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.

See my photos of tonight.

See Wayne’s photos of tonight.

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