Trying, but failing, to fly
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Saturday, 30th October 2010
Posted by Judith on 31 Oct 2010 | Tagged as: Party, party, party..., Trying, but failing, to fly
It was a gloomy morning and we decided not to bother going flying, as it would be an action packed day and adding flying to all the other stuff we had to do would just make it a bit stressful. I went shopping (it’s a holiday weekend and all the shops are closed Sunday and Monday), and as I got to Olot, the sky started to clear. Having not flown yesterday, we thought we could fit a quick flutter in, so headed out to Santa Brigida. The wind in the villages on the way was mostly north (with a southerly forecast that’s not that usual), but as we got to Amer, we could see someone flying and getting good height. However, as we got to the foot of the hill we could see how far off to the west the wind was. He decided to come in to land and we had a chat. It had moved more and more west as he was in the air and he decided to come down. We considered it for a while and if we hadn’t had an appointment at the airport, we would have waited it out, but as it was we decided to go back home, dump our gliders, do some more work and then go to pick Wayne up.
I had it in my head that he was coming at 4.30pm. Turns out his flight arrived at 3pm, so I had a lot of grovelling to do to explain why we were two hours late. We went straight to the fiesta de St Narcis in Girona. The Saturday of the fiesta is one of my favourite nights of the year. We started the evening at the fair, first going on the Ala Delta (hang glider) ride, which was a mini-rollercoaster. It was just like the real thing (not!). Then we discovered a new ride that hasn’t been at the Girona fair before. It’s a chair-o-plane (the carousel with the swings on chains) that slowly went higher and higher. You got the sensation of the big wheel with the excitement of swinging round all at about 75m high. I don’t mind heights, but have to admit, I started pushing myself back in the seat. It all seemed a bit flimsy when we got high, and it was windy up there too. I would have been happier in my paragliding harness!
Next was a look round the other rides and food and then off to see the castellers (human towers). This year it was Salt v. Terassa, both in blue shirts. The first tower was a six level tower, with another one inside, which they left standing while they dismantled the outside one. I love watching castellers. It’s a show of bravery, organisation, co-operation and community spirit. To be able to build the towers you need people of all ages and strength. All have to trust each other and work as a huge team. The competitors all join in and support the base of the opposing team’s tower, assisting them to make it a success. I’m sure it’s excellent for community building, although somehow I can’t see it being adopted in the UK as part of the Big Society. The fourth tower the Terassa guys built collapsed as they got to the sixth level and the tiny child that goes up last had just got to the top. The collective gasp from the crowd is huge and it’s horrible to see the mess of arms and legs and seeing people carried out of the melee. Luckily nobody seemed badly injured, although a number had ice packs on necks, eyes and arms.
Next was the highlight of the evening… correfoc! In the UK hoodies are nearly illegal, but here they’re positively encouraged; so suitably kitted up with hats, hoodies and old jeans we plunged ourselves head first at the fire-wielding devils who swirl fireworks at head height and who chase you with fireworks, trying to make you jump and skip, so you don’t burn your shoes. It’s mayhem! This year they had home-made flame throwers which they fired over people’s heads at intervals.
At one point we got separated and by the time we had negotiated the crowd to get back together we were at the back with the more reluctant spectators. Getting forward was impossible for a while – we got into one of the narrowest streets in Girona and had to wait until the bottleneck cleared before we could progress to the grand finale. That’s when more of the craziness takes place, with devils wearing helmets with fire works attached and fire seeming to spray out of their heads. Globes of fireworks had been attached to zip lines and they flew over the crowd, showering us from above. Brilliant.
Halfway through the correfoc my SD card suffered a meltdown, so I have lost all my photos from yesterday evening, and I’m gutted. [Edit: Geoff, the techie genius, managed to find some recovery software and I have some of the photos back – unfortunately not the best ones from the fair.]
See Wayne’s video of the correfoc.
Sunday, 17th October 2010
Posted by Judith on 18 Oct 2010 | Tagged as: Holiday, Trying, but failing, to fly
We woke up to sunshine! The daily mist cycle in Ager was finally broken… by strong winds. The forecast said NW winds, but with strong sunshine it can come on, so we had breakfast and then headed up the hill. The N wind was much lighter than we anticipated, but it was really cold, so we sat in the car a while and then headed to the lower launch, where it was more on, but with the N wind still clearly in evidence, we didn’t think it was safe to fly. Hunger drove us back down to camping, where we played meccano, putting Nicky’s new tilting bike rack together. By 3pm we figured that if it wasn’t on now, it never would be, so we drove back up the hill, but it was still N. We checked out the N launch over the back of the hill, but it was too strong for comfort, so we gave up and said our goodbyes to Nicky and headed off home via a bit of sightseeing.
Although I have driven through Balaguer many, many times, I have never stopped to see the old town walls. Geoff has and said it was worth it. I don’t think much of the new town with endless apartment blocks, but the main square is lovely. From there we walked up the hill and to the entrance of the stepped walkway along the town walls, but it was locked. Fairly typically for round here, all the things tourists (or locals) might want to see are closed when people are actually free to see them. So you can’t see any thing during siesta times and the walls close at 2pm on a Sunday in winter. Arrgghh! We did wander around trying to find a nice place for a picnic and noticed one of the gates onto the walls hadn’t been locked, so we sneaked in for a short walk round.
Next stop Montfalco Murallat, a little medieval walled village that we haven’t been to for many years. Like Weston-super-Mare, it’s still not quite finished.
Friday, 15th October 2010
Posted by Geoff on 16 Oct 2010 | Tagged as: Trying, but failing, to fly, Work
Geoff writes: as we set off for Ager, it was cloudy, but breaking up – and the forecast was still excellent. As we drove towards Vic, it got cloudier and stayed that way for a long time. But then started to clear, it looked like it would be a good day. Then, about 30km from Ager, it got cloudy again. At Ager you couldn’t see the ridge. And it stayed that way for most of the day. I sat in the bar at the camping, and worked. The sun eventually came out about 5.30pm. We went up, and the wind was over the back. And that was that. Went out for a meal with Nicky, drank too much wine, went to bed. An incredibly disappointing day (Nicky asked me to point out the disappointment was with the weather, not the meal with her ….).
Wednesday, 6th October 2010
Posted by Judith on 06 Oct 2010 | Tagged as: Beach, Trying, but failing, to fly
So today we were going for our first flight back in Spain. The forecast, well Meteocat, said it would be fine, but Oriol didn’t think it would be much of a day and decided to go kite surfing. Bellmunt would have been the best bet, but we had no mates to share rides with, so we came up with an alternative plan, which was go to Santa Brigida and if it wasn’t any good, carry on to the coast.
When we arrived at Santa Brigida, the wind was way off and it was far too windy to fly. The two places on the coast we had identified as possible where Tossa de Mar or Calella de Parafugel and the former was closer, so if it did become flyable, we could drive back and have an evening flight.
As we got closer to the coast, it go hotter and one thermometer in a pharmacy showed 30C. On the beach it was packed, mostly with German teenagers on school trips. We made the cardinal error of putting our towels near a group of rather attractive young girls. As the afternoon progressed we were crowded out by randy young males who did their best to impress the chicks. Geoff was lucky – he didn’t understand a word, so could read, while I was driven to distraction by their inane drivel.
We both went snorkeling a few times and although I usually think that sandy beaches are not great for seeing fish, there are enough rocks around for plenty of shoals. The tourist boats that come right onto the shore sometimes make the water a bit murky with their emissions, but otherwise it was really good for seeing fish. Once the kids stared kicking each other with sand to attract each other’s attention we had enough and packed up and went for a walk up into the old town. Tossa is the only still intact walled town on the Catalan coast and it’s really lovely. It’s not trashed and although we don’t go often we always like it when we do. We even discovered a Roman villa, which is well preserved (by Roman ruin standards!).
Saturday, 2nd October 2010
Posted by Geoff on 02 Oct 2010 | Tagged as: Trying, but failing, to fly
Geoff writes: hot, sunny – and windy. We spent the morning cleaning and unpacking, setting up our new (and cheaper) ISP, and at lunchtime rushed out to go flying, without really looking at the forecast. On reaching Olot, we realised that the mountains close by had the duvet effect – the clouds rolling over the tops – which is guaranteed to mean it’s too windy. So we gave up, and came back home to continue the cleaning and unpacking. Not the most exciting first day in Spain…..
Friday, 17th September 2010
Posted by Geoff on 18 Sep 2010 | Tagged as: Trying, but failing, to fly, Work
With a synoptic like this, you’d think it would be flyable, but no… it was too windy again! We had meetings in the morning and were already getting calls asking if it was flyable on the Long Mynd, but it was clear from early on that it wasn’t. By lunchtime the sky was looking very good indeed, so Geoff packed the hang glider and we were about to head up the hill when Martin phoned to say that it was flyable for paragliders. We raced up, but when we got there it had started gusting again and we wrote it off. The rather large area (many square miles) of rain in the distance, as well as the cold, was putting Geoff off getting the hangie out, so we all went for cream tea in Stretton instead. You can’t beat the easy option!
We tried again on the way home, but it had picked up even more and Geoff doesn’t like gale hanging on the HG either, so we canned it and went home to have a bonfire instead.
Thursday, 16th September 2010
Posted by Judith on 16 Sep 2010 | Tagged as: Archery, Trying, but failing, to fly, Work
More work, more bad weather. By the afternoon the weather had improved and hang gliders started to fly on the Long Mynd. We decided to head up there, taking all the toys with us so we had some flexibility. Once on the hill, we could see big showers around, so we didn’t even stop, but headed on down to the archery field in Stretton. As soon as we arrived the heavens opened and we had to shelter in the club house.
The archery session was good, but Geoff’s hang glider has to stay out for the night to dry off.