Our third day in Krakow took us to the famous salt mines and what an amazing place! Everything from the floors to the walls to parts of the chandeliers hanging down are made of salt! Utterly fascinating and beautiful! A working mine since the 13th century, it is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The mine has miles and miles of passages, with only 1% (2.2 miles) of them being on the tourist route. The mine also has underground lakes, dozens of historical and mythical statues all carved from rock salt, a large chapel...all from salt! Our local guide in the mine was witty and fun - she gave a great tour!
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| The front of Wieliszka |
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| All smiles |
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| One of many statues made of salt |
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A recreation of the story of how the mine came to be...
A princess, an engagement, a gift to her country, a ring in the mine
and a surprise find in the first salt that was mined. |
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| Working the mine |
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| The chapel, made completely of salt, where services are still held |
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| Do you see the "mistake" in the carving? |
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| A friend of the mine, carved in salt |
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| Tour guide Kyla |
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| And Brendan...looking sharp in uniform |
Following our tour of the mines, we headed back to the Rynek area and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon around town taking a second look at some places, like the Barbican and Florians Gate, Cloth Hall (thought to be oldest 'mall' in the world), a stop for snacks in the market, and then a little shopping followed by...cupcakes :)
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| Cloth Hall |
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| My cuties |
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| Barbican |
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| Who knew they had transition lenses back then? |
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| Cracking up over this one. Kyla thought it was so funny! |
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| The happiest man in Krakow...beer and Polish sausage = heaven |
After the market, we headed back over to Wawel to see the fire breathing dragon actually breathe fire and wrap up our day. Just a couple other things to note...we did eat at what is know as a "milk bar" - delicious and super cheap food, hit Cupcake Corner one last time, and saw several other cathedrals like Saint Peter and Paul's Church.
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| The dragon... |
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| Ahhh, the elusive fire on camera...love the lady jumping out of the way. Ha ha ha!!! |
We loved Krakow! Our next day...back to the train station to catch the train back to Warsaw. Now that was an adventure so stay tuned...
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