Today, Jackie and I decided to visit the famous Salt Mine in Wieliczka, but first we had to go for our run. We have been making good progress with our scheduled training program and today we had to run 2 miles, pick up the pace 6 times for 1-2 minutes each then recover, then run another 2 miles. In the end we ran just under 6 miles at a good pace (for us). We got back to the apartment, cleaned up, and headed out to find the bus to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. We stopped for a couple bread rolls at our new favourite roll lady on the way.
When we found out which bus we needed and how much it would cost, we determined, being the mathematicians that we are, that we did not have enough change. We headed into the mall for an ice cream cone (for me) and a coffee (for Jack), which was a necessary evil/pleasure to get exact change for the bus. We then boarded our bus and rode 45min out of town towards the mine. The ride was not as exciting as our last bus ride.
*Side Note:
On our way to Auschwitz we had quite an experience. The bus we rode to Auschwitz was a bus between cities, similar to the market Greyhound serves. However, in Poland this market is filled with pseudo independent busses (read vans) that take cash on board in place of tickets. Better yet, despite being a full van leaving the bus terminal, the buses stop periodically and pick people up and drop them off randomly throughout the route. Many people even get on in the middle of a lonely country road. Apparently this is a leftover of communism, with many rural residents not owning their own cars and flagging down a passing bus for a couple of Zloty (about $0.60). We really enjoyed the ride, particularly the eclectic mix of music that featured 80's, Celine Dion, Usher, and awesome Polish music. One last aside about our ride to Auschwitz: some of the older country homes have blue lines painted onto their exterior. This used to indicate that the residents' daughter was old enough to be courted, with the paint signaling to the local boys that they were welcome to come calling.
*End Site Note
As I said, todays ride was less exciting. We arrived at the mine on time and with only scheduled stops. Outside of the museum are a couple of fun cutouts that we played with before heading down into the salt mine:
The mine is one of the worlds oldest, operating from the 13th century until 2007. It was part of the original UNESCO World Heritage list in 1978 (another notch in our UNESCO site list belt). The tour starts by descending 378 steps to the first level of the mine 64 meters underground. The following is a picture of us spiraling underground:
From here we were led down meandering tunnels filled with carvings made by salt miners in their spare time. The salt is highly concentrated at 80-90%; the remaining impurities give the salt a grey colour. The mine tunnels are reinforced with timbers as steel would rust away. We were encouraged to lick the walls (but not the guards), though nobody did. The following are some of the photos Jackie got:
*Kazimierz the Great (beloved King of Poland from 1333-1370) statue on first level of mine
*St. Kinga's Chapel, almost completely carved out of rock salt (even the chandelier crystals are salt)
*Rock salt carving in St. Kinga's Chapel
*Da Vinci's Last Supper caved in wall of St. Kinga's Chapel
*Another angle of the Last Supper carving
*Another carving in St. Kinga's Chapel
*Fun water reflection in lower level of mine
We passed an underground lake which has a maximum salinity of 32% (for reference, the Dead Sea has a salinity of 28%). At our deepest point, we were 135m below ground. Here the tour ended and we were delivered into a gift shop and restaurant. We took the elevator back to the surface which was an adventure in and of itself. Jackie, who has a bit of claustrophobia, had not complained the whole time underground, but the elevator, which fits 4 people comfortably and gets packed with 9, was an issue for her. Also, as the elevator ascends, the sides of the shaft are visible and, being as pressed against the doors as we were, evoked a fear that the door could fail and shear off against the rock flying by. In the end, we did surface safely.
After catching the next bus back to town we decided to visit the cafe from the day before for another beer before heading home for dinner. As I'm writing this, Jackie is making some pierogies we picked up the other day. It is distracting as it smells pretty good in here. Tomorrow we are checking out and leaving Poland. We are taking another night train, this time to Budapest. Odds are we won't get to post tomorrow, but you can look forward to our first post from Hungary.
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