Get update alerts
Locations
- .All Trips
- Art
- Car Culture
- Central America/Caribbean
- Food
- Food Tour
- Pic of the Week
- Sl;ovenia
.All Trips / Car Culture / Europe / Poland
Great Cars Along the Highway: Nysa Passenger Vans, Krakow
When we visited Poland I noticed a style of passenger van being used in the tourist trade with which I was not familiar.
A little research revealed that it’s a Polish made van, the ‘Nysa 522’, a symbol of the Communist era. It was manufactured in Nysa, Poland from 1958 – 1994. Nysa built it to be a multifunctional van and it was used for carrying cargo and passengers, less commonly as ambulances. Nysa vans were also commonly used by the Communist Militia.
The company did little to improve the van over the years, powering them with relatively gutless 2.2 or 2.5 l engines. When the Soviet Union collapsed and Democracy re-emerged in Poland, sales of better quality and more popular imported vehicles …
.All Trips / Europe / Poland
Signs of Krakow
I loved the days we spent in Krakow! The city was everything I expected — and more. Krakow and its people that have survived a lot of hardship over the years, most recently including Nazi and Soviet occupation. The country and its people are now free and thriving. And remarkably, Krakow has endured the ravages of war and occupation with its beautiful medieval core intact.
There’s a lot to see and do in the town, from historic Wawel Castle (and its
Cathedral), inviting Market Square, to beautiful churches and museums in the old town. It’s a city of advanced learning with a strong tradition of faith, from which Pope John Paul II advanced as leader of his church. The former Jewish quarter, …
.All Trips / Europe / Poland
Exploring Poland’s “Underground Salt Cathedral”, the Wieliczka Salt Mine
The Wieliczka Salt Mine is situated in southern Poland, in the town of Wieliczka. less than a half hour’s drive from Krakow. It’s a historic place with salt having be excavated here since prehistoric times and the mine itself opening in the 13th century, making it one of the world’s oldest salt mines. The mine produced table salt until 2007 when it closed (because of the low price of salt at the time and flooding of portions of the mine) and turned its attention to tourism. It’s become a popular tourist site with over a million visitors a year. More than 38 million visitors have seen the attractions in this mine since it opened to the public.
In 1978 the Wieliczka …
Tagged art, mine, Poland, salt, UNESCO World Heritage Site
