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We left Druskininkai headed for Warsaw. We arrived in Warsaw about 3 in the afternoon. We decided to head straight into Warsaw and have a look around and leave the next morning for Krakow. So we drove into Warsaw and found the old town relatively easily. We found a car park on the street and a man came up to Loche to tell him because it was the weekend we didn't have to pay for parking, but we could pay him to look after the car for us. Loche said no and we kept walking but did start to worry about the car after that.
We walked through the cobblestone streets of the old town and watched all the various street performers - there were quite a variety to entertain us. After a bite to eat we headed back to the car to find it safely where we left it. We headed back to the caravan park after doing a few laps around the town, trying to get across the river…the roadworks made it a bit difficult.
A bit of history on Warsaw: In 1945, during World War II the Polish resistance Home Army put in place a major operation known as the Warsaw Uprising. The operation was intended to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany and it was timed to coincide with the USSR's approach from the East. The Polish were counting on the Russians to have their back, but help never came - the Russians stopped their approach, which gave Germany time to re-group and pretty much annihilate the Polish rebels. There are allegations that Stalin deliberately stopped his troops from helping, thus allowing Germany to crush the Polish insurrectionists. Approximately 16,000 members of the Polish resistance were killed and another 6,000 wounded. Once the Germans had occupation of the city again, another 150,000 - 200,000 Polish died, mainly from mass executions. By the time the Germans were forced to abandon the city (around January 1945) over 85% of the buildings had been destroyed. (Thank you Wikipedia)
Warsaw's old buildings have been meticulously rebuilt and it is the only rebuilt old-town to be named in Unesco's World Heritage list.
The next day we packed up and headed off to Krakow. We had been recommended the caravan park by an Australian couple we met in Warsaw. They are travelling around in a campervan and had just come to Poland from Ukraine - they were very pleased to be out of Ukraine because there were not many caravan parks, the facilities were limited and the GPS rarely worked.
We spent four days in Krakow, the first day we had a bit of a rest day, looking for some parts for a tap in the caravan, and wandering around the outlet centre. The second day we went on a tour of the Wieliczka Salt Mine. I wasn't too keen on doing another salt mine tour as we did one last year in Germany. However we had heard this one was pretty good. We were picked up at the caravan park by a driver who took us and 6 others to the salt mine, about 40 minutes away. We were both happy to have someone else worry about how to get there and the crazy Polish drivers.
The Wieliczka Salt Mine is amazing. It has an underground cathedral and many other religious rooms for the workers. The mine is no longer working now, though there is still a lot of salt there. Apparently there are new, cheaper ways of extracting salt now. Many of the tunnels we walked through were lined with timber. Over time, the salt covers the timber and actually preserves it, making it the best material to use in the mine. Our tour guide told us most of the walls and floors we walked through were still salt and we could pretty much lick any shiny surface.
Salt Mine Facts:
- The mine dates back over 700 years
- There are 9 levels between 64 to 327 metres below ground level (we went down to 135 metres)
- There are 2,400 chambers connected by corridors measuring a total length of 245 killometres
- In the main cathedral they hold concerts and films have been made here.
- There are chandeliers and sculptures throughout the mine - all made of salt
The next day, 11 July we drove the half hour or so to Auschwitz / Birkenhau Concentration Camps. Wow, where do I start with this, there is so much to say about this place, none of it good!! I think it deserves a blog entry of it's own. Stay tuned...
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