The next day we headed to the salt mines which is amazing. My pictures did not turn out well so I’ll only post one. But the tour is wonderful and the mine amazing. I did find out that the last horse to work the mine was named Bashka, a nickname for Barbara. Saint Barbara is the patron saint of miners and that’s where the name for the horse came from. The picture is in the mine and it is a sculpture of Copernicus with our guide describing it.From the mine we boarded the bus and on to Wroclaw. It was really a travel day so we spent most of the time on the road on really only stopped for dinner and the hotel. But there was a Christmas Market so of course we went. We had wine that is sold at all the markets so we would have a souvenir cup. Our guide also told us about plums covered in chocolate that is very popular, but we couldn’t find any. Many places were sold out. Back to the hotel because we had an early start in the morning. Pics of Christmas Market.On to Prague tomorrow.

Next came the soup. Choices were borscht, mushroom and sour rye. The mushroom soup was served in a mushroom shaped bread bowl and there is a pic of the sour rye soup which was delicious.Then there was more dancing and another pic of Brian dancing.This was followed by the main course-honey and beer basted ribs, stuffed cabbage, roulade and roast pork. There may have been more but I can’t remember and I kept eating. Then there was more dancing and fun, everyone was urged to get up and participate in a group dance- therefore no more pictures. Then came dessert. It was an assortment of delicious pastries, Brian and I were happy we went but we were extremely full.

After we returned from Auschwitz we decided to do another excursion to a Polish restaurant with folk dancing. The alternative was walking around in the freezing rain to find s place we wanted to eat, Brian wasn’t feeling that well and walking around being miserable didn’t appeal to me so after the Castle back on the bus we went. We were greeted at the door by costumed wait staff who provided shots of vodka and bread and salt. We had been wanting traditional Polish food and we got it. The appetizers started coming out. The food was served family style so everyone at the table could taste what they wanted. The first plate was an assortment of cold meats and sausages. The second plate was an assortment of warm appetizers and the third plate several varieties of pierogi.Then the entertainment started. The band played and the dancers danced then the dancers pick some of us to dance. Here are pics of Brian doing the Polka.To be continued….

After we returned from Auschwitz we did a walking tour to Wawel Castle and church. Of course it was huge, beautiful and uphill. It took only about an hour for this tour. Here are pics of the Castle.Then back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

Below are pics if Birkenau.there could have been many more pictures but I wasn’t sure so wanted to document all that horror. Our guide told us Auschwitz housed 20,000 and Birkenau 120,000. At the end of the war The Germans blew up the crematoriums and tried to erase the existence of the camps. She also said they are only preserving what remains not doing a restoration. Then back to Krakow for a waking tour. Also the 2 camps are only two of the many that were in existence.