Tarnowski Gory

Dave and I got to travel to southern Poland this weekend for a festival in Tarnowski Gory. Our hosts were very welcoming. We got to meet the mayor, and we spent most of the weekend with a Czech delegation that was also in town for the festival. We all stayed in the Palace w Rybnej. If you go to the Palace's website and click on "oferta" the pictures on the page are of the suite Dave and I were staying in. Here's a picture of the palace:Local legend says the town was founded in 1490 when a farmer found a piece of galina in a field. It was primarily a mining town for lead and silver until the mines were shut down in the early 20th century. There are hundres of kilometers of tunnels underground. The mine was brought up to safety codes and reopened to tourists in the 60's. We got to take a great tour. The ceilings were very low, so hardhats were a must:
The miners frequently hit water while mining. To deal with the water problem, they created permanent water ways, and used narrow boats to travel the tunnersl. Here's a picture of our group riding in the boats:On Sunday we were invited to the towns mining festival. The big event is a parade. We had great seats. Here are a few of our pictures, but you can also see more pictures at the city's website.The last event we saw was a Polish sword demonstration, which included a guy in full traditional garb.