Today I purchased a ticket to tour the Wieliczka Salt Mine. Little did I know that I would be the only person on this tour. I walk to the bus stop to wait for my tour guide and it's only me. Yes, only me. The gentleman that is driving the bus tells me that I'll be the only one on this tour. Okay. The drive to the mine takes about an hour and once we arrive, a young woman approaches me and introduces herself as my guide. Okay.
As we approach the entrance to the mine there are hundreds of people standing around waiting in line for tickets. My guide walks past all these people and tells me to follow her. Here I am looking at hundreds of people and they are all staring back at me with that look on their faces with the question "Who is this woman that gets to cut in front of us and allowed to enter the mine solo?" I'm looking at them wondering, "Why is this happening to me?"
I'm not the type of person that enjoys the spot light nor do I seek that attention. I enjoy blending into the groups as it's been a way for me to survive all these years. But here I am now the center of attention with everyone looking at me and I'm uncomfortable. We enter the mine and happily I am guided away from the crowds which does give me a sense of relief. Now that we have spaced ourselves far from the large groups of people I am happy to enjoy all that the guide tells me and look at my surrounds.
The mine is amazing. After walking down 800 steps so that we may enter the third camber far below the surface, you notice the air quality has changed and I can taste salt in my mouth. Everything surrounding me is salt. The floors, walls, ceilings, statues, carvings are all made from the salt. It's definitely a sight to behold. I have never seen anything like this in my life. It will always be a moment that I remember.
After we walk approximately 3.5 km we enter into a chamber that has a restaurant. I'm told that my tour includes a traditional Polish meal and welcome drink. The dinning room is filled with people waiting in line. Oh no, not again I think to myself. I am lead to a table sectioned off from the rest of the groups behind a panel. Everyone can see me enter this cage and I feel their eyes looking at me. My guide is ready to leave me and I ask her to please stay with me as I'm uncomfortable with all the attention. She says, "You're receiving the Royal Treatment, Enjoy!" I whisper to her, "Please stay." She smiles and agrees.
First I was brought a shot of vodka. A plate of Smalec which is partially double fried lard with onion, marjoram and spread on bread served with pickled cucumbers. Followed by a bowl of Zurek soup (sour rye soup with sausage floating on top) and fresh bread. After several minutes the girl returns with a plate of Pierogi, a very traditional small white dumplings filled with sauerkraut with mushrooms. All I could think was, "This is too much food." I tried everything but I did not finish anything. Once I was finished, we could continue our tour, which of course I had to be lead once again in front of all these people.
At the end of the tour, we stood in line to take the elevator to the surface. At least this time I got to share an elevator with a few other people. There are 2 elevators that can hold only 8-9 people, you step inside the elevator and it's a wire cage that quickly moves to the surface. It's like taking a ride at six flags but it's dark and you don't know where you're going or what's around you. Very exciting. I would definitely advise everyone to take this tour. Over all I really enjoyed everything I saw and I'm sure most of you would have loved the "Royal Treatment".
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