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Rock Salt Mine: Loulé, Portugal
The two hour tour of the Loulé Rock Salt Mine was more interesting than we could have imagined. Having visited the Tavira Salt Pans we were curious as to the difference. For one, the salt from the mine is not used for human consumption but is added to animal feed and provides the salt needed to melt snow. It was discovered in the 1950s by farmers who were trying to drill deeper for more water as there was a severe drought. What they found was a salt deposit that will last over 10 million years. Initially they mined with explosives. It was hard work and very dangerous. Now they have more sophisticated equipment. But, every piece of equipment has to be taken in the three person elevator that we descended into the mine and be reassembled below. The elevator shaft took three minutes to reach the bottom. The mine is also a healing retreat for people with lung and respiratory issues. They visit it for several hours each day for a week or two. The art shows are income generating, as the mine is not as productive as it used to be. Interestingly, people who work in the mine, including our guide, receive an extra year of retirement for every two worked. St. Barbara watches over all miners.
Florence, Italy
We had a beautiful and very interesting visit to Florence, Italy in January (non-tourist season but still very busy). The city is and of art! We stayed just steps away from Ponte Vecchio, the covered bridge on the Arno River in the heart of the city. In the other direction, we were near the Pitti Palace (the preferred residence of Eleonora de’ Medici), and its extensive art and multi-level gardens. It was amazing to casually walk by so many sculptures in the open plazas, like Neptune, and the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, on the way to see Michelangelo’s David and other sculptures in the Academy of Fine Arts Gallery. Every day was a good day for walks and a stop for lunch, including city views from the Michelangelo plaza, visits to the market for olive oil and truffle tasting, the Tuscany archeological museum, and an Anish Kapoor sculpture exhibit at the Palazzo Strozzi. And, of course, there’s always a chance to have a glass of wine from the ancient wall portals linked to shops inside where you could access one while lingering in the street.
Falkirk, Scotland
Destination Falkirk, Scotland. From Portugal, we flew to Brussels, then took the train to Paris. From Paris, we traveled by car to Calais to clear our pooch, Dorjay, thru UK customs and enter the Chunnel to reach Folkestone, England. From there by train thru London King’s Cross Station to Edinburgh, and on to Falkirk where we had an AirBnB. We walked daily about town but also routinely along paths and canals to several attractions near us: the Callendar House and Park (where some scenes in Outlander were filmed), the Kelpies, and the Falkirk Wheel. The Kelpies are an amazing sight: Originally, the Kelpies had been intended to be functional as well as aesthetic, operating a ‘displacement lock system’ to provide boat access to the canal from the River Carron and ultimately the Forth and the North Sea. One of the massive horse heads was to have rocked forward 5m (16ft) and the other was to have raised backwards by the same distance. The water displaced by this movement was supposed to fill a central lock to lift the boats into the Forth and Clyde canal. They now stand as monuments to the integral role of horses in Scotland’s industrialization and an homage to the mystical Scottish Kelpies, shape-changing water spirits. The Falkirk Wheel is a world-class technical marvel connecting two major waterways.
