Upto 32° forecast today so decided to brave public transport to Wieliczka Salt mine which has a constant temperature of 16-18° at 125 m below and 14° at 135m below.

A bit nervous as last time I used trains there was still a hint of communist service (ie. none). In the end it was quite straightforward once I'd found the station hidden in a gigantic shopping mall and the 30 minute train journey from Krakow to Wieliczka was £1.28 each way (unlike the UK where a trip to London can set you back a whole week's pension).

Found the entrance (near Pope John Paul 2 alley of course) and started the tour at 12.30. The first 20 mins were spent slowly descending the 360 steps. All the amazing carvings were done by the miners themselves in their spare time. There were several chapels. At the end had a plate of bigos in the deepest underground restaurant in the world, then a bonus museum tour at the end - 3.5 hours in total underground but only covering 2% of the passages in the vast mine. The healing benefits of the salty atmosphere are apparently so great they have a sanatorium and treat people for lung diseases. One particular painting in the museum struck a chord with me - miners being lowered down on a rope. This is how my babcia recalled her husband behind lowered into the gold mines in Siberia.

Returning to Krakow walked through the huge mall and straight back to the air conditioned room.

Found out Wieliczka was named after a lady who made and sold salt drying salty spring water above the current mine. She was a large strong lady so people used to call her Wielicha (large one). However she was so nice and sweet they changed it to Wieliczka which is cuter name. For example a cuter version of Bożena is Bożenka.