WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE

WIELICZKA SALT MINE

The famous Wieliczka salt mine is not far from Krakow, Poland. Claustrophobic me has sucked it up a couple times to go underground, but for some reason I was really looking forward to this adventure.

            We descended three levels by elevator, then we were left with 420 steps to walk down. The steps were wide, rather shallow, had hand rails and were really very easy to navigate. Eventually we reached 1100 feet, nine levels below ground. The mine is huge so I really didn’t feel closed in.

After the steps there were many pathways with small rooms holding  sculptures and carvings along the way—all carved from salt. All the sculptures were carved by miners over many years.

Rock salt was discovered here at the end of the 13^th century, and the mine is 800 years old.          I understand mining stopped sometime in the first decade of 2000. There are 200 miles of tunnel in the mine.

It took us a good while to reach the Chapel of the Blessed Kings. Along the way we were like a bunch of kids oohing and ahhing at the sights along the way. But nothing prepared me for the highlight of the  fair sized church measuring 1755 X 55 feet with a ceiling 39 feet high! 

Everything in the room, chandeliers, altarpieces, showcases, and sculptures are carved from salt. The showcases even contained all the articles one would find in any china cabinet. Over a 30-year period, (1895-1927), 20,000 tons of salt were removed from that room! When this masterpiece was completed in 1964, 70 years had lapsed from start to finish. Even the floor looked like flagstone, but it’s made of salt too.

 In a back alcove stands a life-size salt statue of Pope John Paul. It is a very good likeness of the Polish son who became pope.  

          This was an amazing visit to a subterranean museum. Nearly a decade later I happened onto a TV program showcasing the mine. Unfortunately I did not get the beginning of it, and keep hoping for a rerun. This is one place definitely on a revisit list.

NEAT IDEA

THE FAIRY TREE

Melbourne is one of my favorite cities. Known as the Garden City it is the capitol of Australia’s smallest state, Victoria. One out of every seven acres in the city is a park and nearly one quarter of the inner city is set aside for recreational purposes. This added to the multitude of flowers and trees creates an atmosphere of rural tranquility in a busy city. It was nice seeing so many working people spend their lunch hour in the parks.

Fitzroy Park was a delight. I visited it on my first trip down under and made sure to get back there on my second trip. The gardens were named after Sir Charles Fitzroy, Governor of New South Wales in the mid 1840s. The gardens are over 150 years old. Jan and I walked through the park several times on the way back to our boutique hotel, but I wanted to make sure she saw the fairy tree.

A miniature fairy village is in the park there. Across the pathway, a large tree needed to be cut down several years ago which left a large barren stump. But instead of digging the stump out of the ground, a lady requested it be left and sought permission to carve the stump. The very talented lady carved fairies all around the trunk. What a wonderful scene she carved! Children are not the only people who enjoy this most unique display and I hope will last for years.