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The cheap motel turns out to be very noisy at night and we don't feel well rested when we leave for Krakow. It is only 30 km. from here, and when we enter the city it starts to rain. We are lucky to park the car right in the centre and we take an umbrella with us.
Poland [2]
Elisabeth & Teije2004-03-06 16:03:48
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Friday, June 20, Krakow, Wieliczka salt mine, Zakopane (200 km)
The cheap motel turns out to be very noisy at night and we don't feel well rested when we leave for Krakow. It is only 30 km. from here, and when we enter the city it starts to rain. We are lucky to park the car right in the centre and we take an umbrella with us.
From a roofed café we look over the central square while the rain is pouring down. As soon as the rain is getting less we start to walk since we want to see the historic centre with all the medieval buildings.
The city must be splendid when the sun shines, but now it looks gloomy and the pictures we take are dark.
But nevertheless, it is an impressive city. According to our travel guide there are almost 6000 historic monuments of which we see about 60 along our walk, mostly palaces and churches.
The city plan dates back to 1257 and has a big square with a hall in its centre. Inside this hall there are little shops with souvenirs and jewelry.
The residential palace and the cathedral are build on the Wawel, a hill where the kings of Poland lived for almost 600 years when Krakow was the capital of the Polish empire. These are impressive buidlings, but we don't spend much time on them since the weather is getting worse again.
After walking for a few hours we leave for Wieliczka, about 15 kilometres southeast of the city. Underneath is a layer of salt, almost 400 metres thick, measuring 10 kilometres by 500 to 1300 metres. 5500 years ago the first salt was extracted already. Until the middle ages by vaporisation of the salty water, later by mining the salt.
The guided tour takes about 2 hours and starts with a descent of 394 steps to a depth of 64 metres. Elisabeth gets scared that we have to walk up along the same staircase.
We only see 2% of the whole mine, but it is fascinating to see how complete halls, a
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![Poland [2]](http://www.odyssei.com/thumbs/4/1/4/891_pol050.jpg "Poland [2]")
![Poland [2]](http://www.odyssei.com/thumbs/1/2/6/891_pol051.jpg "Poland [2]")
![Poland [2]](http://www.odyssei.com/thumbs/1/7/4/891_pol052.jpg "Poland [2]")
![Poland [2]](http://www.odyssei.com/thumbs/4/1/4/891_pol055.jpg "Poland [2]")
![Poland [2]](http://www.odyssei.com/thumbs/2/6/5/891_pol068.jpg "Poland [2]")
![Poland [2]](http://www.odyssei.com/thumbs/7/8/9/891_pol071.jpg "Poland [2]")
![Poland [2]](http://www.odyssei.com/thumbs/7/8/1/891_pol073.jpg "Poland [2]")
See photographs from:
Poland Gallery
