Krakow, Poland

Here are some interesting things about some of the places I visited in Krakow,the ancient capital of Poland.

Pope John Paul II was from Krakow. This is where he used to study.

This is the huge St Zygmunt Bell in the tower of the ancient cathedral on Wawel Hill. We had to climb up very steep stairs to get to the top where the bell hung. It takes at least 12 people to pull the ropes to ring the bell. It is rung on national and religious holidays.It was also rung when the Polish Archbishop Karol Wojtyla became the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years.The bell weighs 11 tons and is the largest of five bells hanging in the tower.

This is a view of Krakow taken from Wawel Hill where there is a castle and the cathedral where all the Polish kings were crowned and buried.This cathedral has 18 chapels inside it.

The oldest church is St Mary's Basilica where a bugle player will play a short melodious bugle call known as The Hejnal, meaning "Wake up" on the hour at every hour from the left tower, 54 meters above the city but the melody he plays is always cut short. This is to commemorate the person who blew the bugle to warn the town folks of an attack by Tartars in 1241. He played a warning song to arouse the inhabitants to arms but he was killed by a Tartar arrow piercing his throat so his music was abruptly cut off mid-melody. I feel that this is a very touching tribute to the unknown hero and that it is still being paid today says much about a country that honors the death of its son who aroused the city to defence, thus saving it.
Another interesting place is the Cloth Hall in Market square, the centre of trade for Krakow's merchants. Today it houses myriad small stalls hawking souvenirs and lovely amber jewelry.

Wieliczka Salt Mine, Poland

The Wieliczka Salt mine in Poland is a listed UNESCO monument. The salt deposits lie from 10 to 200 meters underground.

There is a huge complex of tunnels underground, in fact, nine floors of tunnels ranging from 64 meters to 327 meters in depth. The temperature in these tunnels is at a constant 15 degrees Celcius.

We had to walk down into the tunnels.
We stopped at the 3 and 5th floors to view the astonishing salt sculptures created by the miners who lived underground in semi darkness most of the time. There are also huge chambers inside (more than 2500 according to the guide) and also chapels where the miners could pray.

The sculptures portrayed the miners' lives.
Horses were also kept inside the mine to help the miners when the salt had to be winched up to the surface.
It is said that the horses became blind because of the permanent darkness in which they lived.

There is also a statue of Pope John Paul II in one of the chambers.
A statue of Goethe graces one of the smaller chambers.

There is one artificial salt lake created in one of the tunnels where one of Chopin's Etudes is played, with the lights coming on and off, illuminating the dark chamber. This is quite an unique experience, with people listening attentively to the etude in the dark while the chamber is dimly lighted when the lights come on for a few seconds before fading out again. Unfortunately I could not capture a picture that is bright enough to upload here.

All the walls of the tunnels are salt and some have been shored up with timber. They are very smooth and also taste salty when you rub your finger on it and licked your finger.

Fortunately we didn't have to climb back up through the tunnels. There were two lifts, a large one and a smaller one that took us up to the surface. There is a cafe deep down in the mine where we could have coffee and snacks while waiting for the lifts. It's really amazing that such a wonder exists from many centuries ago.
We exited through a souvenir shop that sold salt and salt crystal lamps and carvings made of salt too, apart from the usual tourist paraphernalia.

Postojna Caves

There is a very huge karst cave in Ljubljana in Slovenia. It is a famous tourist spot

At the entrance we had to purchase train tickets. This is just a long length of seats fastened together to carry visitors into the caves. This train runs on rails and travels very fast through the narrow passages, zipping around corners. The caves have electric lighting placed strategically to highlight the unusual formations of stalactites and stalagmites.
When we disembarked from the train, we walked through narrow passages through various caves, admiring the clusters of stalagmites and stalactites.


There are 20 kilometres of underground galleries in this huge cave, the largest in Europe.
The return journey is the same, going back by train.

Cruising Down the Danube

Never did I dream as my fingers flew over the ivory keys producing the strains of Johann Strauss’ Blue Danube Waltz for my father that one day I would cruise down the Danube River to the music of the beautiful waltz.

Standing on the dark deck braving the biting cold wind, I snapped picture after picture of the grandiose buildings spot-lighted to display their awesome splendor. The bridges spanning the wide Danube especially the Chain Bridge in Budapest sparkled like a diamond necklace.
Bright architectural gems silhouetted against the dark sky did their creators proud.




Budapest is a wonderland at night from the deck of the cruise boat silently swishing through the dark waves of the Danube with the music of Strauss waltzes in the background.

Budapest, a Lovely City beyond my Expectations

I never dreamed that I would one day be in Budapest,a lovely city of old and new. It is in fact divided by the Danube River, into Buda, the more hilly part which is residential and Pest in which the administrative and industrial areas are located.
Buildings of different periods line the streets, many of which are tree-lined. In the old town quarter, the streets are often cobblestone pedestrian malls or narrow roads.

Budapest boasts two UNESCO World Heritage Sites,the Banks of the Danube (1987) and theAndrassy Avenue (2002).

The impressive Parliament,is located on the bank of the Danube River.

On Gellert Hill is the Citadel, which was once a fortress and there is an imposing statue of a lady carrying a palm leaf over her head, symbolising peace.
There are two other statues, one depicting a warrior slaying a dragon or snakesymbolising the death of fascism while the other bears a torch representing independence, peace and prosperity for Hungary.

The other very impressive site is the Fisherman's Bastion where the beautiful St Mathias Church is located.

Another awesome structure is St Stephen's Basilica which is where the Hungarian Kings were crowned.St Stephen was the founder of Hungary and his right hand is a relic kept in this church, the largest in Budapest.

Many rivers span the Danube, the Chain Bridge being th first and is now a famous monument.

The Hero's Square is a tribute to the unknown soldier who died for his country.

One has to visit the city to fully appreciate its beauty and to marvel at the awesome grandeur of the centuries-old buildings that miraculously survived two world wars. The interiors of the Catholic churches in Budapest are very ornate and each stained glass window tells a tale. Their beauty defies descriptions and one can only admire the craftsmen who built them.