We arrived in Krakow from the Auschwitz tour earlier than expected. So I decided to rush back to the hostel and quickly check in, collect my bag and get my stuff sorted with the hope that I get a lower bunk bed. The aussie guys were already up to their drinking spree at 3:30 in the afternoon. The Perth boy said yes and I asked if they had a full on night. Turned out they didn’t get to join pub crawl, instead, just ended up getting drunk in the hostel.
I quickly rushed off to the 12-bed dorm and got the last lower bunk available. That’s when I met Jaclyn from Australia who’s been working in Scotland but taking her time now to travel around Europe with the hope her visa gets prolonged. There were also 2 young boys from Brazil, Mauricio & well I forgot the other guys name. They were sulking in their beds, struggling through a big hangover from the pub crawl. Well, I was still glad to know that they were interested to go check out what the city had to offer and not wasting their time on drinking. The boys were going to the 3:45 salt mine tour as well, which made Jaclyn decide to join us too.
We went down and I introduced Jaclyn to her fellow Aussies. And that’s when I learned what happened to them the night before. Stuff I’d rather not discuss on this blog. I just rolled my eyes and thought, “geez, that’s a different level of fun.” I was so glad I said no to their prodding invitation to join the pub crawl.We all got on the bus around 3:45. The Aussie boys were also part of the Salt Mine tour, all of them with their shades on, covering their bloodshot hangover eyes.
Wieliczka is located in the southern part of Poland, a 45-minute ride for us from Krakow. It was built in the 13th century and considered as one of the oldest salt mines still in operation. In 1978, the Salt Mine was one of the few places listed as part of the first 12 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It also has the title of “The underground cathedral/church of Poland”. Pope John Paul II visited it a couple of times.
We walked down the steps and I followed the guide as I asked a few questions. According to him, the vastness of the mine is not open to the public, but only to scientists/geologists alone. The tour only showed 1% of the whole thing. As I thought, he also confirmed that this was once part of PANGAEA, the one combined continent of the world. History also explains that salt was a symbol of one’s status, once used as the method of bargaining.
It was a little bit cold through the passageways. We started walking through the wooden crevices of the mine
until we got to the salt corridors. I was tempted to lick the walls, but decided not to. Instead, I just ran my fingers through and tasted it. The formations were amazing most especially the statues that the workers shaped out of salt. It seemed that there was a small village down the mines, that’s what the guide said.
When we got to the biggest church in the mine, my jaw dropped. It was marvelously designed with chandeliers and the statues were solid and beautifully carved out of salt. I opted to walk down the stairs away from the group. I allowed my hand to move down the handle and was awed by the elegance of the design. The guide was scolding me coz I was so slow, but I just laid my eyes on the walls and noticed that even the chandelier seemed to have been made of rock salt. He said they did allow weddings down in that church.
During the trip, we met a guy from Norway by the name of Urune (not sure if I spelt it right). He’s been traveling for 3 weeks already and exploring the different sites in Europe. There was another young French guy who started talking to me and explaining a few things about the church. He was a little bit shy but was nice enough to talk to me. I’m glad my Calais experienced hasn’t jaded me that bad against French people.
We all got back to the city around 7 pm. As we got off the bus I was surprised when the French guy gave me a small piece of paper which said “Open”. Then he told me to read it once he was gone. I just said thank you and Jaclyn was looking at me with a teasing smile. I opened the paper and there were all of his information, emails, fb, skype… I guess that meant he wanted to be in contact. I blushed and Jacs teased me more.
Jacs, Urune and I decided to grab a Lody (ice cream) at the square. I chose to sit right below the monument in the middle. There we watched people in their daily routines, as well tourists trying to get a clear shot of the square. Obviously we were photo bombs, most probably included in everyone’s photos that evening. Well, we were happily licking our ice creams and just chilling. There were heaps of flower stalls that day, and a few selling small trinkets. A girl slowly took her guitar out and was preparing herself for some busking tunes. It was crazy busy around and I liked the vibe. We watched parents look after their kids as they scrambled going up the monument. The sun was going down and its last few minutes of sunshine slowly lit the lower edges of the arches. So we decided to take some photos of the lamps as the foreground of the last shimmer of the day’s sun.
We had to say goodbye to Urune coz it was free dinner for us again. We knew he wanted to hang out and share a few beers, but Jacs and I wanted to maximize the free dinner. They exchanged details and we went on our way. I was just right in time to have my name listed.
The dinner was really good and it seemed to always have a balance of veggies, carbo and meat/protein. I
had my second serving, I know..embarassing for a girl. We joined a German guy, who silently sitting in the corner table. We just decided to keep him company and gave him no choice. Later on, the Brazilian boys joined in and introduced themselves to the German dude.
After half an hour, the Brazilian boys were asking us to join them for the pub crawl. It was a champagne night and there were some girls who were dressed up, super high heels and intense make ups (Jacs said it’s called Bogan look). It was amazing to watch girls on a trip to be so prepared for night outs. We said no nicely to the boys and said we were going to have a quiet night.
After dinner, Jacs and I decided to have our free vodka shots and have a beer at the patio. Once in a while the Aussie guys would join our table and have their smoke break from the champagne thingie, chit chatting us and asking what our plans were for the night. They were so cheeky with their comments. I didn’t bother to answer anymore.
After our beer, Jacs and I called it a night and settled in our dorm. We agreed to wake up early the following morning to explore more of the city. At around 4 am we woke up to a big commotion in the room. We found Mauricio on the floor just pleading for an extra pillow. Apparently the front desk dude gave away his bed, which explained why there was a girl in his bed. I told the staff to give him a bed even in another dorm, but he didn’t give into my request. I ended up giving my duvet to Mauricio, feeling bad that he was curled up on the floor and just wanting to sleep, obviously intoxicated with the night’s pub crawl as well. The staff came back and realized that there was 1 extra bed but wasn’t prepared after the previous occupant. So Mauricio happily crawled up the bunk and settled in. The staff came back giving everyone a free vodka voucher as his way of apology. The boys were happy but I wasn’t. I told Mauricio he should have asked for a discount. Who cares about vodka anyway. Nobody listened. Oh well.
At around 5:30 someone came in, the group of English teenagers came back from an extension of their pub crawl saga, pissed off because they had a fight with an Irish guy. So on and on he went. And he was just beside my bunk. Sigh. I tried to close my eyes and drown the stories away.
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