Photos by Hannah Rappoport
After a peaceful four and a half hours of sleep, I heard the startling alarm - 6 am sharp. We quickly started getting ready for a lighthearted interruption to our previous emotional adventures.
A long drive, and several shrieks about sights of snow, we reached the renowned Polish Salt Mine, built in 1248. We met our knowledgeable tour guide, Natalya, and made our way down through the highly modern lift. We got the opportunity to ride the train, better known as Jacob, through the mine. Next, we traveled back in time and did a walking tour of the rest of the shaft. We made sure that the salt was real by licking the walls. Since salt preserves wood, a lot of the structures have been around for hundreds of years, allowing us to view many ancient devices, including a handle-wheel from the 1800s. We saw depictions of the founders of the Mong family, Frenchmen, a prince, and King Kasmir the Great. King Kasmir was important because he imposed mining regulations in 1368 to protect the miners, and build the first hospital in Poland intended to cure injured miners. We viewed 'salt gardens' (crystallized salt that looks like patches of cauliflower and parsley) formed by dripping brine. Natalya also told us about the mining process, utilizing workhorses and a special hoisting machine to excavate 'snowmen' (huge blocks of salt weighing tons).
With all our newly acquired knowledge and having fulfilled our sodium intake requirement for the week, we made our way back to the bus to what some would say was one of the highlights of this trip, a restaurant!! I don’t know if I was just hungry or was craving something other than frozen vegetables, but the meal was very satisfying, and the previously hangry girls experienced very swift mood shifts. We made our way out of the restaurant and walked through the streets of what was once the Krakow ghetto to prepare for an unforgettable Shabbat. We headed over to the renowned Ramah shul and had a very meaningful Friday night service. After the service, we reached our hotel and had a delicious dinner, filled with laughter and beautiful words of Torah. Ending our long day, we had a game and candy-filled oneg and made our way to bed for some Shabbat Menucha.
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