Travel

July is a month of blooming linden, not only in Poland bit all through Central and Eastern Europe. The most beautiful walking avenue (promenade) in Berlin is called Unter (under) Den Linden.

Several Polish poets, among them the prominent Polish poet of Renaissance Jan Kochanowski wrote the poem devoted to Linden: dear visitor -please sit under my linden tree and relax.... Linden had also special meaning in Polish pre-christian pagan traditions. Gods were living there. Later the pagan tradition was converted into the Christian tradition where linden were especially blessed. Some villages and towns in Poland carry lipa in their name, there is a village called "Swieta Lipka" (Holy Linden).
On the negative side - the wood of Linden was considered of mediocre quality, therefore a term lipny in Polish language means something of low quality.

Read more: Love and Lore of the Linden

There are many texts written about how the park was invented but it is good to mention that the village of Baltow, located 123 miles south-east of Warsaw, was chosen for the dinosaurs' home not simply by chance. Just on this territory's surroundings of Swietokrzyskie Mountains there exist many dinosaur traces that have been discovered. Mrs. Halina Kisiel, vice-president of Delta Association, which built and still operate the park, said that everything began from the Devil's Foot, a rocky hill nearby, where Dr. Gerard Gierliski from the State Institute of Geology discovered a beast of Allosaurs traces, imprinted in the Jura era.

Read more: Jurassic Park in Baltow

Due to the danger of underground work, the miners are religious; they are also very talented. We saw evidence of the talent in awesome salt sculptures made by miners themselves; some are whimsical gnomes, and other sculptures pay tribute to Poland's political heroes, to Pope John Paul II, and to Copernicus. We saw evidence of faith in the chapels within the mine, the grandest one being the Blessed Kinga Chapel.

Read more: Visit to Wieliczka Salt Mine (part II)

Touring Wieliczka's Salt Mine is a favorite memory for my family members who have been fortunate enough to visit there. My most recent visit brought new experiences, because my niece Cecilia, who was traveling with me, insisted that we venture out on our own, not with a formal tour group. We followed the advice of several tour books that instructed us to take the bus from Krakow. All lined up outside the bus depot, it was easy to locate the small buses labeled for Wieliczka. We paid 2 zlotys ($0.50 USD at the time (2003 year), check the current prices) and took our seats. After the short 10km (6-mile) ride, we walked the 2 blocks to the Salt Mine entrance, and bought tickets for the English-spoken tour. We also bought the permit for Cecilia to take pictures during the tour. Even though you can purchase a large selection of picture books, the privilege of showing off your own photography is well worth the 10 zlotys.

Read more: Visit to Wieliczka Salt Mine (part I)