Ah...so here we are at the last day of an amazing trip. We started by traveling to a little town called Wadowice, which just happens to be the hometown of Pope John Paul II. When we arrived, we went through the JPII Museum. It was a bit rushed because we had a set time for Mass. The things that stuck out from the museum: 1) there is a set of binoculars in the wall. When you look through it, there are videos of JPII hiking. In one of the videos, he can barely walk, but the look of joy on his face is undeniable. 2) The canoe that he used when he would take college kids on the river...he turned it over and it became an altar.
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| The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary-Papal Basilica. JPII's church as a child |
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| Replica of the Cross that was used during the 1st Mass on Polish soil during the papal visit |
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| Canoes that JPII used as altars while on camping trips with college kids |
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Papal Cake and latte-As a child, JPII used to sneak off and get a piece of this cake (kremรณwka)
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The afternoon was spent underground...waaaaay underground. As in 135 meters (442 feet- around 147 yards) underground. And that was only to the 3rd level.
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| A UNESCO Site, the Wieliczka Salt Mines date back to the 11th century |
To get into the mine, we had to walk down 380 steps (64 meters/ around 210 feet-70 yards) to reach Level I. We were enchanted by sculptures made from salt as we walked down more steps to Level II.
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| Everything was made from salt (except, obviously, the wooden door) |
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| Scene depicting Princess Kinga of Poland and how she became the Patron of Salt Miners |
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| Stairs going down to the next level |
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| Whimsical dwarves |
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| Scene showing salt mine workers |
Even though these sculptures were incredible, when we made it to Level III (after going down approximately 800 steps), the scene took our breath away:
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| St. Kinga Chapel: Even the chandeliers are made of salt |
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| Reliefs in Salt line the walls of the Chapel |
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| The reliefs are depictions of the life of Christ |
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| 3-D Relief: just amazing |
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| Altar of St. Kinga Chapel: Mass is held here every Sunday |
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| Crucifix in salt at the side of the altar |
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| Looking up in St. Kinga Chapel |
We walked down around 800 steps to get to the chapel. Luckily, we didn't have to climb back up those steps. Instead, we were crammed into a sketchy basket that carried us back up. I made sure one of the priests was in the basket with me...just in case.
The next morning, we made our way to the airport for the return flight home. We flew from Krakow to Amsterdam, then to Atlanta, and finally home. It was a very long day, but all of the flights went well once we left Krakow. I found the airport to be badly in need of upgrading and expansion. It was very crowded, and I thought the setup was a bit unusual. Several flights were waiting in one area, and then we were herded (for lack of a better word) down to the plane. Maybe this is normal in European airports; I haven't been in that many, but it just seemed different.
The Krakow extension definitely made me want to revisit Poland. It is a beautiful, faith-filled country with some wonderful people. It is definitely on my list of places to return to.
