Wieliczka Salt Mine

Another day, just a bit more sightseeing to do.  Today's post isn't about a food per say, but rather about an ingredient that we all use- salt.

I headed out to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, about a 25 minute drive from our place in Krakow.  Lynn was with me, but decided not to go at the last minute since her knee was hurting her and she didn't want to stress it.  Understandable.  It was another hot day, so the prospect of going up to 443 ft below ground was really appealing.  You have to go in groups, and thankfully, they have English language tours every 30 minutes.  So, I was able to get on the 12:00pm tour.  We set off and climbed down the 378 steps to get started.  Around and around we went, finally reaching the bottom.

Now, before I get much further, let me just explain why 1.2 million people visit this place.  Sure, it is an old salt mine, but the miners who worked there also carved some beautiful sculptures from the salt after they were done in a particular room.  There are carvings about how the mine was found.  They also do have mannequins down there to help explain how the salt was mined.  What is really neat, is that if you were so inclined, for the most part, the walls were lick-able, the floors were lick-able, the statues and the ceilings were as well.  They discouraged licking the floors and the statues, but you could lick the walls.  And with 2 miles of paths to cover, odds might be pretty good that you wouldn't lick where someone else had licked before you.

I did take lots of pictures, but these two were my favorite:

The first is a little troll that is for the kids.  He does have a little light in his belly, and supposedly, if you threw a coin into his pond you would get married (or divorced) in the next year.

The next comes from the real star of the mine, the chapel.  Yes, that is a crucifix made out of salt.  The huge chapel was carved over 64 years by 3 miners who had no formal training and did it after their shifts were over.  They have a fantastic Last Supper whose perception is amazing.

Just so you know, all the salt there looks grey, but in fact, it is all clear.  It is just packed so tightly together as to appear grey.

You can still buy salt from the area, but it is not from the mine itself.  There are other salt mines in the area that still produce it.  You can also by salt scrub, salt soap and salt sculptures.  You can buy these while you are in the salt mine itself, or on the outside after your 30 second cramped elevator ride up with 8 of your closest friends.

Fun facts:

-You can drink as much as you want down there and you won't feel the effects as badly as you would on the surface.  However, once you come up, prepare to be as drunk as can be. 

-The air down there is very good for people with allergies and asthma.  Breath deeply when you are down there.

-Horses used to live inside the mines.  Again, because the air was so pure, they were just fine down there.  The last one came out a few years ago and she is living very peacefully in a pasture nearby.

-You can also get married and have a huge party down there.  There is a restaurant on site as well as the chapel.

-There are several underground lakes down there.  Like the Dead Sea, because of their salt content, you can't sink.