Concert in a Coal Mine

Workin' in a coal mine, goin' down, down, down..... Okay we weren't exactly working in a coal mine but this was a big day for me. I was in the bathroom putting on makeup when Aneta ripped open the door and announced "there are tickets!"

"Huh?"

"To the concert in the coal mine. We must jump right now and go for them. I called to see because the lady said maybe someone would cancel them. They have seven tickets!"

Quickly recovering I remembered that earlier in the week she had tried in vain to score tickets for a concert to see Dagadana, a Polish Jazz and Folk group playing at Guido's in the bottom of an old coal mine in Zabrze, a nearby city of 200 000 people.

"That's great!" I enthused, while wondering, if I'd in fact, lost my mind. Most concerts are so loud I can't enjoy the music and to think about tormenting myself, while sitting in a hole in the ground and freezing my backside off really had me worried.

Aneta and I made a hurried trip to Zabrze (Zzob-zza)and purchased three tickets, having first, at my suggestion, called friend Ania to see if she would like to join us since she missed out on the movie last night. We returned home and Aneta let me off and went to her in-laws to play with doughter Ania for the remainder of the afternoon.

Fot: Ania, Linda, Aneta in the Guido Coal Mine

At 5:30 pm we went to pick up friend Ania and head out to the concert. Now, I had been warned that "it will be cold down there - 14" (degrees centigrade). I looked it up on the Internet and found that it would be 56.6 degrees Farenheit. That still seemed a bit cool to spend two hours sitting at a concert so I dressed, as Aneta says, like an onion. I had on a crew neck cotton shirt, a v necked cotton sweater and a deeper v necked heavy cardigan, over which I wore my quilted car coat, an Angora fur hat and warmly lined leather gloves. I also packed a lap robe type blanket for the event. I looked sort of like the muffin man but I was warm.

We arrived at the venue at 6:30 pm and were issued hard hats for the trip down into the mine. There were two lifts taking people down the mine shaft 8 at a time to each of three cages per lft. Once we arrived at the bottom of our 1,050 ft descent (320 meters) and exited the cage we had a long walk down old tunnels into the mine where there was reported to be a "theater". Trust me, theater is loosely used in this instance. After walking along narrow gage coal car rails for a considerable distance we were funneled into a small holding area full of very large boiler equipment and a well stocked wet bar for those who needed a drink to get through the evening. It was very warm in this holding room and I was soon shedding layers of my onion. At 7 PM we were herded like cattle through a narrow tunnel that opened into the "theater", a long narrow room with a half balcony along one side that seated four people across from the back of the room to the front and two lower tiers of wooden benches on the main foor. Aneta found us good seats on a narrow bench in the front row of the seond tier so we would be able to see even if people in front of us stood. That never happened. Concert goers in Poland are a very mellow bunch who take their seats, stay put and are well behaved. What a novel concept.

Once everyone was seated three musicians arrived at the front of the room and took seats in front of, or next to, their instruments. There were two female vocalists and a male stand-up bass player, who also played electric bass. The lights came up on the staging area and the music began. It was mellow jazz and quite lovely. It moved into some more rousing Polish folk music as the evening progressed and ended with some audience participation using a variety of toy noisemakers and whistles that had been strategically placed throughout the venue. All in all it was a most pleasant concert with three very talented musicians. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and only got chilled during the last half hour, at which time I unfolded my lap robe and wrapped my legs to ward off the chill.

When the concert ended we exited as we had entered and stopped by the cloke room to collect our hard hats for the return trip to the top. Getting 300 people out of a coal mine 24 at a time takes a bit of time and patience. On the trip back to the top we were in the top cage of the three cages and water dripped on my hard hat constantly as we made our ascent. What a trip. Now, aren't I a brave old girl to enthusiastically embrace such an adventure?

We dropped Ania at her home and rushed home so Aneta could put her Ania to bed as she had been with her grandparents for the better part of two days by now and had let everyone know she was done with that.

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Linda