I decided to stay an extra night in Krakow while my friends went on to Opole, because I couldn't decide between two compelling tours - on to the infamous concentration camps of Auschwitz and Berkinow, the other to some enormous and very old salt mines. With a full day available, I was able to do both.
First was the visit to Auschwitz, which was not "fun" but felt like something I should do if I was so close to it. As one might expect, it was moving - especially the exhibits of massive piles of personal belongings. Since this part of my day may not what you had in mind for your procrastination break at work, I'll post just one photo, of the train platform you might have seen in Schindler's List. For all other photos, see the online album.
In the afternoon, a much more relaxed tour to the salt mines, which I hadn't even known about before Kate mentioned them. Apparently, they date back to at least the 1200s, and are so enormous that our 2-hour tour covered only 1% of them. At one time, salt was more valuable pound-per-pound than silver, because it was used to preserve meat - which was especially needed for army rations. So the miners had high-paying if rather dangerous jobs.
In their spare time, the miners carved some amazing underground statues and chapels - many of them hundreds of years old. One of the largest chapels can be rented out for wedding receptions, and has chandeliers and intricate artwork made of carved salt. Today, the mine is profitable as a tourist destination, but can't compete with other mines for profitable salt extraction. It is still considered "active" but only extracts salt as a byproduct of pumping out the flooded areas.
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