Ernie was telling me that he felt like we'd accomplished our goals in Romania and thought we should move on to the next country. He DID also mention to me that he didn't want to have to learn an entire new language. So we decided our destination should be: Moldova!
Ern did say on our way out of the country that he's had a lifelong dream to visit a Romanian salt mine. Who am I to say no?
Slănic Salt Mine had an impressive run, being mined from 1688 to 1970. Wikipedia: "One area is sectioned off and is used for medical patients with lung cancer to come and rest in. The main elevator shaft is unique in that it has no metallic parts due to rust. After an elevator accident in 2014, minivans are used to spiral visitors up and down."
Mines are funny to me in that they challenge the owner to figure out what to do with the insane amount of space.
There were some strange carvings now and then. Some of them even seemed to be advertisements.
If you're having trouble visualizing what two guys pushing a cart of rocks around might look like, you're in luck.
For the aspiring Romanian salt mine connoisseur there was an area that showed highlights of all the other locations.
Ern if you stick with me I'll buy you all the salt you'll ever want.
I think the situation was that the taxis didn't take credit cards and we couldn't get our ATM cards to work. I made the drastic step of exchanging paper dollars for Moldovan Lei at the Chișinău, Moldova airport. I haven't had to do this in what feels like a very very long time.
