2-3 0CTOBER: Trains & a salt mine - Poland again

Well I was back from from Limoges but after one night in the flat it was off again to the railway station at West Bhanhof and the 2220 train to Krakow. Those (both?) of you who read this blog may recall that I went to Krakow in the snow in February and promised Iwona and Chic, my friends there, that I would return to see leaves on the trees. Well, October was starting to cut it a bit fine on that point but it was still very green .

Anyway, I arrived at 0630 on time after a good trip on the train but hungry-Polish Railways throw in a "breakfast" of a chocolate croissant and a Mars bar and some water and a small bottle of juice which keeps you going, just. I headed off to my hotel (http://www.hotel-amadeus.pl/?p0=11&l=2) which was located on the edge of the old city centre and was where I was hoping to meet up with my dear friends Tim and Wendy as well as my sister Soo and her husband Mike over the weekend. Chic and Iwona would be back in town too from their London base, but staying at their place just on the other side of the main square.

The hotel staff were helpful and charming but there was a problem, my room had lost its electricity supply so they had relocated me to the 5* Holiday Inn (http://www.hik.krakow.pl/) a few hundred metres away and I could have the room right away for no extra charge, which was very nice of them.

Holiday Inn Krakow City Centre

The porter insisted on rolling my bag over there and I was duly checked in by even more helpful people who also fixed up a tour to the famous salt mine at Wieliczka with a 0930 departure the same day. So after a proper breakfast and watching the Grand Pix qualifying from Japan it was onto the minibus and off to the salt mine for a full tour. We drove out past the Krakow palace which looked fine in the morning sun.

The trip took less than 3o minutes and then we were at the mine. It was very crowded but as a World Heritage site I guess it is bound to be popular.

The World Heritage sign at Wieliczka Salt Mine

The mine still has a working headframe which stood out over the skyline in a dramatic fashion

The entry to the mine was down 384 steps in one of the old shafts; round and round we went and a couple of people felt dizzy at the bottom.

Underground the mine is full of salt sculptures including this one of Copernicus, one of Krakow's better known sons. Some sculptures are old and some are contemporary and vary a lot in style but they are all skilfully done.

Also throughout the mine there are dioramas of the old working methods which are very well done.This one showed a major haulage and winch system powered by horses.

The workings open to the public are the top three working levels of the former mine so we walked down quite a few more steps on the way around. As with all mines there is water around and from time to time we saw lakes underground including this one where they used to run boat trips. Nowadays it seems these are few and fare between and mostly for special guests only.

The workings are extensive with many dioramas and long passages, but the mine is really famous for the 3 chapels underground carved from the salt. The largest chapel is quite something and is the size of a small cathedral .

The underground "cathedral"

The tour continued with a walk into yet another chapel and a visit to a large cavern (with another gift shop - three in all on the tour!). At the end we came across the most unexpected thing - a large salsa dancing class at 135 metres underground. All very serious and a great wooden floor etc - most impressive. However, we moved on, resisting the temptation to join the dancers .................

........ past an example of the old workings as they had been at the last time of the commercial workings and then on to the lift shaft

The lift was a true miners' cage with 4 compartments like telephone boxes and 9 persons in a box! It was pretty crowded but as a concession to the public the cars had lights in them and anyway the haul to the surface was only about 30 seconds or so and then we emerged and had a chance to see the lifts in daylight.

Then a chance to see a fourth gift shop before the drive back to Krakow. I confess I did buy a bag of salt to use in the kitchen. The salt from the Salzburg salt mine has just about run out. A great trip but very touristy and crowded but worthwhile for all that.

On the way back to Krakow we saw the "Kracow Eye" in the sky over the city. This is a tethered balloon and I wanted to have a go but there was no free place that afternoon sadly.

So instead I wandered around the city centre looking at the tourist stalls outside the old market and museum building which is being refurbished at the moment

And then a wander through the flower stalls............

And at the end of the afternoon Tim and Wendy arrived so we had a drink and went out to find dinner in one of the multitude of restaurants and cafes that are all over the city centre.
As the others were not due to arrive until Sunday evening we had decided to visit Auschwitz
on Sunday and so that is the next blog.