View of Józef Piłsudski Bridge from the Vistula River.
Peep of St. Bernardine Church.
A look at Father Bernatek’s Bridge.
Glances of Smok Wawelski and Rynek Główny.
Glimpses of Evangelical-Augsburg Church of St. Martin and a horse-drawn carriage.
A peek at some of the yummies I consumed and inside Cat Café Kociarnia.
A pic of one of the reproduced works in the Banksy museum.
Parting shot of friends’ final night out.
About 7 miles southeast of Krakow is the UNESCO world heritage site, Wieliczka Salt Mine. The mine is over 700 years old. I took the train to get there but I thought the bus station was charming.
The mine has nine levels. Tourists only descend to the third. After walking down about 380 of the 800 stairs, some of the sculptures you encounter are of Copernicus and King Casimir III the Great.
This scene depicts a legend about Princess Kinga of Poland’s engagement.
At some point you reach the largest of the four chapels, which has an altar and chandeliers sculpted from salt. It can accommodate about 400 people for Sunday morning mass.
At 1,073 feet, the mine is deeper than the height of the Eiffel Tower.
Pure salt is translucent… think about salt lamps.
There are a few lakes in the mine. The guide said it would take about 7 weeks to explore the entire mine.
To provide some prespective of the sheer size, I took this picture looking up at the ceiling. Rock salt stopped being mined here in 1996 but evaporated salt is still produced from the brine.
Volunteering with Angloville brought me to the Polish Highlands.
The weather and the food have both been agreeable.
The neighbors have been cordial.
The shopping has been lacking
but a trip to Zakopane made up for that
and then some.
There has been entertainment.
There has been some scenery.
There have been laughs and good times.
I’ve arrived in Poland! And I’m confused… still in the EU but in a different time zone and using a different currency. Instead of the euro, I’m now carrying the złoty.
My stomach is not confused, it loves Polish food, and pierogi is the first menu item on the agenda. A bit of Polish cider is a perfect accompaniment. But which pierogi has what filling is a mystery.
The local church, St. Mary’s Basilica, has a trumpeter that plays a catchy melody from the tower every hour… all day and night long.
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