Solo Adventures: A New Day

We both had a refreshing rest after a difficult day touring the largest concentration camps in Europe. But the latter half of our tour yesterday took us to the salt mines of Krakow, which was the source and supply of salt for this entire region for several centuries. I tend to forget the importance of salt, but not only was it used for flavoring, it was used for medicinal purposes, antibacterial purposes, and most importantly, food preservation prior to refrigeration. The salt mine was in the depths of the earth, much like we would mine coal, which again, was fascinating. I thought the only source of salt came directly from the sea! Or from Morton.(🤭) What it looks like from a drawing…

We walked down forty-two flights of steps to get to just the start of the mine! And then we continued on from there, going even lower into the depths through a system of tunnels and caves, allowing glimpses of carvings made in the walls of salt (rock) by miners over the years. Our guide kept encouraging us to taste the walls, so eventually I did, once I got to an obscure corner wall, where most likely hands hadn’t run their fingers along it.😂😂 And yes indeed. It was salty!😂😂😂

And of course, it’s a protected site 💕.

View from the top.

(Dean just heard how many steps he has to walk down😂😂😂. This was his last chance to back out of the tour. He didn’t.😆👏👏👏😂😂)

They used huge heavy timbers to support the walls as they created their tunnels. And a system of trolleys to move the salt up to the top. This was back in the 16th century! Because of the preservation aspect of salt, all of the timbers are original.😱

These carvings were done by the miners themselves, which I found fascinating! I reckon if you have to work in the darkness most of your life, you may as well make it enjoyable to the eye😂😂👏👏👏.

Not sure when the door was added, nor the purpose for it, but I thought it was pretty.☺️

But THESE doors, and walls, are all salt! The color makes it gray because of the minerals in it. And it is hard as stone!

Again, all salt!😱

The cauliflower appearance of the salt above is caused from moisture that had gotten into the mine and caused crystallization in spots. It reminded me of a ‘rock growing’ science kit my brother had long ago. Probably ordered through Highlight’s magazine. 😏

They look like stones, but they are stone-like carvings made in the salt walls 😊.

After a time they created a means to move horses into the mine to move salt more efficiently.

And then a beautiful salt lake even further down! It would’ve been fun to try to float in this one…😂

And because I have to be packing up soon to move onto Warsaw later this morning, I’m just going to post some more beautiful pictures. But remember, everything is made out of salt! Even the chandeliers!