Soyuz-30

On display at the Museum of Polish Military Technology (Sunday --> free) was the Soyuz-30 reentry capsule.  Best of all, you could walk right up to the capsule and check it out, look inside.

This was launched in June of 1978, was in space for almost 8 days, docked with a Russian space station and made 125 orbits.  Things capable of traveling in space always amaze me, it's a awesome structure.

 It also looks like after it reentered earth, they picked it up and moved it to this museum, it still seems to have all the burn marks from that event.

 You can see the heat shield on the bottom of the capsule, I'm guessing it was all orange when it was launched into space.

 The bottom of the capsule has some English, it says "MAN IN SIDE! HELP!"  I'm assuming they put this here just in case this thing came down in Iowa or somewhere outside it's planned landing area.  I wonder if todays Russian capsules still say this.

I kind of think, if needed you could bolt this capsule to a rocket and use it again.  It probably just needs a fresh coat of orange paint on the bottom.  All the parts and systems seem to be here.  The museum has other planes on display too...

This is a YAK-40, this plane use to be a polish VIP transport.  It's NATO nickname is Codling.

This is a Topolev Tu-2, NATO nickname is bat.

 The Tu-2 shows one design concept that makes landing a little easier, just make the floor under the pilot see-through.

 This is the An-26, it's NATO nickname is Curl.

You can actually enter the An-26, the flight deck is kind of busy.  But again, looking at this plane, I think it still works.

On display is a Mikoyan-Gurevich Mig-21, nickname Fishbed.... In the US you can purchase one of these planes on the civilian market, sometimes ebay.

Warsaw, Poland

I'm getting better and better at traveling around Europe, it's fairly easy to hop on a plane in Southern Italy and go to places that would be considered off the beaten path if you were traveling from the US.. Well, in most cases, if you were traveling from Chicago everywhere but Poland might be considered off the beaten path.  This past weekend I made my first trip to Warsaw, the capital of Poland and was really surprised how much fun it was to visit.  This city was mostly destroyed during World War II but shortly after the war Poland quickly started to rebuild everything.  This building was a gift from Joseph Stalin.

 Mass transit is amazing in Warsaw.  At the airport, you can get a 3-day pass that allows you to get on and off anything that is public transit (bus, tram, train, subway).   And as long as you are in the city, it seems like you are never from a bus or tram.

 All over Warsaw are memorials and records of what happen during WWII, the train car with crosses is called Pomnik Poleglych i Pomordowanych na Wschodize or monument of those killed in the east.

 Old town was also rebuilt after the war, but Poland was very careful to rebuild as close as possible to it's pre-war condition.  As a result this is one for the few reconstructed UNESCO sites in the world.

 Through out the old town is book stores, art galleries and restaurants.

 This is the central square of old town, it's amazing that these structures are about 50 years old.

 I'm standing in the spot where Eisenhower toured immediately after the war, he said he never saw destruction like he saw in Warsaw.  This area being a UNESCO site says a lot about the amount of effort made to restore this square.

 A Polish book store.  Something I noticed first in Japan, but it's amazing how many books exist that I'm not capable of reading.

 These kids were doing some sort of dance performance show in the castle square next to old town.  Bill Clinton also visited the square where these kids are dancing during a speech to welcome Poland into NATO.

 Bars and restaurants are super 'posh' in central Warsaw.  I stopped here for dinner.

 Pierogi's were good... you know, as good as in Chicago.

 Ryanair is a popular low cost carrier in Europe. They were nice enough to post maps all over Warsaw showing you places you can fly to from Warsaws smaller airport Modlin.  Right now I think Ryanair is the only airline serving daily flights from Modlin.

 This is the square outside Holy Cross church.

 Holy Cross church is special in that it is the resting place of Frederic Chopin's heart. I was going to tour the church but when I showed up here a mass was in session.  The mass was being delivered in Polish so I did not stick around very long.

 This is another church near Holy Cross.  This church is one of only  few structures that was not damage during WWII.

 Also through out the city are parks, both large and small.  This park is called Ogrod Saski.

 One thing nice about Warsaw is that they have a lot of foreign food and American chain restaurants. I was surprised to see that Pizza Hut is now serving salad and other non-pizza items.

One foreign food caution though, if you come from somewhere that has good Mexican food don't bother getting Mexican food in Warsaw.  Google reviews are mostly positive but I think people who made these reviews never been to a real Mexican town... Basically don't visit Warsaw because you are hoping to find good Mexican food.

 The machine to the left is an original, slightly modified printing press.  It was still being used to reproduce flyers that were made during WWII.  This exhibit was at the Warsaw Uprising Museum.

 My hotel seen from the Observation deck on the 30th floor of the building Stalin gifted to Poland.

 Inside that building is the Poland Science and Technology museum.  I decided to visit this museum since it was across the street from my Hotel and it was raining outside.  First exhibit inside the Technology museum was a Ford Model-T.  The sign explained everything possible about this car except for what it was doing in a Polish museum.

 The museum did have a great space exploration space with lots of reproductions of satellites and strong focus on US and Soviet partnerships.  

 This was my 3-day transit pass, I was really impressed that I did not lose it.

 Warsaw Chopin Airport had a bunch of nice looking airplanes being turned around at the terminal.

Sorry about so much discussion about WWII, but it's difficult to avoid when you visit cities like Poland.

Sagrada Familia

The Sagrada Familia is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, it is also a UNESCO site.  Construction started on this church in 1882 and it was not clear when construction will complete.  But I like this aspect of the church, what I saw during my visit will be different next time I have the opportunity to visit. When I showed up, the line to get in wrapped half way around the block on the north east side of the church.  The time waiting in line was just over 20 minutes, not as bad as it looked.  When I showed up it was also cloudy outside, but when I turned the corner and got closer to the ticket office the clouds cleared, it was nice.

 You pass through the ticket booth and enter the church from the north west facing wall of the structure, lets just call this face of the building the front.  As you enter the basilica, you pass by a series of statues that are themed on the Passion of Christ.

 The interior of the church is amazing, it's breathtaking when you first enter the basilica.  Most people are standing around looking up, but this is something you don't notice as you enter because you are looking up too.

 The interior of the church was more or less completed in 2010, this is also the year Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed it a basilica. Around the right side of the alter is a video of him blessing the alter, pouring oil all over it.

 Above the alter is a crucifix hanging from the arches above.

 You can pass through the interior of the church and pop out on the back side.  The back side is a naivety scene.  Turtle sculptures help to hold this side of the church up.

This is one of the more dramatic nativities scenes that I have seen, to the left (east) are the three wise men.

 Center is the nativity.

 Stepping back makes it easier to see the entire nativity and tree of life in the center.

 Another view of the ceiling.

 Officially the interior is complete, but I don't think it really is.  Many windows are just clear glass, I think the final plan is to install stain glass in all windows but I guess we will have to wait and see.

Returning to the front of the church, you can see more of the passion.

 I like this blocky style of statue.

 This was the pope on the day he visited the church.

 Another view of the back of the church looking up, you can see cranes working on the roof.

Ignoring the religious aspect of this building, whenever I see structures like this it reminds me how awesome engineering is.   The basic drawings for this building and concept to make it was developed back in the late 1800's but it's still a rational that those designs are still being used today to complete this building.