The Red Arrows at Radom

On a lighter note, the Red Arrows were the first display team on yesterday at Radom and this shot was taken as five of them descended to the right hand side of the crowd to make a pass with smoke gushing behind them. I always feel a swell of pride whenever I watch them at an airshow – not only because they are the best display team in the world, but because their base is at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire. I’ve grown up watching them practice above the skies of Lincoln to enthrall crowds worldwide. The 2005 team also kindly signed this photograph for me on the day my son was born. More photos here.

A final farewell

Today I attended the Radom Airshow which was supposed to have been the biggest military airshow in Poland. Sadly at around 1.30pm this afternoon an SU-27 took off in front of the crowds and after a short display, lost power and crashed into the ground at the rear of the airfield behind some trees, killing both pilots. The aircraft was on loan from the Belarusian Air Force and was one of the highlights of the show. No-one yet knows what happened, but I saw the aircraft go down and there was seemingly no attempt by either pilots to eject. The highly-trained and skilled pilots risk their lives every time they fly these multi-million dollar jets and when something goes wrong, the effects happen very quickly. At the last Radom Airshow in 2007, two pilots from Team Żelazny were killed when their aircraft collided in mid-air. May the pilots rest in peace.

Inside Warszawa Centralna

This is ‘Hala Głowna’ – the main hall of Warsaw’s central railway station. The long white board on the back wall details all the routes and times out of Warsaw. If you wish to make a booking, you have to find the right destination and choose a time and then relay it to the person in the ticket booth. Even in this modern age (according to the cashiers) their computers don’t list the times and dates when trains leave. Many people queue for a long time before being told they have to go and choose their time off the board or visit the information desk. This is a place that fosters customer frustration and communistic bureacracy!

Sunset from my balcony

Leaning out over the balcony tonight (we live on the 8th floor) I saw this view to the west. The tip of the sun can be seen over the apartment block as it slips away for the night. It could have been a better silhouette, but not bad for a chance photograph.

A pane in the glass!

I’ve covered cleaning high-rise buildings on my other blog, and the climbers were out again today on Złote Tarasy Shopping Center washing the 3,500 triangular panes of glass which make up the roof.  This shopping mall is in the very heart of Warsaw and requires almost full-time maintenance. Under this roof there are 200 shops, numerous restaurants and an 8-screen cinema. Poland’s first Hard Rock Cafe is also here.

Conkers!

‘Tis that time of year again when the Horse-Chestnut does bloom. ‘Conkers’ as we used to call them as kids are the seeds that can be found inside the prickly shells which (in days gone by) were used by school children in the playground to test the strength and size of each others conker. A hole would be made through the centre of the conker and a piece of string tied through it. The first person whose conker disintegrated when smashed against the other person’s would lose! Sadly this was banned sometime ago by English schools as it became quite a violent and overly-competitive playground sport. More heads were bashed than conkers!

Toruń – Riverside walk

Along the path which runs next to the River Wisła there are many nice views looking up towards the town walls. One of the most interesting is the murel which is painted across the flood wall and stretches the length of the path. It details sketches and quotes from a famous Polish comedy called “Rejs“ (The Cruise). As we walked, my wife kept reading the quotes to herself and quietly chuckling as memories of the film came back to her. A little strange if anybody was watching!

(back to Warsaw tomorrow!)

Toruń – feathered friends

Someone once told me when you’re looking around a city, don’t forget to look up as this is where you’ll see the most interesting views. In the city centre of Toruń, a lady was feeding the pigeons on her windowsill. Judging by how the birds fed from her hand, I guess she must do it everyday. I once saw a lady in Hyde Park in London do the same and I remember thinking how humanity and wildlife interact in cities and the pleasure that some people get from being so close to birds. It’s easy to forget that many people spend most of their lives indoors or surrounded by concrete and inanimate objects.

Toruń – The golden frog

In the city centre is a rather nice fountain surrounded by several golden frogs. Here is one of them ‘spewing’ water into the main basin of the fountain. The dark building in the background is where you can buy the world-famous ‘Toruńskie Pierniki’ – soft or hard gingerbread (stuffed with various jams and fillings). What filling and whether to get them chocolate covered or not is the big decision once you get inside!

Toruń – quality high street shopping

More travel photos from Poland now – this was a quick trip to Toruń last week which is somewhere I’d never been before. A very picturesque city with a large old town district, most of the major brand shops seem to be located on the maze of side streets which makes shopping much more interesting than in the monstrous out-of-town shopping malls we’re all used to now. The pizzas from Metropolis are also some of the best (and biggest) I’ve ever had!