Iwas determined to leave early so as not to have to drive through Krakow during rush hour. I awoke at 6, we ate at 7 and were ready to check out when the reception opened at 8. I was outside the camper at around 7:30 and a man from Finland stopped by and introduced himself. We had a great chat and strangely enough I was able to give him some information about how to get into Centrum (the main part of the city) I was very proud of myself. After sharing city driving stories with Jaohan, ( he told me Warsaw was the worst) I walked over to reception, zlotys in hand and I waited and waited and waited. Apparently the young worker was ill and did not show up for work. Needless to say it was an hour later, 9 am when we left Krakow.
Surprisingly the traffic was not bad at all and I felt confident driving through the city along with the buses and other vehicles. I had programmed Lori to take us to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, an amazing world of pits and chambers where everything has been carved by hand from salt blocks. We even got to put our tongues on the walls and it was indeed very salty. Those of
you who know Michelle can imagine her pleasure at being surrounded by salt for three full hours. The mine began in the 1200's and when the miners had finished their eight hour shift, they would carve. (They only worked eight hour shifts because that was how long their oil lamp would last) There are some amazing statues and even chandaliers made of salt. It is hard to 
believe, but there is a church down there...at 135 meters below the ground. Everything in the church is made of salt, even the floors. The church is still used today for mass and even for weddings. The whole trip was fascinating...from seeing how the miners and horses got down into the mine, to breathing in the air of this microclimate that is said to cure many allergies. It was well worth the 48 zloty each.We left Wieliczka at around 1 pm and headed for Niedzica, a village in a valley of the Tatry Mountain Range. The drive over some of mountains was spectacular. At times we were actually driving in the clouds. Unfortunately it rained all the way down and apparently the rain will continue for the next couple of days. We had planned to stay here for a couple of days to do some hiking, but with 10 degree temperatures (daytime) forecast for the next few days, we will leave tomorrow morning and drive about half way to Budapest. We'll aim for a place called Zvalen in Slovakia. I exchanged 50 Euro today for Slovakian currency and ended up with over 1,400.00 of paper currency with pictures of very old kings on them...and I was just getting the hang of Zlotys!
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