I heard a lot about Wieliczka Salt Mine from my Mum and wanted to visit. It’s history is that it opened in the 13thC and produced table salt continuously until 2007, being one of the world’s oldest salt mines. It reaches a depth of 327 metres and is 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey resembling unpolished granite. It used to generate a third of Krakow’s city revenue back in the old days! One kilo of salt was worth half a kilo of gold. Horses lived in stables underground and were used on a treadmill to haul the salt to the top of the surface. 
I went on a 3 km walking tour featuring an underground lake, salt crystal chandeliers, lots of statues and 4 chapels carved out of the salt by the miners, 135m underground. Awesome!
Arrived in Zakopane around 14:00 and checked into my hotel…Villa Nova…love this place. Warm, inviting, incredibly friendly and helpful staff and delightful environs…my fave hotel so far in Poland, although Boutique Brajt in Krakow was a close second! 
Zakopane is a resort (and highest town in Poland), at the base of the Tatras. My Mum used to come here for both winter sports and summertime mountain climbing and hiking. Tatra’s highlanders, Gorale, have vibrantly decorated clothing, a unique dialect and folk dancing. 
Quite a few horse-drawn carts with guys in full traditional dress, take tourists for a tour in down-town Zakopane. A few kilometres out of Zakopane is the Mt Kasprowy Wierch cable car. So glad I booked a cable car ticket yesterday. The 200m long (non-booker) queue was ridiculous this morning when I arrived. 
Glorious weather to take the cable car to the summit at 1985m, for some awesome and sweeping views ….but a bitterly cold and strong wind hit you as soon as you got of the cable car!! Glad I had the presence of mind to bring beanie and scarf. Mt Kasprowy in the Western Tatras, is one of the most popular skiing areas in Poland. Today just fearless trekkers, not enough snow at present for skiing.
My afternoon adventure was to see “The Eye of the Sea” (Morskie Oko), the largest and 4th deepest moraine lake in the Tatras. I accessed it through a 1 and half hour journey by horse-drawn cart in the Tatra National Park and then a very huffy puffy half hour uphill walk.
The peaks that surround the lake rise about 1000 metres above its surface. Many a hardy climber was trying to scale the heights of Mnich, ” the Monk”, ( you need a special certificate from the mountaineers association to do that one).Zakopane has a unique wooden architecture. Villas were placed on high underpinning brick stones. Walls were adorned with bas-reliefs and floral and geometric patterns. 
And I came across a lovely dining place called “Frog Manor” (Zabi Dwor)…..only cook regional specialties.
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