During our few days in Kraków, we saw the Cloth Hall and St. Mary’s Basilica, as well as ancient homes, castles, and churches including the Royal Castle and Cathedral on Wawel Hill. We strolled around the lovely Old Town, Rynek Glówny. We traveled to Nowa Huta, a whole city constructed during the communist era in Poland while our Local Specialist shared some incredible communist anecdotes with us.

We wandered down Szeroka Street in the historic Kazimierz neighborhood, which is home to synagogues, Helena Rubinstein’s birthplace, the Jewish Quarter, and the Ghetto. The streets of Kazimierz provided the setting for numerous scenes in the film “Schindler’s List.” Jay and I had the opportunity to visit Schindler’s Factory Museum one afternoon.

Pope John Paul II was particularly attached to Wawel Cathedral. The Bishop, and later Cardinal Wojtyła visited the cathedral an innumerable number of times. Four decisive moments in his life were connected with the Cathedral. Karol Wojtyła, then an ordinary priest, celebrated his first Holy Mass at the neo-Romanesque altar in St Leonard’s Crypt on the 2nd of November, 1946 . The Mass was for the intention of his deceased parents and brother. Wojtyła  was consecrated bishop on the 28th of September, 1958, St Wenceslaus Day, a patron of Wawel Cathedral,. He was installed here as archbishop on the 8th of March, 1964, and later as cardinal on the 9th of July, 1967.

Wieliczka Salt Mine

This is a must-see if you’re ever in Krakow. It’s unbelievable to think that regular salt miners created these beautiful sculptures. This place is an actual piece of art! We followed our local guide 135 m (440 ft) underground to marvel at the unique sculptures and the setting of this 800-year old salt mine

The Salt Mine reaches a depth of 1,073 ft, and extends via horizontal passages and chambers for over 178 miles. The rock salt is naturally of varying shades of grey, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white crystalline substance that might be expected.

From Neolithic times, sodium chloride (table salt) was produced here from the up-welling brine. The Wieliczka salt mine, excavated from the 13th century, produced table salt continuously until 1996, as one of the world’s oldest operating salt mines. The Wieliczka Salt Mine is now an official Polish Historic Monument and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its attractions include the shafts and labyrinthine passageways, displays of historic salt-mining technology, an underground lake, four chapels and numerous statues carved by miners out of the rock salt, and more recent sculptures by contemporary artists.

I know I have said this in all the previous posts, but, I REALLY wish we could have stayed longer!