SteemFest Closing Dinner | The Wieliczka Salt Mine - Photography Adventure

On our final day of SteemFest we boarded a few buses and headed to The Wieliczka Salt Mine right outside of Kraków. While we all knew we were heading to a salt mine and would have closing dinner there.. I’m not sure any of us quite understood what @roelandp had in store for us.

We made our way into a small tunnel which lead to a never ending circular staircase that took us down to the depths below. There were many jokes along the way.. but eventually we found ourselves in the mine and the very informative tour began. Which told of legends and the royals that had been involved. Including an engagement ring that had been thrown into a salt mine.. which is said to be found in the first salt lump mined in The Wieliczka Salt Mine.

While I had expected something similar to a cave, which I have had the opportunity to explore a few in my life...this place really surprised me. There was a beautiful sense of elegance throughout.. you see, it’s actually a castle within the mine.. and even the crystals from the many chandeliers are made of salt. Every surface has a look of unpolished granite and there are beautiful details everywhere.

Just when you thought you had seen all the details, we were lead down a grand salt staircase into a breathtakingly beautiful room that made me ask @gtg if we had finally arrived at middle earth. This place was such a pleasant surprise and I’m so thankful to be able to experience it.

There were many amazing photographers our this same tour, and I’m sure they captured this experience beautifully, so make sure you go check out their posts about this stunning place!

I found myself focusing a bit more on random, small details. Which for anyone who has been following my photography for any amount of time, that really shouldn’t surprise you.. I tend to focus on abstract.. unseen beauty.. you know the stuff we don’t really tend to notice in our day to day.

I’m the one focusing on the leaf on the ground while others are enjoying the sunset.

So, here is a collection of some of my favorite shots on the tour itself...

This place was a beautiful adventure and I’ll cherish it always...

Much Love and Steem On,

Justine

_{All photos are my own and taken with my fuji x-t2}