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| Salt Mine Sculptor |
KRAKOW, POLAND I had two objectives when I woke today. First, to find the best train route through Slovakia and secondly to tour the salt mine I had heard so much about. Three people had told me it's a must see, absolutely. I was skeptical, not that I don't like salt mines, but I've been to the one in Salzburg, not once but twice. I wished I had listened to my instincts. Krakow's salt mine is not Salzburg's: no rail ride through a dark tunnel, no slide into a salt chamber, no barge ride across an underground lake, and no salt miner's clothes to wear. The mine is Catholic, of course, this is Poland - three chapels, many religious icons, and what they say is the largest functioning underground church in the world, all carved out of the black salt; alter, frescoes, statues, and even the chandeliers - a mausoleum I would call it. Worse, once in, over half of the 2 1/2 hour tour was in waiting, always waiting on the groups ahead of us. We even waited a half hour to get out. Trust me, if you wish to see a salt mine, this is not it. Go to Salzburg.
I had a hunch getting around Slovakia might pose a problem. What should be two hours by train, according to the map, takes twelve hours. The mountains turrn routes into dead ends. For example, I'd love to go to Zakopane, the Polish ski resort at the foot of the Tatra mountains, and then continue on through Slovakia. Can't do - you must return to Krakow and proceed west - away from anything interesting. I could take a side trip to Zakosane, but that's six hours round trip and I appall going back and forth over the same tracks. Whatever destination I choose, I'd also prefer it to be one that allows me more than one way out. So far, in Slovakia this has been a tall order. After a morning of fretful map reading and checking schedules, I've decided to go to Bielsko Blala, Poland - a non-descript town from everything I can learn - but one that gives me some options of continuing south into Slovakia or east into the Czech Republic.
