We arrived at a pickup point for the tour at Jana Matejki Square and got on the bus with our guide Sebastian. It is amazing how a funny, interested and informative guide can make to a tour and Sebastian ticked all the boxes. This made the tour one of the best tours we have been on.
We didn't know what to expect, but were in for a pleasant surprise.
The Wieliczka Salt Mine is about 30 km SE of Krakow and has been in operation for over 700 years. It was one of the original 12 Unesco World Heritage listed places in 1978. It includes a large ensemble of early galleries which extend to great depths. The residual excavations have been altered, and made into chapels, workshops and storehouses, etc. A substantial ensemble of statues and decorative elements sculpted into the rock salt has been preserved in the mine, along with an ensemble of tools and machinery. An underground tourist route has existed since the early 19th century.
There have been a lot of famous people who have visited the mines, Nicholas Copernicus, the pope John Paul II to name a few.
The tour starts with a descent of 360 steps to a depth of about 65m. You visit 3 levels, the lowest being 130m, and do a total of 840 steps. The temperature of the mine is kept at about 14C.
The 2 hour tour meanders around the shafts but after about 15 minutes in you start to see the the Salt carvings the miners have done. There are impressive statues and large caverns which contain lakes, chapels, and function rooms.
We returned to Krakow and walked through ta food market, there were plenty of free samples, almost enough for our lunch! We sample different sausages, cheeses and the Polish dumplings, Pierogi. The dumplings came in 3 different types, meat, potato and cheese, all very nice.
We packed some goods and sent a box home to Australia. Communication at the Post Office was difficult but my understanding was we might beat the box home. This has pleased Kristin because Andy was limiting her spending and shopping by using the excuse that we were over the weight limit for flights. He will meed a new strategy.
We spent the evening walking around the old town park and Wavel Castle, seeing a fire breathing dragon and having a look at St. Bernardino church.
We had a couple drinks at different parts of the Jewish Quarter before returning to the town square area for dinner. Great view, average meal.
Cheers,
A & K.
We packed some goods and sent a box home to Australia. Communication at the Post Office was difficult but my understanding was we might beat the box home. This has pleased Kristin because Andy was limiting her spending and shopping by using the excuse that we were over the weight limit for flights. He will meed a new strategy.
We spent the evening walking around the old town park and Wavel Castle, seeing a fire breathing dragon and having a look at St. Bernardino church.
We had a couple drinks at different parts of the Jewish Quarter before returning to the town square area for dinner. Great view, average meal.
Cheers,
A & K.
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