Hi ho, Hi ho, it's off to the mine we go !

Thank god. We have finally managed to make direct contact with Michael's mum. She has been very unwell with the flu and staying with Maria and Robert. It makes it easier for us knowing that they keep such a close eye on her and are so good to her. They will never really appreciate just how much we value what they do for her (and us). Thanks guys - you are worth your weight in gold.

And so today we are off to the mine - not the gold mine unfortunately, the Wieliczka Salt Mine. We start though with the Cloth Market Square in Kraków. The Cloth building is a wonder in itself; architecturally and aesthetically appealing. Seeing this building in the centre of the market square (from up upon high, I'll get to that shortly...) surrounded by throngs of people, one can visualise those artists and artisans, traders and brokers from ages past plying their various trades. It must have been as exciting as Kraków's centre is today. However, the roof line is adorned by sculptured heads in various expressions of mirth or jeers - welcoming passers-by to enter if they dare.

Now, the view of the Cloth Market hall and indeed the rest of the Square is just stupendous. Michael has climbed the City Hall clocktower to get some great views not only of the Square, but beyond to other areas of Kraków as well. You can really appreciate the size of the square and in the minds eye, can see the traders from eons past jostling and shouting, contradicting and trying to out-bid each other as they desperately try to maximise their incomes! Those twin towers you can see are of the St Marys Church.

And what a church this Kosciól Mariacki or Church of Our Lady or St. Mary's Church is! We feel that we now know what the interior of the old churches looked like. All others that we have seen have small pieces of their original wall decorations intact, but most lost. This one is different - it is such a vibrant place, filled with warmth and light - even though it is quite dark. The walls have been maintained since it was constructed in the 12th century. It is almost impossible to describe in words the amazing beauty of this place.

There is not one space that is not painted or decorated in some rich fashion - all under a starry blue vaulted ceiling that recalls the starry heavens above. And the crowning glory so to speak is the altar retable - a huge timber construction. This magnificent 15th-century wooden altarpiece is by the master carver Wit Stwosz (Veit Stoss). Incorporating more than 200 carved and painted figures, this huge work of art depicts the Dormition of the Virgin while also showing medieval life in detail. Carved in 1477-89 and about 13 metres high and 11 metres wide, it is the largest piece of mediaeval art of its kind in the world.

It has four wings with the outer two being fixed. When closed, the scenes depict Mary's sorrows. But when the two centre panels are opened, it reveals Mary's joys as well with figures 2.7m high! The altar is opened daily at noon and we were lucky enough to be there when a nun solemnly approached and to a fanfare slowly opened the panels to the collective gasp of us and those all around.

Another major highlight is the lone trumpeter in the high tower, who plays a strange hourly call known as the "Hejnal Mariacki." Ringing out to mark each hour, it breaks off on an abrupt half-note to commemorate an unknown bugler who was struck in the throat by a Tartar arrow as he tried to warn the city of the invaders. As there were queues to buy tickets to have a look at the Church, we almost gave it a miss. Boy, are we glad we didn't - it was one of those rare masterpieces we will never forget.
And today, Michael is collecting the stickers that you buy to permit you to take photos!

Hi ho, hi ho its off to the salt mine we go!
The Salt Mine in Wieliczka is supposedly 13kms and 22 minutes from Kraków, but whoever timed it did not make allowance for the miles and miles of traffic jams. It took us just under the hour to drive those 13 kms! Once there, we paid for our parking (7 PLN for as long as we are there = €1.75). A walk up a gardened hill brings us to the entrance - and another queue for tickets. The wait isn't too long and we begin another wait for enough english speaking tourists to warrant a guided tour beginning. Not long, its only another 10 - 12 minutes and we set out. Many of the locals we have spoken to in the past week or so have all told us that we must not miss this mine.

Our guide is the lovely Izabella (yes, with the same spelling as our little grand-daughter!) She explains the WH&S apects to us before leading us down down down. Down an intial and never-ending 378 steps in tight turns of 7 steps. Wooden steps in a shaft (the Daniłowicz shaft) that was sunk in 1635 - 1640! And this just takes us to the first level at 64 m underground. During our trip, we will progress to 135 m underground! Salt was mined here at Wieliczka from the Middle Ages until 1996. Nowadays, this facility is just a tourist operation - one of the best known in all of Poland and with around 1.2 million visitors a year.

I won't go into all the details - if you want to know the history, click on the link above - it is very interesting. But I will tell you a few things. Much of the bracing is original. Huge timber logs lain one on one in a criss-cross pattern that have been here for hundreds of years. And they look like they were laid yesterday. Izabella puts it down to the preserving aspect of the salt that has now impregnated these logs. The air is very dry and is used in the treatment of respitarory and pulmonary conditions (but she explains later is not great for the guides throats!) in a natural micro-climate that cannot be replicated above the ground. Izabella tells us that our visit to the mine today, breathing the beneficial air, will add three days to our lives - so breathe deeply everyone!

But most of us have not come to 'take the airs', but rather, to see the work of the miners who over time have carved out of the solid rock salt, the most amazing statues and chapels. We are constantly reminded that nearly all these works have been done by the miners - not trained artists (and we need the reminding!) There are statues and panels and chapels galore - I guess that the early miners in particular knew how hazardous their jobs were, albeit well paid, and needed to pray for or give thanks for their safety.

And from an organisational perspective the tour has been set up to display the history and workings of the mine and indeed the tools of the miners over time. We see how they went from using picks and hammers, hauling the salt by hand in barrells, then on rails and carts (dog carts because of the 'barking' sound they made when pushed over the timber rails) and then finally using horses that were lowered by straps (and later in timber crates when the 'lift' system was installed) and spent most of their lives underground. Guess that they must have lived a very long time!!!

We see the primitive but effective timber drains constructed to keep the water that seeps from the surounding sandstone away from the rock salt. We see the huge timber winches that were used to lift first ground salt, and then later, larger and larger blocks of salt to the surface. In times past, salt was as valuable a commodity as gold! One 3 ton block of rock salt was the equivalent value of a village! We see created brine lakes, one of them 9 metres deep, but so clear that you can see the złoty coins on its bottom that people have tossed in with a wish. (Michael added one too, but won't tell me the wish.)

But mostly, we admire the artistic works of the miners. The most impressive are two:
The Janowice Chamber that tells the legend of the finding of salt in the region; and
St Kinga's Chapel that is dedicated to the patron saint of miners. Now, this is no little chapel that you might peer in to. It is a massive chamber that measures 54 metres long, 18 metres wide and 12 metres high! All carved from the walls of the chamber excavated for salt. The floor is polished to a high sheen - by the feet of the millions of people that have walked over it. And this work is attributed to just three miners, who in succession, over a total period of 70 years carved this elaborate and elegant chamber.

So, 800+ steps and 2½ kilometres and 3 hours later my hip and legs are screaming at me, calling me every name under the sun! But it has been worth every cramping fibre. The work of those miners is inspirational. And really, I am not complaining too much - the early miners carried the salt out in barrells on thier backs up short, narrow little steps that they cut into the rock salt face - NO handrails, no nothing!

And now? Well, now we head for Warszawa (Warsaw), the capital of Poland. A longish drive ahead of us 4:45 hours. Huh! The horror traffic jam we crawled through on ouy way to Wieliczka is still in existence as we leave as this pic shows! Those roadworks just go on for ever and ever and ever. You get a run of full speed for maybe 20 or 30 kms and then we are back to a crawl - sometimes at 40 kph for another 20 or so kilometres. And so, you can imagine what that does to the traffic - it bunches it up, creating even slower stretches. Through the edges of some towns, we are lucky to do 10 kph! But believe us, they desperately need to be working on these roads. The ruts from trucks run for most of the trip in the outside lane - I mean real, deep ruts. Its impossible to show with a photo just how bad they are.

At every road crossing, or small town (like every 4 - 5 kms) we have to slow down. Many don't and pay the price. Every second one is equipped with a speed camera, and today every other one has a policeman with a mobile radar waiting for those trangressing motorists. And I am not exaggerating - every other one. And they are reaping in the fine income as though they are printing the złoty bills themselves!

So the trip lengthens, time and time again. It eventually takes us just over 6 hours and we arrive at 10 pm, totally stuffed. We check in to our accommodation at the Castle Inn after parking the car about a block away (phew) and are shown in to the most amazing room. We are on the corner room with three huge windows looking out over the Warsaw New Town Square with the Royal Palace a spit away. Oh wow - so magic!

But no time to sit and gaze. We need to find somewhere to have some dinner. There are a couple of restaurants facing the square that are still open. As we get downstairs, one is closing and so we stop at the first one that is still open - Restauracja Przy Zamku. On enquiring if there was still time to have a meal, the waiter says "Sure!" What luck, we have happened on a really nice restaurant and when we are having trouble deciding (at so late, I am having trouble just putting one word before the other!), Robert, our waiter suggests that we have just a main. Some more knowledgeable advice and we finish up ordering:
Sola na asparagus łóżko z kurkami, podawana z ryżem (lemon sole in chantrelles and asparagus bed served with rice) Michael
Polędwica ͵͵Zygmunt IIIʹʹ podawana z kurkami duszonymi w śmietanie I ziemniakami opiekaymi (Beef fillet “Zygmunt III” served with chantrelles in cream and deep-fried potatoes) Maria which I wash down with a small (but still expensive) bottle of Châteauneuf de Pape (Domaine Barville, 2005 Grenache, Syrah & Mourvèdre)
The food is delicious - up there with the best we have had on our trip. By the time we have our meals it is almost midnight and closing time, so we skip dessert and just have coffee.

And so to bed . . . another Ab Fab day!

Magiczny Kraków

Now for a change in style and emotion.
We woke to a dull and wet morning that suited my mood. After we went down into the cavern of the basement for breakfast we came back to our room where I finished the blog from yesterday. I was too tired in so many ways to complete it last night. Afterwards, I am really cold which for me, is a sign that I am tired. So I lay down and slept some more.

Michael on the other hand went exploring Magiczny Kraków. First he took a walk through the Main Square and its off-shoot streets, stopping at a delicastessen to buy a Chocolate Eclair and a Barboran (Blueberry) tart. The eclair is filled with patisserie cream and the tart is filled with thickened dry-ish cream. Both are deliciously rich! By this point everyone at home is awake, online and wanting to chat! Hels was first on Skype followed in quick succession by Antony and then by my brother Damien who is new to Skype. Its nice to keep up with everyone!

Michael later goes out for a fag and walks down to the Barbican (or Rondel) built in 1498-1499, the oldest and best preserved one in mainland Europe. Few remain to this day and we have seen the other one still complete in its original state - in Carcassonne in southern France all those months ago last January. This is an amazing structure that belies its age - perhaps because much of it was brick rather than stone. At the time of its completion, it finalised the Kraków defense system of a walled city with an amazing 41 towers.
Today, only the 120 m of the City wall just behind the Barbican is intact. The Barbican now holds a museum and is where medieval displays are staged.

OK, it is now late afternoon and I am ready to venture out. We go into Krakowski Kredens, a Cracovian Cupboard (Deli) where we buy rusks with poppy seed and with caraway seeds. But we pass up the lard "Fresh bread with lard is worthy of being served to connoisseurs, especially if it is a lard from the Krakowski Kredens - with added onion and bacon, or home-made lard with bacon bits."

There are a few electric golf buggys lining the street here. They're used to take touists on tours of the City. Seeing our time is so limited, we opt to take one so that we can get to see some of the areas away from the Stare Miasto (Old Town). In we jump with our driver Michael ready to talk to us and give us his take on this fascinating city. He is a relative new-comer, having lived here only for 4 years while studying law. But I have always said the converts are the zealots, and I doubt that a native Cracovian could have been more passionate about the City.

We start with the Jewish Quarter (Kazimierz) and learnt that most of the population of 30,000 just before WWII perished - many of them at Auschwitz. At this time, there were 120 synagogues and prayer houses. Today, although the area is quite vibrant with lots of restaurants, there are only about 300 people who live according to Jewish Law and customs in the suburb of Kazimierz and about 500 in Kraków in total. Of course there are many more that identify as Jewish.

At the height of the nazi occupation of Poland, the german industrialist Oskar Schindler who had a ceramics and munitions factory in the nearby suburb of Podgórze requested access to slave Jews to work in his factory. He was to become the saviour for approximately 1,200 Jews who worked in his factory - especially when the nazis were moving them from Kazimierz to a ghetto established in Podgórze or worse, to the concentration camps. His factory today is a museum, but is closed by the time we get there. We also drive through the street where the footage of the Jews being herded together for transfer to Auschwitz took place in the movie 'Schindler's List'.
This area remains a ghetto in many senses - there seems to be little money spent there to maintain or improve facilities such as the roads. (Michael is particularly embarrassed by this). But we do see a new apartment block being constructed - though who would want to live with outlook I can't imagine. The square with all the chairs was where the nazis piled all the furniture from the homes of Jews who had been shipped earlier from the same square to Auschwitz.

Then it is back in to the old town passed the impressive Wawel Royal Castle, and down the Royal Route that connects St Florian's Church through the town and the Main Square with the Castle - a route used by all monarchs following their coronation. He zips in and out of the Old Town streets showing us little treasures -
- the 'cat's heads' - the cobblestones on the streets! (Later we see a girl trying to take a photo of a cat - I couldn't work out why it was running towards her so much, until I realised that she had a rat around her neck - yuk!) - a view that includes 5 churches seen from one spot
- lovely original buildings - many with buttressed walls
- the beautiful green space that now rings the old town
- where the flow of Vistula River was moved to ensure that the suburb of Kazimierz was included in the city of Kraków when the Jews began to build fortifications
- the amazingly beautiful Kraków Thetr, still used for performances today, and finally
- he proudly showed us his university where there are about 35,000 students - 6,000 in the Law and Administration campus.

Michael drops us off back near Rynek Główny (the Main Square) where we leave him and take a serious wander right around the Square. Kraków has an incredible number of street performers and they all seem to be out this evening. From the marionette artist that Michael says he saw this morning, still performing; to street break dancers rapping along to modern music; to the four rural-looking accordian players whose music swells the heart. Not only do they play local folk music, they also play the classics including Mozart's Requiem - enough to bring tears to your eyes. We buy all three of their CDs!

We wander, taking in the changing mood of the buildings as the light fades into dusk. We can just see the trumpet played at dusk from high in the tower of St Mary's Church - an event that is played out every hour and has been done so for more than 600 years! Once he finished, the bugler gave a wave to those far below him on the square.

A walk at night through the Cloth Hall - originally established to facilitate the trading in cloth and now a series of market stalls. It felt both magical and disappointing - the stalls are very commercial and just don't seem to do the setting justice.

Then on to dinner. We move from restaurant to restaurant along the square, surveying the menus and the crowds. Kraków comes to life at night. All the young people come out from where they have been hiding during the day for the dance clubs. The square starts to fill with them, and those security people who we have learned are employed by the council as compliance officers, booking non-conforming motorists, people drinking in the street and anyone being a true nuisance. Finally we come to the Sphinx Restauracje that appeals. We sit down at the last available table and order:
Entree:
Breaded Fried Camembert with blueberry jam and (tinned) fruits - interesting!
Mains:
Grilled Shoulder Steak with stewed peppers, onions and champignon mushrooms served with 'Ale Feta' salad and rice (Michael)
Two taste Shoarma - grilled pork and chicken with oriental seasoning served with fresh vegetable salad and french fries (Maria)

Nice and spicy and a nice change from local cuisine. But I am cold, so we don't have dessert and hurry back to the Hotel Jan. The young receptionist Ela, has been ever so friendly and helpful and we have bought her a small bouquet of tiny roses at one of the market stalls. She is genuinely touched and thrilled when we hand them to her as we collect the key. Little things matter people!

Another fag beckons Michael before bed and he reports that the fire jugglers and fire eaters have now come out!

Auschwitz

Well breakfast this morning lived up to the promise of our waitress last night. It was fabulous and such a feast compared to the last couple of motels. There were cereals and juice and yoghurt and fruit to start, then a full range of cold meats, cheeses and salads, then hot dishes - scrambled eggs, sausage and a polish sausage in cabbage and the PANCAKES (crepe style). Ooh, now I am really full!

It is raining. Perhaps fitting as we head off to the former concentration camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau. It is only 5 km down the road. Well, yes, it was only 5 kms down the road from the hotel BUT. The signposted road to it is shut - they are working on the bridge it seems. And there is no detour marked. So we remember passing the camp on the way in yesterday and try to re-trace our route as Kate does not have it in her list of POIs (places of interest). After driving around for an hour unsuccessfully, I go back to the POIs and find another one for Konzentrationslager - sounds close enough so I choose it. It would have taken us to the back gates of the camp, but luckily we see a sign pointing the way before we get there. I am really pi**ed off - an hour of driving wasted for no good reason. Surely a detour sign is not asking too much!

But before we set out on our frustrating drive, we had driven in to the centre of Oświęcim to see what there is to see. Not much. Drab and untidy with lots of kredyt agencies and discount stores tells us that this is not a high income area. After finding a parking spot in Oświęcim we discover we lack coinage to feed the meter. Michael eventually finds a 'Microbank' whereby the Teller reluctantly changes a 'fifty' for some change. Feeding the meter in return for a parking billet we head off to view the sights.

Our first stop was to visit the tesselated roofed Catholic Church and to view its interior. Well, any opportunity to snap a few pics of this church's interior and architecture was somewhat thwarted...entry into the knave was barred by grills and a gate. However, parishioners were able to participate in their observances by the available pews. As there were a couple of parishioners in prayer we left them to their peaceful endeavours after lighting electric 'candles'. We normally light three, but as Michael only had a 5 złoty coin, when he put it in the slot through the grille, as though by magic, the next 5 'candles' sprung into light. So we have two available - I'll dedicate them to the highest bidders! We walked around the town centre for a short while longer, and decided to press onto our next objective - Auschwitz Konzentrationslager.

"I do not believe in God; its existence has been disproved by Science.
But in the concentration camp, I learned to believe in men." - Jean-Paul Sartre
Nothing can prepare you for the onslaught on the senses by the magnitude of the single-minded intent to irradicate the world of a race. Not Dachau. Certainly not Terezín. And in no way ever, any book you have read or documentary you have watched. And speaking very generally, there is so little we know.

I mean, Auschwitz was not one camp. There was Auschwitz I - Stammlager (the main camp in the town of Oświęcim), Auschwitz II - Birkenau (in the nearby village of Brzezinka) and Auschwitz III - Monowitz (in the village of Monowice) and a system of more than 40 sub camps.
Auschwitz was surrounded by an area of 40 square kilometres known as the Auschwitz Concentration Camp Zone of Interest, under Special Police supervision, in an effort to isolate what was happening from the outside world - so Mum, there is part of the answer as to why you never knew what was happening.
Auschwitz's role was an ever evolving one - formerly a deserted military base, first it was used for Polish political prisoners before becoming the fear of millions of people living in nazi-occupied lands.
The numbers are numbing. While we can never be sure of the final numbers because the nazis detroyed records (or for many Jews, never kept records) the most accepted figures are:
- 1,400,000 prisoners were murdered of whom 1,100,000 were Jewish
- Soviet prisoners-of-war, Gypsies, Czechs, Yugoslavs, Frenchmen, Austrians, Germans, Polish political prisoners but mostly Jewish.
- 232,000 children of whom only 650 were alive at liberation - that's less than 0.3% - not even 1% lived. Oh my god the children, why the children?
- 1942 - by then the Allied forces knew for sure of the existence and operation of the camp.

The managers of the Auschwitz-Bireknau State Museum in Oświęcim administer the site very sensitively. And although there are signs saying children under 14 will not be admitted, there are plenty of them there with their families. Why would you take a child into a place like this????
You can only go through the site with a museum guide (entry is free but the tour costs!). The various language groups are broken down to about 20 people per guide. Everyone puts on headsets and carries a receiver. The guide talks quietly. There is no reason to be loud. Signs ask for respect and silence, but many people ignore this. Most of them younger - but I can't criticise - at least they are coming here, witnessing the horror.
While we are being led through the camp, there are at least 20 - 30 other groups as well. If you consider that these tours are operated every hour, that is a lot of people.

As I said, our guide, Petr, talks quietly. Flatly. Without emotion.
But with passion. His use of language is interesting. Nazis instead of Germans. Death camp as well as concentration camp. Murdered. Beaten. Starved. Stripped. Shaved. Selected.

It is emotionally a very hard journey we make. And all the time, I can't help but think that the 'powers' in the world knew about this. For at least 3 years, people were murdered while the allies knew. And you must understand, it was the Russians who liberated the camp at Auschwitz, not the English, not the Americans.

It is the detail that gets you.
- The mound of jumbled, ensnarled, broken and twisted glasses.
- The long heaped row of prosthetic limbs.
- The floor of a room covered to about a foot deep with shaving brushes, hair brushes, toothbrushes.
- The pile of human hair that extends the length of a room, shaved from the heads of women and destined for local industries in carpet making, wig making, cloth manufacture.
- The Prayer Shawls.
We are led through room after room in building after building that once 'housed' these poor people seeing with our own eyes the evidence of cruelty and horror. And if I ever meet anyone who wants to deny that this 'holocaust' ever took place, well, I won't be held responsible for my response.

Our tour through Auschwitz I lasts 2 hours. We then leave as a group for Auschwitz II - Birkenau for another 1 hour tour. And now it is pouring. Very apt that as we enter this place that will forever be remembered as evil, that even the heavens are weeping.
I have had enough. There is a lot of uneven ground here, and although there is less to see, it is still quite a walk, and to be honest, my emotions have peaked and I am not sure I can take the next hour. So I take the coward's (?) way out and wait outside on the one bench that is there. In the rain (but at least I have my umbrella).

And the only reason that there is less to see here is that the nazis, knowing that the Russians had almost reached here, bombed and burned the evidence of their work. This site, like much of Auschwitz I has been left as it was found. Michael reports that in particular, the ruins of the Crematoria and gas chambers, the unloading patforms, the pond into which ashes were tipped, the washrooms and latrines bring horrific images into your heads. As with Dachua, there is only a small proprotion of the infrastructure of the barrack buildings still remaining.

Auschwitz was bombed once - an it appears to have been an accident by allied bombers who were targetting German factories in the area. One of the former prisoners has been recorded as saying it would have been better that the camp had been targetted.

And so, better educated, but totally numb with horror and pain, we are glad to leave this place. But more glad that we came. We have bougt two books -
Illicit Letters from Auschwitz by Janusz Pogonowski - a Pole from Cracow who at the age of 17 years and 10 months was sent from a local prison where he had been arrested in the street as a result of the nazi operation against the Polish intelligence, to Auschwitz. One month later he and 11 other prisoners were hung on the parade ground as a reprisal for the escape of 3 other prisoners. These secret letters describe his dramatic experiences and the yearning for his family. They quite simply are heart-breaking in every sense of the word.
The other book is titled London Has Been Informed - reports by three Auschwitz Escapees. I haven't started it yet, but the title got to me.

So we head off with the rain matching our mood, for Kraków. Just over an hour later we reach the city about 7:30 pm. Magical Kraków as it is marketed. We are staying at the Hotel Jan, about 150 metres from the main market square. But there is no parking anywhere near us so we drive around trying to determine which is the closer. We eventually park about 700m away and traipse with our stuff arund to the hotel, but not before we haggle with the parking attendant and get the price for 48 hours down to 195 PLN (złoty - about €50!) while 24 hours will cost you 165 PLN! Up to our room to discover that the internet connection is not working - no good! So back down to change our room. That done, we quickly unpack and head out to find something to eat.

We end up at the Ristorante da Pietro on the edge of the market square. The first Italian restaurant in Kraków and one of the few still open for dinner at 10 pm! Our choices:
Chleb Czoskowy (Garlic bread) to start
Rolle di Pizze - roladki z pizzy z nadzieniem z podsmażonych pieczarek, szynki i sera (pizza rolls stuffed with mushrooms, ham and cheese) Michael
Quattro formaggio pizze - z czterema rodzajami sera (Pizza with four kind of cheeses) Maria - and finished by Michael!
We finish with profiteroles and coffee before walking back down the street, dodging the fairly noisy and inebriated young groups.

We ask the night porter if there are always so many police on duty as we saw quite a few while eating - he shrugs and says that this is not so many! They are there to keep the peace but only intervene when you "start to puke on the street"! His words! Also on the streets this late are the now common horse drawn carriage rides for tourists - yes, even the horses work late here.

PS Take a gander at these 'shoes' that two of our fellow tourists were wearing today. Wonder how comfortable they are on stony surfaces - despite the hard sole!