Our adventure into the Wieliczka Salt Mine started on the ground floor. (As ths sign clearly states. Duh.))
And down and down the stairs we went...
Some of us got a little wary of the nearly 60 floors...
This way, duh.
Low ceilings can be hazardous.
Salt-chandelier.
EVERYTHING in the Salt Mine was made of salt, walls included, but I simply had to confirm it.
Creepy displays within the salt mine. This place is like Poland's Epcot. Mining stopped here in 1997, and since then, they've built it up to a very Western tourist hell.
A big dork in front of a salt statue of some famous Polish king guy.
Some salty steps within the mine--these were once used by the miners, but they've now built nice and pretty wooden ones to avoid a few Western-size lawsuits.
Statue within the largest chapel of the salt mine, St. Kingas' Chapel.
The walls and floor were carefully carved and polished.
Salt chandelier.
I'm told you can get married here.
This shot is very meta-touristy, a concept I found laughable.
Happy little tourists, sort of.
Don't even think about it.
John debates getting a beer at 10 am, and is, as you can see, a bit incredulous that I question him. The woman in the back left of this picture was our guide through the mine. In order to add to the flair, all guides are to wear a hard hat. Our guide, however, keeping with the "Polish tour guides sure are surly!" trend I've discovered, refused to wear said hat. She also never smiled, not even once, throughout our 2-hour tour. It was awesome.
This is the tiny elevator we were forced to take up. Better than the stairs, true, but anyone who's clausterphobic could have quite the trip.
Yep, 9 of us were shoved in there. Eek.
