all hail vic

Day 3 - Salt

congratulations to jen, the person who posted the 100th comment on my blog!

i woke up late today. er. as late as late would allow. 9:30. i had set my alarm for 8:30. but i just couldn´t manage it. and so i slept. i took a shower. i walked down to the local mini-mart. bought some yogurt to mix with the mueslix i bought the day before. and i ate. and then i read. and read. and finished my book (¨The Curious Incidident of the Dog at Night-time¨) because i was just too close to not finish it. (excellent book, by the way.)

and at 11:40 i headed out into the city. i first headed to the castle. the castle where i couldn´t get in, even though i had planned the early part of my day around it. i couldn´t get in because apparently they only sell a limited number of tickets to the various parts per day. and so i lost out...

but i met a really nice married couple who live somewhere in between Munich and Prague. he was American (named Tom) and she was Czech (named Lenka) and i spent the rest of the early part of my day with them. first, we walked around the cathedral in the castle, the cathedral where JPII reigned as Archbishop before being promoted to being Il Papa. and we saw the Sigismund bell in the chapel´s tallest tower. and we saw the crypts filled with the coffins of people of whom i didn´t know.

after that, Tom, Lenka and I grabbed some lunch at a small cafe. unfortunately, we had to part ways after that as i had to haul ass back to the hostel, for i had prebought a spot on a bus to visit the Salt Mines in Wieliczka (Vee-eh-leech-ka). the Salt Mines were incredible.

in peak tourist season, they zoom through 7000 tourists a day. at first, we walked down some 400 steps. (trust me, looking down the middle of those steps is vertigo-inducing, since there were only 7 individual steps before a switchback. it was a lot of turning and dizziness.) after awhile, we emerged into a long corridor. it was a mine. whoop-de-doo. but then we emerged into a cavern where some ambitious miners had carved a scultpure out of rock salt. and then it continued. cavern after cavern was filled with rock salt statues. one of them is a magnificent cathedral, made in honor of St. Kinga, patron saint of miners. at first, the cathedral seemed like a grand ballroom - kinda like the one created for Disney´s animated version of Beauty and the Beast. but then i saw the religious sculptures. one of them was a replica of Da Vinci´s ¨Last Supper¨. it was incredible. i´m using that word because it fits so well. and to see these mines is another world.

there were underground lakes - the first of which reminded me of my mental images of Bilbo´s first encounter with Gollum in Tolkien´s The Hobbit. it was possible to lick the walls and taste salt, for those brave enough... i had some salt. that´s all i´ll say.

of note, there were some really surprising statues inside. there was a statue of Goethe, who was the German minister of Science or Geology or some such equivalent during his life. the very first statue was of Nikola Kopernika (aka Copernicus). there were also a few gnomes/dwarves here and there. one room was constructed especially for the tourist children and featured dwarves. the guide mentioned Snow White, but there were 8 dwarves. EIGHT DWARVES. was there a sequel that i wasn´t told about?! (ha ha. joke.) there was also, of course, a statue of Karol Wojtyla (aka Pope John Paul II) who apparently visited the mines 3 times in his life, but never as pope.

there was also a statue (not of salt rock, surprisingly) of a horse. yes, they used horses in the mines. and after they got them down there, they were there until they died. cruel, yes. but as cruel as raising them up and down on a day to day basis? probably not.

and after it all, there was the elevator ride. a multi-story elevator wherein they stuff nine people per level and then you zoom upwards through a darkened shaft. you are in pitch black for about 45 seconds. it was a lot of fun and reminded me of Sp*c* M**nt**n at D*sn*y W*rld.

after that, we returned to the hostel. by the time we returned it was almost 21:00. which means that it was dinnertime. so two dutch kids from the trip and i headed out into central krakow in search of food. we had what amounts to a highly inaccurate interpretation of mexican food (i´ll just call it polish food wrapped in a tortilla) and followed it by some beers. i left them since i know that i need to wake up early-ish tomorrow. on the way i listened to (and occasionally sang along with) the Magnetic Fields´ 69 Love Songs. and now i´m here. back in the hostel and thinking about tomorrow.

a few options for tomorrow, one definite -
i will see the castle. i´m waking up and will not be delayed in getting to the castle. i will see it. then, depending on what i learn after i post this, i will either visit the jewish quarter and catch a train. or i will merely catch a train to warsaw. or i will spend another night in krakow and catch a train to warsaw in the morning.

Posted by iain at August 11, 2005 01:09 AM