Krakow, Poland Day 5- Wawel Castle, Rynku Underground, flying home

It's not surprise that we spent the last day in Krakow exploring the Castle.  I (Tina) loves castles.  I think it's because I am fascinated with that period of time in history.  I love how all the castles are so different and magnificent in their own way.  I think my favorite part of Europe is all the Majestic Castles.

Wawel Royal Castle
(Picture from our handout.)  The Castle was built from 1333-1370.
For centuries this castle was the residence of the King of Poland and other official
officers.  It is also a symbol of polish statehood.  The castle is now one of the country's premier art museums.
We got to explore the State Rooms and the Crown treasury.
We started with the Crown Treasury and Armory.  Let me tell you this was the largest Armory we have every seen they had dozens of different swords, crossbows, cannons, knives, guns, and all manor of weapons.  It was amazing.  We just were in awe of the amount of polish weapons.  Several of the rooms of different armor took you through the different eras of polish combat and the weapons they used.  It was fascinating and we just could't get enough of all the weapons.  Alas, we couldn't' take pictures.  But My friends it was amazing!  So much history and so very cool to see. 

This is the view of the castle from the street.

As we were entering Wawel Hill

I love how these kids just keep exploring day after day with me.
I often wonder how they will vacation when they are running the show?
It will be interesting if they try and see as much as they an in one day or will be
happy with seeing a few things and relaxing?  Can't wait to find out.  Me, I want to explore as much as I can
because chances are I will not be coming back.  So I want to eat it all up while I am there.  

Bastianclan at Wawel Castle Armory.  We were the first in line.
Another thing I do....  I want to be there early to beat the crowds.  Most of the time it works.

Just some pictures around the castle.

They were doing some renovation on the castle. 

Beautiful Door

My crazy kids killing time before the Castle opens. 

Jeremy loved this bridge we passed it several times as we explored Krakow.

The last place we explored in Krakow was Rynek Underground
This museum is directly under the "Main Square.  How cool is that?  We got to go underground again.
The museum takes you on a journey traveling back in time to the Middle Ages of Krakow.  It's beautifully done.  Using technology from today to enhance the exhibits.  We knew we were on an adventure when we entered the museum through a Hologram.  The Museum was very interactive.  They did a great job of having english translations on the artifacts and sections of the museum.   It was fun to see how Krakow evolved over time.  The museum did an amazing job reconstructing mediaeval artifacts. The museum covers archeology including real wall and foundation discovered during a major excavation about a decade ago.  They even found skeletons it's pretty amazing.   We do not have a lot of pictures because alas, you couldn't take pictures.  So here are a few from our guide.  

This is the map of the museum.  I wouldn't say it was very big.  We were able to see everything in about 90 minutes.
We did play a little and missed a couple of the movie clips.  It was just perfect.  We only  needed to kill a little time and this Museum was well worth the stop.  

Our time in Krakow has come to an end.  We really did have a wonderful Spring Break and have just
enjoyed this Country so much.  We loved the memories we made here.  Thanks Krakow for such a wonderful week

Bern Temple April 14, 2018

 We had our Semi Annual Ward Temple trip April 14th.  Since the Frankfurt temple is still under construction we are assigned to the Bern, Switzerland Temple.  We woke up at 1:30 am to catch a ride on the bus to the Bern Switzerland LDS Temple. We arrived at the temple around 8:00am. The Sun was shining, the flowers in full bloom it was a beautiful day. Jeremy and I got to spend the majority of the day in the temple.  We got to attend a session with our friends Rachel and Les Ambrus, got to do some sealings with our friends Dennis and Sarah Kinsmon, and watch the kids do Baptisms for the dead. Kayden was able to perform all the baptisms for our ward. It was a truly special, amazing Temple Trip. I Love being able to serve in the house of the Lord with my family. ❤️

Bern, Switzerland Temple.

The bus wall full of people and energy even at 2:30am. Ha!
We got home around 8:00pm  It was a 19 hour day.  We are all ready for bed now.

Everyone gettin goff the bus and heading to the temple.  

The noise makers on the bus, errr the youth, they have  5 hours to kill before their Baptisms at 1:00pm
Chandler brought a soccer ball and all the Decons played soccer.  I think they watched a movie too in the room we had reserved at the Stake Center.  

Waiting to get into the Stake Center to change our clothes and head into the temple. 

Love this friend of mine.  She has definelty been a rock while living in Germany. 
And it all started because I was called to be her visiting teacher.  Love you Sarah Kinsmon.

My peeps!

Kayden and Les,  Oh these two can be trouble!

My love and I serving in the House of the Lord.

Look at this view

All the flowers were beautiful.

Don't they all clean up nice?  The youth of the Kaiserslaughtern Ward
Ready to serve in the House of the Lord. 
What a beautiful group of youth we have.  

Wieliczka Salt Mines, Krakow, Poland

Day three continues with a Tour of the Wieliczka Salt Mines.
Our tour started with Eight hundred steps, aka 100 meters beneath the earth. Holy smokes we didn’t think we were ever going to stop going down the stairs. The kids and I were laughing all he way down, down, down. 
The mine has been working since the 13th century. Pretty impressive. It has survived floods, Nazi invasion, and communist Russia. The Mines were fully functional until the late 1900’s. Today the Mines only receive salt from the lakes inside. It’s primary purpose now is guiding approx 1 Million tourist per year. Holy smokes. It’s also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 
We were only allowed to see 1% of this massive 250Km Salt Mine. Only 1%!
We were able to see several corridors and go down three levels to the 315 meters underground. In these sections, we saw plastic men with hooded faces labour alongside horses, axes and carts as the scenes re-enact the work of miners from years before. They had horses that lived down in the Mines. We thought that was super crazy! We also got to see salt stalagmites and clusters of cauliflower (formation of salt on the walls, ceiling, wood walls etc. 
I think one of the coolest tricks our tour guide showed us was how the salt floors, walls were translucent when the light hit it. 
We also got to touch, peel the salt off and taste it. Chandler asked if he could lick the wall and the answer was yes. Chandler left his DNA in several corridors. Ha! Oh to be 12 again. 😂
The Salt Mines had three different chapels the first one we saw was St. Anthony’s Chapel Carved by Miners. It was pretty impressive. 
The biggest Chapel was St.Kinga the patron saint that watched over the miners This chapel is huge 23,000 cubic meter cavern. They have services at this location every Sunday for free. The chapel has three ginormous salt chandeliers made of purified clear salt. The carvings by three of the minors was something to look at. The detail in these Christian scenes were amazing. It took these men 40 years to complete the masterpiece. 
The third chapel is on the way out of the salt mine. (Our tour guide didn’t tell us the name of this church?)
The tour ends with a heart-stopping ride to the surface in a caged rocket. Aka lift that holds 9 people and it literally shoots you up to the top. (45 seconds) But it’s a cage and it’s rickety and makes lots of noise and you are stuffed in like sardines. Brooklyn thought she was going to die, it was the longest 45 sec of her life. 
When we got to the top we were able to do a little shopping and see a 5D movie all about salt. It was such a fun adventure. We are so glad we made it to the Wieliczka Salt Mines