Down the mines in Wieliczka

On our last full day of our first trip, we took a train to the small town of Wieliczka, some 20k from Krakow, to visit the famous salt mine. It really was an incredible place - at depths of up to 300 meteres, there were over 300km of tunnels, and more than 2,000 chambers (we didn't visit them all though!). Salt has been mined in Wieliczka for over 700 years, and it is apparently the oldest still working mine in Europe. However, the most amazing thing about the place, is the figures that were carved entirely out of salt over the last 150 years or so by the miners in their spare time. These were incredible, especially the salt chapel, 100m underground, and decorated with salt figures and frescos, including a salt copy of Da Vinci's Last Supper. The guide enthusiastically informed us that this chamber was occasionally used for concerts - most famously by Nigel Kennedy and ... Ritchie Blackmore!


After the tour we had lunch in a salty underground cafe, used the salty underground toilets, and visited the salty underground gift shop. We were too tired to visit the neighbouring pepper mine though!


The end of the line (literally and metaphorically) ...