Hi all!
First of all I have some good and bad news. Bad news - Collingwood are terrible. I'm not even going to bother watching the highlights this week. What a disgrace! But I have some good news, pies fans! Before I left we were 6 wins, 3 losses. Since I've been away we have had 3 wins, 4 losses. Well I'm back for our next game so we will start winning again!! I'm the biggest inclusion as it turns out.
And some exciting news regarding my Uni course! I completely forgot that my results would come through today. While we were 135m underground in a salt mine I received my results! I passed all the pass grade only units and received one credit and one distinction in the other two. So happy! Especially since the lady at Monash went psycho at me and sent me the most hostile email I've ever received when I told her I was missing a week of Uni and the assignment period to come here. Wish I could go to her office and say 'remember me???'. So one more semester to go and then I'll finally be a teacher!! Hoorayyyy!
Now on to today's happenings. We had prebooked a tour of the Wielickza Salt Mines. What I didn't realise is we had prebooked for an 8.30am tour, and the mines are half an hour away! Ouch - early start for a Sunday. Especially since the woman who runs our apartment left no pillow and no doona for me on the couch. Not having the best sleep here.... We took advantage of the cheap taxis here and got a taxi to save time. We were actually happy about the 8.30am tour as it turned out, because there were hardly any people around and later in the day it was really busy.
We were taken by a guide for a two hour walking tour of the salt mines. During this time we walked 2.5km, only 1% of the mine! The mine has 250km of passageways and 2000 chambers. It was first opened in the 16th century during which time salt was worth almost as much as gold. As a result, the export of salt from salt mines in Poland contributed to 1/3 of revenue raised in Poland in the 16th and 17th centuries. Over time, salt has become very cheap. Due to this and a few accidents in the mine as a result of fresh water entering and collapsing some chambers, it was decided to turn the mine into a tourist attraction in 1996 and stop exporting salt. 250,000 tonnes of salt a year used to be manufactured in Wielickza, but now only 15,000 tonnes are manufactured using brine and this is only sold in Poland.
The mine is 327m deep with nine levels, but we went 135m deep and visited three levels. During our tour we saw many chapels, the most famous of which was the chapel of St Kinga which was huge and really impressive. All throughout the tour there were sculptures carved out of rock salt by miners. We saw huge wooden structures designed to hold the walls and ceiling in place, and even some lakes. We also saw various techniques used to transport materials and people in and out of the mine including turnstiles (can't think of the exact name but people or horses push them round and round), and even tried some salt we rubbed off the wall! It was a really different experience and very interesting! When we reached the end of our tour we watched a short 3D video about the mine. Then we had the option to join a one hour tour of a museum type thing down the mine. We decided we were there already so we might as well. The father, uncle and grandfather of the tour guide for this part had all worked in the mine! A really nice couple from Brisbane in their 60s from our previous tour did too, and it was just the five of us. They were lovely and it was great having someone else to share our Aussie sense of humour with. We had a great hour touring around chatting with them, and then enjoyed a polish sausage for lunch with them once outside. I want to be like them in 40 years, they reminded me of you, Nan and Pa! They had been EVERYWHERE. In the short time we had with them they spoke of many trips to Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Africa. They were very easy to talk to and had lots of stories to share. At the end of the tour we got a lift up to the surface. It was very cosy to say the least!! We were packed in like sardines.
We then got a little confused trying to find our way back to Krakow. After asking at the information booth, we walked into the town of Wielickza to a bus stop. Just as we arrived at the stop, a mini bus appeared and we could get it all the way to krakow for only 3,50 zloty each.
Once back in town we went back to old town square because the weather was lovely today. Sunny and blue skies and not too hot!! We had a look around in the sun and then climbed the Town Hall Tower. There used to be a town hall here but all except the remaining tower were dismantled in 1820, unsure as to why none of the signs said!! But due to the main viewing terrace up St Mary's Church being restored this summer, we decided this tower would have to do. The view wasn't that great as you couldn't go out on the balcony but we still enjoyed a relatively good (but mildly obstructed by a fence) view of the town.
Then we walked South to the former Jewish quarter of Krakow. Before WWII, 60,000 Jewish people lived in Krakow and most of them lived in and around this area. The area had a cool vibe about it. Quite chilled out with lots of little cafés. We went to the Remuh Cemetery which began in the 16th century. During the war, the nazis stole a lot of tombstones and used them to build and page things, another of many horrible atrocities they committed. But luckily a lot have been returned and restored. We walked around the cemetery and the attached synagogue. Many of the graves had small stones placed all over them, this is a Jewish tradition to respect the person buried in there. The synagogue was very small but the paintings on the walls were nice. Then we went to the largest of the Krakow synagogues - Isaac's synagogue. It's sad to think that there was such a thriving community of Jewish people in this area and now there are next to no Jews living here (only 150). Understandable though, I wouldn't want to live here after seeing the city at its worst.
Our last stop for the day was the Galicia Jewish Museum. Galicia was a region in South East Poland, half of which is now part of Poland and half of which is part of the Ukraine. The exhibition had two parts; the first was about a lady called Esther Nisenthal Krinitz who managed to flee in 1939 when she was 12 with her sister. They hid and lived in the forest for some time and then pretended to be polish farm girls. The rest of her family all died. This room was full of fabric art embroidery that she had created about various stories she had to tell about this time. Some of the stories were heart wrenching, such as when she returned to her village to try and find her family after the war and instead found a polish family living in their house, and a cabbage patch growing from all the ashes of those murdered in her town. The rest of the exhibition was a photography one showing various places associated with Jews. These included cemeteries, mass graves, devastated Jewish buildings and concentration camps. Some of the stories attached to the photos brought tears to my eyes. Overall we all found the museum really informative and liked how it was presented in a different way, mainly through images.
We enjoyed a cold drink just outside of the square and are now resting back in our room. Soon we are heading out for dinner and then to find a bar to watch the final of the World Cup. I want Germany to win due to proximity and having some Germans friends! So hopefully they have more luck than Collingwood.
Tmro is going to be a really hard day emotionally as we are going to Auschwitz. But it's a necessary visit, and I felt the museum today worded how I feel about going there perfectly - "to remember the past is to shape the future and give it some sense of direction". So that is exactly what we will do.
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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