This was sent to me by my brother, it's too intriguing not to share!

Salt Mine – An Astounding Subterranean Salt Cathedral Deep underground in Poland lies something remarkable but little known outside Eastern Europe. For centuries, miners have extracted salt there, but left behind things quite startling and unique. Take a look at the most unusual salt mine in the world. From the outside, Wieliczka Salt Mine doesn’t look extraordinary. It looks extremely well kept for a place that hasn’t mined any salt for over ten years but apart from that it looks ordinary. However, over two hundred meters below ground it holds an astonishing secret. This is the salt mine that became an art gallery, cathedral and underground lake. Situated in the Krakow area, Wieliczka is a small town of close to twenty thousand inhabitants. It was founded in the twelfth century by a local Duke to mine the rich deposits of salt that lie beneath. Until 1996 it did just that but the generations of miners did more than just extract. They left behind them a breathtaking record of their time underground in the shape of statues of mythic, historical and religious figures. They even created their own chapels in which to pray. Perhaps their most astonishing legacy is the huge underground cathedral they left behind for posterity. It may feel like you are in the middle of a Jules Verne adventure as you descend in to the depths of the world. After a one hundred and fifty meter climb down wooden stairs the visitor to the salt mine will see some amazing sites. About the most astounding in terms of its sheer size and audacity is the Chapel of Saint Kinga. The Polish people have for many centuries been devout Catholics and this was more than just a long term hobby to relieve the boredom of being underground. This was an act of worship. Amazingly, even the chandeliers in the cathedral are made of salt. It was not simply hewn from the ground and then thrown together; however, the process is rather more painstaking for the lighting. After extraction the rock salt was first of all dissolved. It was then reconstituted with the impurities taken out so that it achieved a glass-like finish. The chandeliers are what many visitors think the rest of thecavernous mine will be like as they have a picture in their minds of salt as they would sprinkle on their meals! However, the rock salt occurs naturally in different shades of grey (something like you would expect granite to look like). Still, that doesn’t stop well over one million visitors (mainly from Poland and its eastern European neighbors) from visiting the mine to see, amongst other things, how salt was mined in the past. For safety reasons less than one percent of the mine is open to visitors, but even that is still almost four kilometers in length – more than enough to weary the average tourist after an hour or two. The mine was closed for two reasons – the low price of salt on the world market made it too expensive to extract here. Also, the mine was slowly flooding – another reason why visitors are restricted to certain areas only. The religious carvings are, in reality, what draw many to this mine – as much for their amazing verisimilitude as for their Christian aesthetics. One remarkable carving is a take on The Last Supper. The work and patience that must have gone in to the creation of these sculptures is extraordinary. One wonders what the miners would have thought of their work going on general display? They came to be quite used to it, in fact, even during the mine’s busiest period in the nineteenth century. The cream of Europe’s thinkers visited the site – you can still see many of their names in the old visitor’sbooks on display. These reliefs are perhaps among some of the most iconographic works of Christian folk art in the world and really do deserve to be shown. It comes as little surprise to learn that the mine was placed on the original list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites back in 1978. Not all of the work is relief-based. There are many life sized statues that must have taken a considerable amount of time – months, perhaps even years – to create. Within the confines of the mine there is also much to be learned about the miners from the machinery and tools that they used – many of which are on display and are centuries old. A catastrophic flood in 1992 dealt the last blow to commercial salt mining in the area and now the mine functions purely as a tourist attraction. Brine is, however, still extracted from the mine – and then evaporated to produce some salt, but hardly on the ancient scale. If this was not done, then the mines would soon become flooded once again. Not all of the statues have a religious or symbolic imagery attached to them. The miners had a sense of humor, after all! Here can be seen their own take on the legend of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The intricately carved dwarves must have seemed to some of the miners a kind of ironic depiction of their own work. The miners even threw in a dragon for good measure! Certainly, they may have whistled while they did it but the conditions in the salt mine were far from comfortable and the hours were long – the fact that it was subterranean could hardly have added to the excitement of going to work each morning. To cap it all there is even an underground lake, lit by subdued electricity and candles. This is perhaps where the old legends of lakes to the underworld and Catholic imagery of the saints work together to best leave a lasting impression of the mine. How different a few minutes reflection here must have been to the noise and sweat of everyday working life in the mine.

River Cruise & Safari in Africa

The mighty Zambezi river, a luxury cruise ship and a visit to Victoria Falls and/or an African Safari.  Hold on to your hats, AMAWaterways is introducing a new product that will blow you out of the water!  Photos and more info to come!

Putting Things Off

I'm a great procrastinator.  I can find a million things to do rather than make plans for myself ... one of the most difficult things for me to do is to make a decision about taking my own vacations (although they're usually "busman's holidays").  I've been wanting to do a "Christmas Markets Cruise" along the Danube for a couple of years now.  I have the air mileage on American Express, what keeps me from booking?  Indecision.  The inability to get out of my own way.

This weekend I had a "come to Jesus" moment.  At 10:30 on Saturday morning my neighbor started screaming for help (remember I live in Florida where windows and balcony doors are frequently open).  She was screaming like the building was on fire or someone was attacking her.  I rushed over in my nightgown...it was Saturday morning, I was kicking back and relaxing ... to find that her husband had fallen and hit his head.  He was face down on the floor of the balcony, bleeding heavily.  The neighbor handed me the phone and I dialed 911.  Long story short, our terrific Key Biscayne Fire & Rescue dept. was there in under five minutes (which seemed like hours) and he had the best treatment you could ask for.  He's fractured his neck in two places and has several stitches in his head.  Fortunately there is no paralysis. His prognosis is good - there was a lot of praying going on.

Moments before all had been as normal.  Now their lives - at least for awhile - are turned upside down.  It can happen just that quickly.  Fortunately they had recently returned from a long dreamed of vacation by motorcycle from Miami to Boise, Idaho, so that wasn't lost to them.

I have so many stories like this, the couple who planned to cruise to Hawaii after they retired (but he suddenly died from a heart attack), my Mom's planned trip to Australia which was cancelled when my brother passed away.  I could go on, but you get the idea.

I'm going to book that Christmas Markets cruise this week.  I hope some of you will come with me.  I think it will be special!