Our second day in Krakow started from a tour to the Polish Aviation museum.
The museum is located on the former grounds of the Rakowice-Czyżny airfield, one of the oldest military airfields in Europe. Formed at Czyżny in 1964, the museum preserves and exhibits aircraft, engines and other items of importance to the world’s aviation heritage. Read more about the history of the airfield here. The exhibition is extensive, and very interesting.
Below is the photo of a Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6, one of the most famous aircraft in aviation history. On the morning of 28th May 1944 Feldwebel Ernst Pleiners took off for a training flight in this aircraft. Right after the take-off the aircraft ditched in the nearby lake, and the pilot was killed. With the efforts of the “Polish Eagles” Foundation the wreckage was recovered in 2000, and restored.
Some of the aircraft were so precious, they were displayed in a special hangar. Halberstadt CL.II (below) from 1916 is one of those. Unfortunately the available information was only in Polish. What I understood was MTOW 1150 kg, engine Mercedes D.III.
One more of those – LFG Roland D.VI from 1918. MTOW 820 kg. Engine: Benz Bz IIIa, endurance about 2 hours.
The Ju-52/3m was a transport and passenger aicraft developed in early 1930s. A prototype first flew in April 1932 and it was the main type of transport aircraft operated by Luftwaffe. In Germany it quickly won the nickname “Tante Ju” (“Aunt Ju”). The displayed one was built by AAC (France) in 1946.
Swedish aircraft – fighter SAAB J35J Draken, and reconnaissance SAAB AJSF Viggen:
The museum also have a collection of model aircraft. Below is a model of a Messerschmitt Bf109E-4. The pilot is Gescgwaderkommodore JG 26 “Schlageter” Obstl. Adolf Galland (!):
There were so many interesting aircraft to see – we spent several hours walking around them. It was about time to have lunch, and together with Andreas and Sven we went for a traditional Polish one at Pierogarnia Krakowiacy:
I stayed in “Pokoje Goscinne Sun” in the historical center of Krakow.
The landlord told me the building was 120 years old. It was very charming, with many special details, like old solid wooden stairways (photo below left), stained windows, marble window frames, ceilings with crown moldings, etc. Photo below right was the view from my room. I found it very charming!
And these three photos show a detail of the entrance door. A practical window to check visitors before opening the door:
I live in the center of Copenhagen in a building of the same age, but I’ve never seen anything like that. It’s a pity when things of the past disappear without us noticing that…
In the afternoon we went for a walking tour in the Old Town.
Below photo is composed of two. Left side is Lena Maria posing under The Messy Head Hospital’ (which is a hairdressing salon!) sign. Right side is St. Mary’s Basilica.
For dinner Joakim (front left) negotiated a free glass of sparkling wine for all of us:
It was nice to enjoy a drink in a pleasant company, and to watch horse carriages to drive by.
Our dinner was good and very quick – we were going to a classical music concert in Dom Polonii.
Katarzyna Vernet, an exceptionally gifted Polish pianist, played Chopin’s piano works for us:
After the concert we went exploring Krakow by night. On the Rynek Glówny there were food stalls, music, lots of people enjoying a warm night out. On the photo below is a traditional fast food meal: a large peace of bread with a topping of your choice.
And these adorable deer were made of oscypek – traditional Polish smoked cheese.
There were food stalls with meat, sausages, and many other interesting things.
We bought grilled oscypek served with jam that tasted great:
Rynek Glówny by night:
Great day, full of many delightful experiences! Next day our group was going to stay in Krakow, and to visit Auschwitz museum and/or Wieliczka salt mine. Jan, Joakim, and I decided to temporarily leave the group, and to visit medieval town of Torun instead.
