Wieliczka!

           So this morning, all of us totally went to meet up for the tour at the wrong time, at least in this room. So we ended up waiting for about 30 minutes, but that's ok, because Wieliczka, as always, was beautiful! Ok, information: Wieliczka Salt Mine, a few centuries old, and it is out of service from collecting rock salt, but still makes salt from the salt water found in the mines. This entire system is literally made of salt. Every wall and floor. Miners built chapels down there; in fact, there were originally 40! People can still have weddings in the most gorgeous chamber chapel! Ah, you go down about 64 meters of steps, and in total, you go down... 800+ steps? Also in total, it is about 135 meters below the ground at your deepest point, and we, the tourists only go through 1% of the salt mine. Aka, it's enormous. We went down to the third level. There are eight or nine, if I remember correctly.
           You see, this is my third time being there. '05, '10, and now this year. And in fact, I am very happy to say, that I did see a new chamber this year! Newly (re?)opened to the public, an enormous chamber with steps. I wish I had heard more about it. Although, I must say I was very pleased with how much I remembered from last year's tour, such as the story of the 7 musicians I think dying when a boat capsized in one of the salt-water lakes, unable to dive down and back up. The water was too saturated. Not only that, but I remembered the name of the "cauliflower" sort of salt growths on the walls. And some other things I can't recall now, although those were my two freshest ones. We also did not go through the chamber which typically plays some sort of Chopin piece with lights flashing throughout the chamber, and there is a pool there too. Essentially, I was very glad that I went again, as it will always be a marvel. It's actually one of the first heritage sites on the UNESCO list! Ah yes, more information. There are hundreds, I'm sure, of statues down there. Each of those statues are carved out of salt. For example, there is a statue of Pope John Paul II, and of Piłsudski (majorly important Polish figure in history, which I need to find out more information on him at some point). Also, the nativity scene is carved into one of the walls, one of history's baby slaughter events, the last supper, and some others. Ah, and there is a scene with the seven dwarves, protecting two dragon eggs, and yes, even a dragon!
           So yes, it's a wonderful, beautiful, artful experience. We also had our lunch down there at the restaurant (and you can also send mail from down there, as there IS a mail box). So it's a very impressive place to see. Haha, getting out of the chamber was special too! A tour guide took a large group downstairs and said, "Well, since we have enormous lines right now, and we're trying to get people out quicker, we will be using the workers shaft to take you to the surface." Since, obviously, they wouldn't make the tourists climb all those stairs again... So they took us some back way into the salt mine, and we took the shaft, which is a two level shaft, which fits nine people on each level. We got up, and they led us out of the worker's building and through the streets to get back to the main tourist building. Meanwhile, two of our group members (go figure, the two who can't speak Polish) were split up from us when they were letting people out, and they were sent the normal tourist way, and they had to wait for an hour... and so they were expecting that they'd have to wait for us another hour, since they never saw us. They started to time us, and... really, we were the ones waiting outside, so we met up quickly then, haha.
           Afterwards, we went to go do some more groceries, particularly for dinner tonight. Angelica, one of the girls in our group, and her boyfriend came to our apartment, and we made dinner. Monika and I (really, more like all Monika) made rosół together, and Nate made some special mac and cheese, tomato sauce thing, which was delicious. Of course, there was drinking, as a Polish guest was at our apartment, teaching us the standards of Polish drinking. No, I did not drink. This time I set my foot down and said, no thank you, and that was that. It was left there. Fortunately. Then we all sat around and chatted for a bit. We learned a bit about the Polish political system and their upcoming elections, how the zones are split up (very confusing, to be honest), and we also discussed our classes. We finally managed to get down a schedule of all of our classes to see who was taking what, so that way we could all know who can walk with who and what not. But the evening was lovely, and the day was well spent! Yes, my legs are a bit sore, but hey, classes start tomorrow! I'm going to a class I likely won't keep taking, but for safety sake, I am going to that first meeting, or else I can't really join in later... Therefore, I need sleep! Dobranoc!