On Sunday I joined a group of several people for a trip to a local shooting range to shoot three types of guns I’d never used before: a Glock (10 shots), an Uzi (10 shots), and an AK-47 (5 shots) (not a Kalashnikov – I hadn’t realized that there are different kinds). My group included five English guys from northern England, a Norwegian, an English couple, and a Dutch couple. It was a lot of fun, and most of the others used a few other guns including a shotgun and a sniper rifle. I’m not a gun owner, but target shooting is enjoyable. The AK-47 felt particularly satisfyingly powerful. I could understand the northern English guys’ English about as well as I could understand Norwegian and Dutch being spoken. I asked them where they were from when they boarded the van, as I couldn’t understand them at all, thinking that maybe they were Dutch, and they replied “Sunderland.” For the life of me, I couldn’t think of any country by that name – perhaps in Africa? (It’s near Durham, England)
On Monday I took a tour to and into the salt mine near Krakow. The mine opened almost 750 years ago, and back then salt was known as “white gold” because it was so valuable. Despite walking for two hours underground, we visited only 1% of the huge labyrinth. Highlights included giant chambers, lakes, and miner-carved statues throughout. It’s a unique a quite engaging place. We descended down to the third level, about 440 feet (135 meters) below the surface level, and yet there were six additional levels below that point! Though salt mining has ended (in 1996), in the process of continually pumping out water, salt is still produced and sold. The remaining 400 workers mostly maintain the circa 200 miles (322 kilometers) of chambers. There are multiple cafes, chapels, and ballrooms underground. And the air below is great (as opposed to a coal mine, for example), and there are lodging and spa opportunities as well. The guide said that you can even lick the walls if so inclined. It’s almost pure salt, with just a bit of other minerals that darken the walls.
I was unable to find enough funny Google Maps review translations this week, though I did see one to share with you: “I love this place, there are moth memories associated with it”.
There is a huge number of rental electric scooters on offer around Krakow. And to prevent people from just dumping their scooter off at a very inconvenient or disruptive location, the city has an arrangement with the scooter companies (there seem to be three main ones here) to limit where the scooters may be parked. So there are these parking areas in various locations around the city, but none in the old town. I’m not sure you’re even supposed to scooter in the old town itself, now that I think about it. With these parking areas though, when you pass by the various areas one after another, with all their dozens of scooters, it’s like you’re being tempted into renting one.
It’s like: We know you want one… Come on, just try it! We think you need it! Do it, do it now! It’ll save you time! Me: “Um, no thanks.”
“Well, yes, I’ll just walk.”
“Well, hmm, I don’t know… Nah.”
“Oh, all right, if you insist!” I ended up relishing my scooter rides, and I took many. Sites were surprisingly spread out around town, and it’s mostly a great city for getting around by scooter, with loads of bike lanes, and the area is mainly flat. I used both Lime (owned by Uber) and Bolt. I preferred the Bolt scooters.
Another meal price mention, since this one really blew my socks off! Three salads (including one with herring), cream of mushroom soup, crisp bread, garlic sauce, and a fresh fruit drink. $5.89, all in.
Today’s dad joke: What’s it called when you jump over someone from Krakow?
A Pole vault
Today’s travel quote:
The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.
Richard Burton
Major Meander 
Salt sculpture? Amazing!
You have seen salt mining in some very different places in your travels (I was thinking of our trip to the Andean salt mine in Peru). I bet those Northern English accents were wild on your shooting range trip! Have you ever seen the reality TV show “Top Shot”? We watched it for a while and got a big kick out of it. (It’s like a sharp shooting elimination challenge).
No, I’ve never seen that – it sounds interesting.
Wow, lots of cool stuff in this. I didn’t expect to read about you shooting an AK-47. I’m struggling to visualize the size/scope of the salt mines—200 miles of chambers?! I guess there are multiple levels but it sounds like it’s bigger than Krakow itself! Also, I was at a conference a few years back in San Diego when the rental scooter thing was just taking off and I very much enjoyed using them. So much so that I nearly bought an electric scooter when I came back!
I see many folks with their own personal electric scooters – they can make a lot of sense. Perhaps not so much in Asheville, though.