Salt mine tours for health and fun

by Jamie Rhein on

Tom Barlow over at Wallet Pop and I started talking about salt mines a few days ago. He mentioned a post he wrote about the health benefits of salt mines and places one can go to see them. An impressive one that neither of us have been to, but agreed that we should is the Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow in Poland. It’s a World Heritage site, and part of it has been carved into a salt cathedral. Our talk reminded me of my own salt mine tour in Germany.

Touring the salt mine in Berchtesgaden was a totally funky, touristy thing to do, but one I have remembered over the years as a high point. Perhaps, it doesn’t take much for me to be amused.

We donned mining outfits (over their clothes), put cloth mining hats on our head and gathered with the other English speakers at various points along the way to listen to recorded messages about the history of the mine and how it works. The guides spoke in German. Part of the tour involved sitting, one of us in front of the other, astride two wooden chutes which we slid down to get to a lower section. One of the reasons for the mining outfits was to protect our clothing from the salt. Plus, it was a chance to play dress up and add some ambiance to the experience.

Berchtesgaden may sound familiar. It is also where Hitler hung out at Eagle’s Nest. This area in the German Alps is gorgeous.

Other salt mines to tour:

Also in Poland, there is the Bochnia Salt Mine which is older than Wieliczka, and from the comments people have written about it, sounds like it’s worth a visit.

There are three mines near Salzburg, Austria. Here’s the link that leads to info on all three of them: Salzwelten Salzburg, Hallstaat and Altaussee. There are discount tickets for family travelers. Rick Steves has recommended Hallstaat, according to what I’ve read.

The Kansas Underground Salt Museum in Hutchinson, Kansas. The museum is housed inside a working salt mine where you can learn about salt mining first hand.

Photo of the Day (01.15.08)

by Martha Edwards on


I never been a particularly religious person, but seeing nuns always makes me pause for a moment, as if I’m in the presence of a saint or a god-like figure. This photo captures that feeling perfectly — with the gentle mist thinly veiling the trees in the background and the bundled nuns going about their day in the foreground, the photo has enough depth to be a inspire the spiritual side in all of us. Thank to Our Man Where for the stunning image.

Have an inspiring image of your own? Submit it to our Gadling Flickr Pool.

Photo of the Day 1/6/2008

by Catherine Bodry on


According to the tags on ourmanwhere’s page, this photo was taken in Krakow, Poland during the Christmas season. I love the old-school feel of the shot, as though it were taken 60 year ago. The sun seems to hover over and beam magically from above the distant cathedral, as though the two were spiritually connected.

If you’ve got some great travel photos to share, upload them to Gadling’s Flickr pool. We peruse the pool daily for cool shots for our Photo of the Day feature!

European Bookstore Guide

by Kelly Amabile on

Bibliophiles headed to Europe may want to bookmark this new website: the Bookstore Guide has only been around for about two months, but they already have over 40 independent shops listed on their site. This growing collection includes bookstores in cities like Tbilisi, Istanbul, Oslo, Liverpool and Graz. I discovered the blog because they referred to some reviews I wrote last year about my own European bookstore browsing days.

The allure of the out-of-town bookstore has been written about before, and I’m sure many travelers would agree with this sentiment. I’ve spent many hours on several continents idling in a variety of bookshops, especially English-language ones, which can offer precious familiarity and comfort during long stretches of time in places far from home. My favorite so far? Still has to be Massolit in Krakow, which is actually run by an American from New Jersey.

But now, thanks to Sonja and Ivan (creators of the new guide) we’ve all got a new and expanding list of shops to refer to on future European book-buying (or browsing) excursions.

Homesick with a Polish Cold

by Justin Glow on

[Note: I’m traveling through Central and Eastern Europe through the month of October.]

I feel comfortable, now, writing about homesickness, because I’m no longer homesick. But for the past week or so – since leaving home – I have been, and it has hammered on my ego as a traveler.

I shouldn’t have these feelings, I think – I’m supposed to be enjoying this life on the road. But life on the road can be hard, and the uncertainties and confusions blindside you when you’re weak and tired and lost. When you’re at home, these road blocks seem romantic and adventurous, but when you’re actually there — with twenty pounds of gear on your back — confused, cold, and hungry, it’s real. And then you wonder why you left your comfortable bed, hot shower, fully-stocked fridge – why is it that I wanted to travel?

When you’re away from home – it doesn’t matter if you’re 8 miles away at work, or 8,000 away in Poland – you begin to dream of all the things you would be doing if you were at home. It’s usually productive things, like exercising, cleaning the kitchen, or mowing the lawn. Because when you’re homesick, anything is better than what you’re currently doing. But it doesn’t work this way. When you do eventually get home, you fall back into your routine and never go outside of that box. This is why the fridge rarely gets cleaned, and your running shoes still have near-perfect tread. The quicker you realize the gravity of this situation, the quicker you will stop thinking of those things you wish you could be doing but wouldn’t be doing anyway, and instead start enjoying your time away – focusing on what’s happening right now, even if you are at work, or things aren’t going your way. You are, after all, in Poland – might as well enjoy it. But this is easier said than done.

On the road, something as simple as a trip to the store for cold medicine for your girlfriend becomes an ordeal, where you speak absolutely no Polish, the clerk no English, so communication is broken down to its simplest form. Single. Word. Sentences. “Medicine? Drugs? Cold?” You pantomime your way through a conversation — like a game of grocery-store charades – clutching your throat, faking a sneeze. And even then they’re still not sure what you mean, so you’re given a box of Aspirin and sent on your way. If I was at home, you think, I’d pop into Walgreen’s, pick up some Sudafed, and be on my way. As soon as you start thinking this way, you become homesick. That is homesickness – a longing for the routines and easiness of home. And there’s absolutely no escaping it no matter how big your travel ego.

It can, however, be overcome, and overcome it you will if you travel long enough. Thirteen days is how long it took me this time – not even halfway into the trip. I’m no longer thinking of the things I would be doing if I were home but wouldn’t do anyway. I’m rolling with the punches, confused, still hungry, and acting like a fool in the corner supermarket. And I don’t miss Walgreen’s.

But then again, I’m not the one who has caught a Polish cold.