Last Day in Europe

Today we go to the Salt Mines in Krakow.  First you walk down dozens of switchbacked stairs, so many that you begin to wonder when it will ever end, and then finally it levels out and you go into the mine.  Everything is made out of salt, including the walls and ceiling, and as we go on we encounter statues constructed entirely of salt.  It’s eerie seeing them rise up out of the darkness, and pretty daunting to think how much work it took to make them, especially when the guide says that one tiny mistake could destroy the whole thing.  There are Tolkienesque dwarves, and statues of famous people, and chandeliers with dangling salt crystals, and a green-tinted river winding through the different chambers, but the most amazing thing is an entire chapel, with an altar and carvings from the New Testament, still in use.  My brother points to a depiction of the Last Supper and says, “What’s Jesus saying?”, and because I know the way his mind works I say, “Pass the salt.”

 

You don’t have to climb all the way back up to leave, fortunately — they have elevators to take you out.  Unfortunately, going by elevator means being packed with eight or nine people in a tiny cubicle.

 

Later we go to see a clock strike five in the courtyard of Jagiellonska University.  The bell sounds, the doors open, and figurines come out, process around, and go back inside.  It’s not the Prague astronomical clock, but it satisfies some of our longing for clockwork.

 

It’s the last day in Europe for most of us.  The others want to go out and do more touristy things but Doug and I are exhausted, and we head back to the bnb, read for a while, and then go out to the beer garden across the street.  I’m not really a beer drinker, but Doug’s become a fan of Czech beers — he says they live up to their reputation.

A blah-looking cafe.  We don't go in.

I never got any sense at all of Krakow.  Probably it’s too big, and I wasn’t there long enough.  It does have nice parks, though.  The menus feature things like “startery” and “desery” and “burgery” and “tosty” -- but of course the actual language is much harder.

 

The first thing we do when we get home is pick up Bonnie from the kennel.  She’s thrilled to see us and whimpers on and off with happiness, something she rarely does.  Then I sleep for thirteen hours.