4.8.2013 Sunday – resting day

This was a resting day, and I had a plan that I would write about what I learnt on our visit to Demon (the club in Leszno). But then I realized, that even this is my personal blog about happenings in JWGC there are some things which I just can’t write because this blog IS a part of the JWGC website. I try to avoid “collisions” between teams, countries and organization.

Let me just say that if I like to start my blog with phrase “Here we go”, there usually comes point in competitions that I want to use the phrase “ok, it’s that time again”. Meaning that we have been at the airfield for two weeks now, and it starts to show. If you take 80 pilots with their crew, team captains, organization, local people and parents and try to keep them in small area mostly gridding but not necessarily flying but waiting several hours instead for weather to improve in really hot weather, it really affects on people.

There haven’t been that many bad days, when it would be obvious already in the morning that it won’t be a flying day. The waiting part is actually quite hard. It’s much easier when the day goes fast with schedule like: preparations, breakfast, briefing, towings, finishes, dinner and finally to bed. Luckily we have had those days as well.

So I noticed that people aren’t anymore as polite as they were in the beginning of the competition, and things come out from their mouth much easier than in the beginning. Also for some people it is impossible to like everybody here. That is what I mean by saying “it’s that time again”, as we are in that point now.

Sunday anyway was resting day for everybody. After having 2 hours of sleep I woke up at 7 and noticed that strong thunderstorm was finally over the airfield. I followed the show for awhile and fell back at sleep, remembering that they’re only taking photos for the Google Earth.

Shopping and Aquapark

I spent the resting day with Danish team, first in shopping centre Galeria Leszno, where we had lunch and after that went swimming to Akwawit aquapark. There were three water slides, couple of pools for kids, two Jacuzzi and one 25 m pool with swimming tracks. So we were mostly using the waterslides. I was brave enough to use the dark slide as well and I think it was the best one.

But the aquapark system was quite weird to us – for the Scandinavians I mean. First you pay 15 (?) zloty, and then you get a key and a magnetic card. With the card you can go through the gate. Locker rooms are separate for men and women. Until this far the system is quite normal. Then you find a locker and change into your swimming suit. You can either change it standing with everybody else, which is normal in Scandinavia. But at least in the ladies locker room were also separate changing booths, where you can change the clothes behind a curtain. Anyway it is good to put the swimming suit on in the locker room, as the showers are both for men and women. So we were quite confused as we are accustomed to wash ourselves before going to public swimming pool, washing yourself is quite difficult when you have a swimming suit on.

After you have had shower, the pools are quite normal. There is also a sauna, but it’s downstairs at the wellness & spa area, and you need your magnetic card to get there. So after swimming, back to the locker, get the key, go downstairs and through the gate and give your card to reception lady. If you’ve been in wellness & spa centers, you know what kind of place that was. I won’t explain it. Anyway, there was steam sauna (no steam, quite cold actually) and Finnish sauna (hot and dry, as there wasn’t water which you could throw on stones) and small cool pool with water like 10 degrees or so.

When you have been in sauna and want to go swimming, ask your magnetic card back and go through gate and climb upstairs. Of course first you have to take the card back to the locker, as you don’t want to lose it.

The Jacuzzi was quite normal, but the water in it was suspiciously yellow, if you know what I mean. Also they seem to trust in chlorine, as our eyes and skin was reacting on that. After soaking in the pools, it would be good to have a shower, but you have to do it with your swimming suit on. After putting your normal clothes on, you will go through other gate than which you used to get in, give your magnetic card and key to the lady and she might ask more money from you. I spent less time in the sauna(!) and paid 9,50 more. Jens and Christian paid a bit more than 7 zloty each and Nicolai, Anne and Kristian paid 6,80. Perhaps one day I will learn why I paid more than they did.

Ahh, I almost forgot that Belgian team came there as well, they had tried to go to the lake, but it was closed and swimming was forbidden. If I understood it right, there was found some kind of disease (illness), I hope it wasn’t actually deceased (dead body), as those sound quite similar to me 

We had dinner at the market place in Leszno, and I have to go there once more before I leave, as the steaks are just amazing. This was very nice resting day, and we should be ready for tomorrow.