It was an accomplishment and a half to finally make it to Poland. Not because any of the flights were difficult but simply because after a while it felt like the only place I'd ever known was an airport. (It's very similar to the men in the cave metaphor). I can't remember anything of note from my Rome to Frankfurt flight simply because I was exhausted from spending the entire night talking to a Columbian. The flight from Frankfurt to Krakow I was equally out of it although I played the fun game of watching how many people put earplugs in when a baby screamed continuously for an hour. I felt bad for the parents and I discovered the best way to tune out a screaming child is by listening to Punk Rock. Even better, it's excellent napping music--just so soothing.
After all this I didn't even have to go through customs. I think I must have wandered through it the night before in Rome. I got a lovely hotdog and waited in the high class establishment known as an airport. Finally, Chris arrived and we could set out into the world outside an airport. It was very flattering to see my name on a sign when the Taxi driver came to pick us up. (I suppose I could literally pay someone to do that on a regular basis but that seems a little excessive). In typical Polish friendliness the taxi driver told us all about Krakow and in great depth about the weather. He was very worried that we wouldn't be prepared for the cold of 8 degrees Celsius. Speaking of friendliness when we went to check in at the hotel the young very relaxed lady asked for my last name and then tossed me the keys to the room (did she ask for any type of ID? The answer is no) which was only three flights of stairs up-a measly number for anyone whose ever lived in St. Charles- and massively less than we did today, but I'm getting there.
We went out and upon walking up to the castle that was two blocks from our house we found our first JPII statue they are kind of everywhere. (Chris is pictured in the square for size reference). The castle was closed for the day so we went to find dinner. The black duck was
just of the main square and offered Polish cuisine. It was very upscale Polish food. Two Cabbage rolls drizzled in the finest mushroom sauce. The upside is they gave us free plum vodka at the end of the meal. We had that with Apple Pie which in Poland is more similar to Tiramisu in structure. Then finally at long last I could lose consciousness (not in the restaurant the Vodka wasn't that strong.) We did walk back from the restaurant. I did keep trying to go the exact 180 from the right direction. That again probably wasn't the Vodka only the sleep deprivation.
Today we started our day with coffee in the cafe below where we are staying. The man gave us our coffee and then left the shop to have a smoke break. They really are a little too trusting in this building. To avoid having to pay to get into a church and also because going to mass is lovely we went to St. Mary's Basilica and experienced our first Polish Mass. I am not strong enough to be an old church lady. Not only are the pews not padded but they are slanted. In order to keep from sliding off the kneeler you have to tense every muscle in your leg or pray enough that the stain wears off. Furthermore, just in case you couldn't make it to one mass there was one every half hour all morning and a rotating door of church ladies.
After mass we like any good Catholics during Easter Week went and found donuts. Rose is a very big flavour in Poland and so we had Rose filled Donuts. Wandering into a
nearby church looking like building we found Adoration in the middle of the square. Thankfully we didn't go in until all, alright most, of the powdered sugar was off my face.
In the main market there was also a historic cloth market. While it is mostly a tourist destination at this point it has been around for centuries. Here you could get all your Polish necessities. Wooden boxes, Polish flags, Icons, Amber Jewlery, and I love Polish Boys shirts. (I tried to buy one for Chris but for some reason he didn't want one.)
Two of the main streets in Krakow are named the equivalent of Franciscan and Dominican and what do you know we found out why. There are Franciscan and Dominican monasteries on can you guess which roads? The Dominican monastery was very austere complete with gruesome paintings of martyrdom and the musty smell of holiness. There was also a very scary Dominican sister that I thought was staring at us with a glare the entire time. Upon closer inspection I think she was just half asleep. The Franciscan monastery somehow smelled like roses. There was a blessed whom Chris was convinced was a boy, she was not and we got some weird looks over our discussion. It probably didn't help that we'd bought some candy and the bag had split so I was cradling a half ripped bag of assorted candy. The Franciscan church was very
full of color and so it won in my books also the fact that it smelled like Roses was a plus. Here was my favorite picture of JPII I've found thus far although they are to be fair on every street so I might change my mind later. We were accosted by a man for money for the Ukranian war which while it is a good cause I don't know why he thought we would have tons of money.
In the Afternoon we headed to the Historic Salt Mine in Wieliczka. This hadn't sounded super interesting but boy was I wrong. A bit of History. It was first mined in the 12th century and has been mined since. There are over 200 km of tunnels, 9 layers, and it descends deeper than 400 meters. It has been visited by the likes of Nikolas Copernicus, Chopin, JPII, and Polish Royalty--as it was a crown owned enterprise. Miners originally only could mine for 5-6 hours a day because of the limited time they had with their oil lamps. A few centuries later they brought horses into the mine. To avoid the danger of hauling horses up and down shafts they would keep the horses in the mine for the entirety of their lives. Finally, apparently it was considered a great honor to work in this mine
and only free men could.
We saw about one percent of the caverns and only descended about 130 meters. Of course we descended the entire thing in stairs. The first descent was 60 flights of stairs. I think if I'd had to do it in reverse I'd fall over dead. In the chambers there were statues mined by the salt miners I suppose on their lunch breaks? The entire floor of several chambers were carefully carved into cobblestones which is actually the opposite of comfortable to walk on. In the second level the salt miners got more creative with their carving skills and three spent 60 years carving a cathedral. It is completed with a chandelier made out of salt crystals and is still used every sunday and for weddings. I'm not positive I'd walk there for mass. As the tour guide said, "You like it? I think it's very beautiful chamber." They used different colored salt for the different saints and yet again there was a JPII statue. Right after that was I'm sure what the favorite thing for the salt miners a gift store where you could buy...you guessed it salt! (You could also buy a salt necklace which seems like an equally bad purchase). At this point the tour guide counted us and we discovered that two kids were missing. The father looked less than concerned and kind of just shook his head. I think the kids turned up but they might still be wandering the mine. (I suppose they'd have the chance to live Minecraft IRL). The third level had some salt water lakes. We were not aloud to swim in them because apparently 100% brine is bad for you or something.
At the end of the tour we went to the museum passing through a random group of Catholics in a side chamber doing the Divine Mercy chaplet...not positive how they got there. In the museum which was an optional tour the tour guide gave us free salt so you didn't even have to buy it. We headed up the shaft which involved being herded like Cattle into a grated elevator and Polish man waving you goodbye with a look on his face that made you question if you were about to have a very long fall with a very quick end.
Now to the best part of today and what I've honestly been thinking about the entire time I've been writing dinner. We walked there down JPII street and ducked into a small little establishment titled Good Day Pierogi. Inside was a Middle Aged man and two older women. They spoke no English but welcomed us in and assumed that we could translate what they asked through context clues. Chris and I opted for a light dinner of two bowls of soup each and 24 pierogi. The Poppy Seed were the best and my least favorite was the cabbage--I still haven't recovered from putting cabbage on ice cream. When I, through the use of google translate, told the man that his Borsch was better than my grandma's they began to celebrate behind the counter--which doubled as the kitchen. (Sorry Mimi) What was really funny is then they took turns disappearing and reappeared with ice cream. I think what made this place is it was complete with the guy teasing us in Polish, the women directing him, and them spontaneously breaking out into song about the food they were making (I got that one because I know my Polish foods). Overall a very successful day. I'll write again soon.
Quote of the Post: You can lick the wall to check, maybe it sugar you can let me know? And You can lick the wall not the monuments!
Song: Salve Regina (There was a recording of the miners singing it)
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