After
Hamburg and Berlin we drove across to Krakow. There was no mistaking
that we were in Poland, immediately upon crossing the border, the
motorway became incredibly bumpy – so much so that I'm not even
sure if motorway is the right word for that haphazard strip of
tarmac. A sharp contrast to the smooth speed-limit-free Autobahnen of
Germany! Nevertheless, we somehow made it to Krakow with an intact
chassis.
The
main square in Krakow.
A
friend's family – whom she had never met before – were kind
enough to host us. They live in a farm outside of the city and we
were given a warm, Polish welcome (yet more beer). I can't speak
Polish, so understanding what was going on was a little tricky, but I
did pick up a few useful words – beer
of course included (piwko).
In
the old town district of Krakow.
Krakow
itself is a very pretty city and there's plenty to see and do. We
spent most of the time eating – Polish food is great (not a country
for vegetarians)! After looking around the city, we headed to
Wieliczka, just outside Krakow, in order to check out the salt mines
that our hosts recommended.
A
shop 100 metres underground in a mine - very strange...
The
mine was really cool, the miners had sculpted statues into the rock
salt – including a 3D carving of The
Last Supper which
was impressive. In fact the salt mine was like nothing else I've
seen. There was a cathedral chamber (where you can be wedded for 2000
Złoty), a conference centre and even a little shop down there. I was
half expecting to find a Starbucks and KFC too. 'Mine' is probably a
misleading term for the place, rather I'd call it an underground
exhibition centre – which also carries out the odd mining operation
from time to time. Very bizarre – but definitely worth a visit!
The
impressive cathedral chamber.
A
very enjoyable time had in Krakow indeed, I could've stayed there
longer! The road trip then took us back West, next stop Wrocław...
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