(Krakow, Poland)
Highlights: visiting the 700-year old Wieliczka salt mine, getting acquainted with old town Krakow
Underground tour route (Wieliczka)
Carved out of rock salt (Wieliczka)
Underground chapel (Wieliczka)
19th Century VIP tour carriages (Wieliczka)
Journal: The first of two days away from the bicycle was mostly spent visiting the famous Wieliczka salt mine, declared by UNESCO in 1978 as one of the 12 most priceless monuments in the world. The mine first went into operation in the Middle Ages about 700 years ago (continuing until just recently, in 1996) and contains nine levels (going more than 1000 feet deep), 250 km of corridors and more than 20 chapels (the biggest of which took three artist-miners 70 years to finish). In places the mine resembles a vast underground city as loads of visitors (a million a year) come to see the rock carvings, chapels and displays. While many of the exhibits were created beginning about 80 years ago, tourists have been visiting the mine for well over 200 years (dating back to 1774). The complete guided tour nowadays begins with a 380-step descent into the first (highest) of three levels and eventually continues for nearly 5 km on foot, so it was a pretty good way to stay in shape when not bicycling. At the end I was even ready to climb the stairs back to the surface, but the only way up is in a rickety six-person elevator. The only fault with the three-hour tour was the high price (over $30 US plus $5 more to take pictures), a sign (I suppose) that Poland is doing well economically as a relatively new member of the European Union.
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