, historically the Jewish part of Krakow.  There were some synagogues and signs of its history but it largely appears like any other part of the city.   We had dessert and tea.  Our choices were a baked cheesecake and also a pancake filled with hot custard, topped with fruit salad.

Kazimierz, historically the Jewish part of Krakow.

Park railing in Kazimierz, historically the Jewish part of Krakow.

Back at the Demel Hotel by tram around 2045, we settled in for the evening.  The international army band competition was still in progress.  It finished with fireworks that seemed never-ending.  We could only see the glow of it.  If it had known that it would go on at such great length, we may have got dressed and go out to see it.  But maybe not, as it was raining a little.