Gone swimming...

Yesterday afternoon I braved the heat and walked to the nearby swimming pool, which is located at the Aerodrome de Cerdanya - the local airport for small aircraft. It is about 2.5 kilometres from the town of Alp and the walk takes you past some picturesque farmlands before you arrive at the remote airstrip.

The swimming pool is in front of the runway

Quite a bizarre place to have a swimming pool but who am I to question that. The pool is right in front of the landing strip so as you swim you have the constant entertainment of aircraft leaving or landing. There are no big jets. It is a small airport so private and recreational planes are the only activity there.

On the tarmac

There is a lot of gliding going on in these parts. Whenever you look up into the sky there is bound to be a glider circling silently in the air above. Gracefully and smoothly. It looks like fun. The airport is a hive of activity for gliders. I arrived and immediately was caught up with the gliders. I was busy watching the gliders being pulled (by vehicle) from the tarmac to the runway and then up and into the air (by light aircraft). Also equally interesting is watching them come back down to the ground, through the dark clouds. And it looked like a huge storm was on the way. You will see in the video clips.

Then the ominous clouds moved closer and hell broke loose. Tables, umbrellas, chairs at the outdoor restaurant were blown off the ground. One glider which had just landed - and was in a stationary position on the runway, was blown off into the grass. I was actively engaged with all the commotion before my eyes. This meant that I never got to swim. A mighty storm forced all the swimmers and sunbathers to seek refuge in the bar upstairs. There I sat - reading one of the two English language books I could find in the bookshelf – until the storm held up and I could risk walking back to town. An interesting swimming pool / airport. So much activity...