24 AUG 2010 - Birthday in Krakow

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BIRTHDAY in Krakow & tour of Wieliczka Salt Mine

People on the tour got sick of my birthday even before my birthday occurred. We started celebrating it on Sunday at Halina's house with the apple cake her Mom made. They sang Happy Birthday to me that day and then again with the folk group when we arrived in Krakow on Monday night. It is such a contrast from last year when I spent my birthday by myself in Giverny. People of course sent me emails wishing happy birthday and postings on facebook but noone around me in Paris knew of my birthday. I didn't even speak English to anyone for several days. Someone asked me what birthday was better...this one in Poland or last year's in Paris and Giverny. I can't compare the 2 trips...I really enjoyed being on my own in Paris and spending my actual birthday in Monet's gardens was surreal. And on the other hand being with my Mom in Europe and having all these people help you celebrate your birthday is pretty unforgetable too! I loved them both and can't pick a favorite.
Today started out rainy and stayed rainy until the late afternoon. We had an included city tour of Krakow this morning and the rain really picked up as our morning tour went on. It started in the Jewish section of the city and then we proceeded up to Wawel (sounds like Vavel..."W" are "V" in Polish) Castle or Wawel Hill. The tour was okay...I had a hard time hearing the guide because she was so soft spoken...and if I had a hard time hearing but about all the really hard of hearing people in my group? We walked around and through Wawel Cathedral (no photographing allowed 😞) After the Cathedral we walked into a courtyard that had the coolest fish/gargoyle rain pipes...and it was really raining still at this time and water was flowing out of the fishes mouths! I watched that for awhile while we had a toilet break for whoever needed to go. Next we walked down the hill and out towards the Old Town and ending up in the Main Market Square. We stopped at a couple sights on our way through the Old Town and seemed like Pope John Paul II's photo or statue was everywhere you turned. He stayed here or he prayed here or he gave sermons here...he layed the cobblestone for the church here...Pope John Paul II is a HUGE part of Polish life and culture since 95%!o(MISSING)r more are Roman Catholic. He was archbishop at St. Francis in Krakow for years...St. Francis is located on the Main Market Square. Halina told us that when he was "elected" Pope...it gave Polish people a great sense of pride and hope...they could walk down the street with their head held high. He became pope during the time of the Regime and he had a large part in energizing the Solidarity movement. Anyway there are statues, carvings, photos, paintings..you name it they have it of Pope John Paul II's likeness.

Mom and I headed back towards our hotel, the Radisson, which isn't far at all from the Main Square. But we didn't find anything we wanted. We went back to the hotel and ate in their cafe. Mom had a tomato soup which she said had a kick to it. I had the pork schnitzel with home fried potatoes and stewed cabbage and a coke of course too. It was tasty.

After lunch we went back up to our room and relaxed for a bit. There was a birthday card stuck under the door. Halina of course gave me a birthday card in Polish and included the lyrics to the Polish birthday song they sing. So sweet of her...she is definately an exceptional tour director. I checked emails and facebook birthday wishes. Then I took a nice little nap to get me regenerated for the rest of the day. Later after I signed up to do the optional tour but Mom did not. It was alot of walking and stairs (down but still stairs). So I wished her a good evening and went down to board the bus to go to the Wieliczka Salt Mine.

We took a short bus ride to Wieliczka which is around 10 miles outside of Krakow. Got our tickets and got in line for the elevator down the first level. Grand Circle pays to have us take the elevator down so we can skip the first 400 stairs. The elevator was very small and it's pitch black...it you're claustrophobic you better be saying your prayers at that time. The ride down was only 15 seconds but it seemed much longer than that! The temperature was great down in the mines. It is a steady 57 degrees all year long. I brought a jacket just in case it was colder but I never put it on! Our guide told us about the history of the mine and it was still a functioning facility to this day. Back in the old times salt was worth as much as silver. Salt was used as a food preservative and was very hard to come by. Very rich people normally owned the mines. We learned about the history and how it operated, saw subterranean lakes and vast caverns...very interesting. But the real sight was the statues that the miners themselves carved in their free time. Amazing works of art! The piece de resistance was the enormous Chapel of St. Kinga. It was carved over 3 decades in the early 20th century. Everything was carved from salt...even the staircase..the crystals in the chandelier were made from salt. There are carvings in the walls depicting stories from the bible. There is an altar carved as they have mass in this chapel every Sunday morning at 7:30am. And what would a chapel be without a life size salt sculpture of John Paul II himself. The funniest part of this tour was while the guide was telling us of the health goodness of the salt mines. They run a sanitarium where asthma patients come down for several hours at a time and do breathing treatments. One exercise they do is make them sing since that normally forces you to breath deeper. And one person in our group just instantly kicked in to singing Happy Birthday to me. OMG I was laughing....add I was sang to at 400+ feet below the surface of the earth! People were joking with me asking if it was STILL my birthday and is it ever going to end. I told them no since this was my birthday trip! 😊 The elevator ride up took longer since we had walked down an additional 450 stairs during our tour. It was a very long 50 seconds. When we exited and met Halina on the bench outside the mine on the surface she told us about a story she just read in the paper. There was an awful storm in Krakow the week before and during this storm the wind took the power out at the mine. Halina asked our guide about the experience. He told us that had never happened in the history of the mine...they had emergency lighting and emergency ventilation so everyone was safe but the elevator was out. The guides had to walk everyone up and out of the mines. Our guide said his group got to the surface and burst into chorus of "We are the champions"! I'm so glad I didn't hear that story before my visit and so glad the power didn't go out on us!

Dinner was included with our tour and we just walked across the parking lot and street to the restaurant. The first course was mushroom soup and was served in a cute little bread bowl. The mushroom smelled was pungent and I declined the soup. The waitress delivered me a delicious bowl of chicken noodle soup instead. Very happy about that change. Main meal was pierogies with meat...some with potato...and some mushrooms...needless to say I left the mushrooms on my plate. And what would a meal be in Poland without vodka?! We were offered cherry vodka or bison vodka...I tried the bison vodka. I put it up to my nose and it really did smell like rubbing alcohol! I sipped it and think I felt it all the way to my stomach. Holy cow that stuff is strong! For dessert we had fresh fruit with creme. Dinner was over and we boarded the bus...as we boarded I noticed the full moon and commented on it. Halina said she special ordered it up for my birthday! Marta sat with me since Mom didn't come on the tour. I asked her some questions of what she remembered while the Regime was in place and it was really interesting to hear her story.

Before I knew it we were back in Krakow and in my hotel room in no time. I told my Mom all about the mine and showed her the pictures I took. I was actually glad she didn't go because it was ALOT of walking and alot of stairs...she would have really been tired. I logged in and checked my email and updated my status on facebook to pass on the message to the family that Mom and I were good. Reads lots more birthday wishes before I went to bed and declared the day as most definately UNFORGETTABLE!

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