16.juuli– Wieliczka soolakaevandus ja Krakow

Tänane päev oli meil planeeritud täiesti rattavabaks. Wieliczka linnakeses, kus me peatume, asub üle maailma tuntud soolakaevandus. Rahvast käib seal palju, aastas ~1 milj. külastajat. Giidi sõnul on suvistel nädalavahetustel 5000-7000 külastajat päevas, nii et võite ette kujutada, milline rahvaste paabel seal koos käib. Omapead kedagi kaevandustesse ei lasta, tuli registreeruda sobiva keelega gruppi ja 2,5 tunnine ringkäik maaalustes koobastes algas.

Today was planned to be completely bike-free for us. In Wieliczka, where we’re staying, there is a world-famous salt mine. Many people visit there, about 1 million visitors per year. According to the guide, on summer weekends there are 5000-7000 visitors per day, so you can imagine what a babel of nations gathers there. Nobody is allowed into the mines on their own, we had to register for a group with a suitable language and a 2.5-hour tour in underground caves began.

Ma ei hakka kõigest üksikasjalikult kirjutama, võite vaadata www.kopalnia.pl või veelgi parem, kui siiakanti satute, käige seal kindlasti ära, soovitan soojalt. Muljet avaldas fakt, et 2,5 tunni jooksul saime ülevaate ainult 1%-st kogu sellest kaevandusest. Käike pidi kokku olema ~300 km!! No kui arvestada seda, et 700 aastat on seal kaevatud ja uuristatud, siis võib see isegi tõsi olla. Koobastesse on sisse ehitatud kaunis kirik, kus igal pühapäeval teenistus toimub ja kus ka laulatusi läbi viiakse, seal on erinevad konverentsiruumid, ballisaalid, kontserdisaalid ja need kõik on soolakoobaste sisse ehitatud. Kujutate ette, kui tervislik seal olla on 🙂

I won’t write about everything in detail, you can check www.kopalnia.pl or even better, if you end up in this area, definitely visit there, I warmly recommend it. I was impressed by the fact that in 2.5 hours we got an overview of only 1% of this entire mine. There are supposed to be ~300 km of passages in total!! Well, considering that they’ve been mining and excavating there for 700 years, it might even be true. A beautiful church has been built into the caves, where services are held every Sunday and where weddings are also conducted, there are various conference rooms, ballrooms, concert halls and all of these are built into the salt caves. Can you imagine how healthy it is to be there 🙂

Kui keegi on jalgrattaspordist huvitatud, siis ta kindlasti teab, et täna toimus 69. Tour Polonia Krakowi etapp. Kuna meie kõige suuremad huvilised just pole, saime sellest teada, kui ootasime pikemat aega bussi, millega Krakowisse sõita ja juhuslikult märkasime sildikest, millest lugesime välja, et linnaliiklus on paar tundi seiskunud, kuna Krakowi rattatuur läbib ka Wieliczka linnakest. Nii sattusimegi täiesti ootamatult Polonia touri keskele. Võtsime teiste linnakodanikega ratturid aplauside saatel vastu ja kui liiklus taas elavnes, sõitsime hoopiski rongiga Krakowisse, kus jõudsime veel ka ratturite finisit näha.

If someone is interested in cycling sports, they certainly know that today the 69th Tour Polonia Krakow stage took place. Since we’re not the biggest fans, we learned about it when we were waiting a long time for a bus to Krakow and accidentally noticed a sign from which we read that city traffic had stopped for a couple of hours because the Krakow cycling tour also passes through the town of Wieliczka. So we ended up completely unexpectedly in the middle of the Polonia tour. We welcomed the cyclists with applause along with other townspeople and when traffic resumed, we instead took a train to Krakow, where we also managed to see the cyclists’ finish.

Me ei ole oma reisidel Poolas kunagi pikemalt peatunud, aga täna oli meil tõesti plaan natukenegi Krakowi linna uudistada. Tegime paaritunnise tiiru vanalinnas, väga ilus oli…, niikaua, kui saime korraliku paduvihma kaela. Loomulikult polnud meil vihmavarju ja kuna pidime rongi peale jõudma, siis polnud aega ka kuskil kohvikus istuda. Olime täiesti läbimärjad ja tilkusime sõna otseses mõttes, aga loodetavasti soolakoobastes veedetud aeg tugevdas meie immuunsüsteemi 🙂 ja mingeid tervisekomplikatsioone ehk ei teki.

We’ve never stayed longer in Poland on our trips, but today we really had a plan to explore Krakow a bit. We did a couple-hour tour of the old town, it was very beautiful…, until we got caught in a proper downpour. Of course we didn’t have an umbrella and since we had to catch a train, we didn’t have time to sit in a cafe somewhere either. We were completely soaked and literally dripping, but hopefully the time spent in the salt caves strengthened our immune system 🙂 and no health complications will arise.

Paari sõnaga ka meie motellist: see on linna keskusest, kus ka soolakaevandus asub, kõigest 1 km kaugusel, nii et paras väike jalutuskäik. Linnal on hea bussi- ja rongiühendus Krakowiga, rongisõit on ~20 min. Motellis on tasuta wifi, siin on välibassein, korralik telkimisala, hea toitlustus, nii et vaadake ka siia www.nawierzynka.pl, mina soovitan küll siin peatuda, hinnad on täiesti taskukohased, eriti, kui võrrelda neid Shotimaa majutuskohtadega.

A few words about our motel: it’s only 1 km from the town center, where the salt mine is also located, so a nice little walk. The town has good bus and train connections to Krakow, the train ride is ~20 min. The motel has free wifi, there’s an outdoor pool, a proper camping area, good catering, so also check out www.nawierzynka.pl, I definitely recommend staying here, the prices are quite affordable, especially when compared to Scotland accommodations.

Homme sõidame läbi Slovakkia Ungarisse, teekond ainult ~ 350 km., saame hommikul korralikult magada, ei pea kuhugi kiirustama.

Tomorrow we’ll drive through Slovakia to Hungary, the journey is only ~ 350 km., we can sleep well in the morning, no need to rush anywhere.