On Sunday 18th September, Roy and I, along with two of our friends went to the airport in Sion to watch a heap of planes fly through the sky amongst the gigantic mountains surrounding us in the valley. The show started at 9am and since our friends live in Sion, we stayed the night at their place so we wouldn't have to catch the train early in the morning to get there for the show (we still didn't have our car then - it was at the garage getting fixed after being in an accident). We packed our bags ready to go to our friends place on the Saturday and since we're still not fully adjusted to Swiss weather we packed what we thought would be appropriate based on the weather and temperatures in the days preceding the weekend - which by the way were fairly average and pretty warm.
On the drive down to Sion (in our friend's car) we started to get worried because the sky was a rather misty, grey colour with very little visibility of the mountains that usually dominate the sky and we were wondering how they could hold an air show in such conditions. The air show went for three days and was being held on the Saturday and even during the mist and cloud they were carrying on with the show. We hung out in our friend's apartment all afternoon and played games and every time we heard a plane 'whoosh' past we stopped what we were doing and ran out onto the balcony to have a look.
The next morning we woke early and got ready to go to the air show. Roy and I put on whatever warm clothes we had (which wasn't much) while one of our friends (a Swiss girl) put on two jumpers, a ski jacket, a hat, gloves and waterproof hiking boots. At the time I laughed and wondered why on earth she needed so many layers. Normally she doesn't cope too well with cold weather so I thought that she was just being over-cautious. Boy, was I wrong! She was the most comfortable out of us all. Stupid me decided that I would hang onto Summer for a little while and wore thongs. I also wore a small polar-fleece jumper and a poncho to keep myself dry, as it was raining on and off throughout the day. I felt fine walking to the show but once we got to the airport which obviously had no wind-breaks, I quickly realised what a big mistake I had made. My toes started to turn red and because we were standing still for long periods of time, my body started to try and keep itself warm by shivering. Eventually - after my lips were turning blue and my legs began to cramp up, I decided that I should try and find some shelter out of the rain and the bitterly cold wind. Unfortunately to be standing under shelter meant that I was also shielded from the views of the show that was happening in the sky above. I didn't care though, I needed to get warm.
At one stage during the show, the wind and rain got too much and the show stopped indefinitely. We huddled together to stay warm and contemplated walking back to our friend's apartment to continue playing games in the warmth. We tried asking some officials to see if the show had been cancelled for the rest of the day but no one could tell us whether it was. So we sat it out for a while hoping that the show would continue since we had paid to see it. After about an hour or so of "um-ing and ahh-ing" about whether we should stay or go, the planes returned to the sky and the clouds started to clear. Unfortunately it was still really cold but I had warmed up enough to go back out and watch the planes do their thing.
I'm really glad that we decided to stay because the show got even better in the afternoon. The big jets came out and the Swiss Airforce planes did some amazing formations. Here's a link to the air show website which has pictures and promotional videos of each exhibit.
While we were walking down the side of the runway - looking at the display of planes parked on the side, we discovered an Australian Navy plane. We couldn't resist the photo opportunity.
Our friend Chris took the photos from the day and unfortunately since the weather wasn't very good, there wasn't too many photo opportunities (rain and bitter cold wind = wet camera and frozen hands). Here's some of the photos that he took.
Despite the bitter, coldness and the threat of hypothermia, we had a great day. The entertainment value was great! It was so exciting to see such brave tumbles and turns in the sky and the powerful displays from the jets as they 'whooshed' past chalets on the side of the mountains. I think I have learnt a very valuable lesson too - always heed the advice from the wise Swiss girl in her bountiful layers of warm clothing and wear sensible shoes. Never trust your Aussie-girl instincts when it comes to European weather.
On the drive down to Sion (in our friend's car) we started to get worried because the sky was a rather misty, grey colour with very little visibility of the mountains that usually dominate the sky and we were wondering how they could hold an air show in such conditions. The air show went for three days and was being held on the Saturday and even during the mist and cloud they were carrying on with the show. We hung out in our friend's apartment all afternoon and played games and every time we heard a plane 'whoosh' past we stopped what we were doing and ran out onto the balcony to have a look.
The next morning we woke early and got ready to go to the air show. Roy and I put on whatever warm clothes we had (which wasn't much) while one of our friends (a Swiss girl) put on two jumpers, a ski jacket, a hat, gloves and waterproof hiking boots. At the time I laughed and wondered why on earth she needed so many layers. Normally she doesn't cope too well with cold weather so I thought that she was just being over-cautious. Boy, was I wrong! She was the most comfortable out of us all. Stupid me decided that I would hang onto Summer for a little while and wore thongs. I also wore a small polar-fleece jumper and a poncho to keep myself dry, as it was raining on and off throughout the day. I felt fine walking to the show but once we got to the airport which obviously had no wind-breaks, I quickly realised what a big mistake I had made. My toes started to turn red and because we were standing still for long periods of time, my body started to try and keep itself warm by shivering. Eventually - after my lips were turning blue and my legs began to cramp up, I decided that I should try and find some shelter out of the rain and the bitterly cold wind. Unfortunately to be standing under shelter meant that I was also shielded from the views of the show that was happening in the sky above. I didn't care though, I needed to get warm.
At one stage during the show, the wind and rain got too much and the show stopped indefinitely. We huddled together to stay warm and contemplated walking back to our friend's apartment to continue playing games in the warmth. We tried asking some officials to see if the show had been cancelled for the rest of the day but no one could tell us whether it was. So we sat it out for a while hoping that the show would continue since we had paid to see it. After about an hour or so of "um-ing and ahh-ing" about whether we should stay or go, the planes returned to the sky and the clouds started to clear. Unfortunately it was still really cold but I had warmed up enough to go back out and watch the planes do their thing.
I'm really glad that we decided to stay because the show got even better in the afternoon. The big jets came out and the Swiss Airforce planes did some amazing formations. Here's a link to the air show website which has pictures and promotional videos of each exhibit.
Our friend Chris took the photos from the day and unfortunately since the weather wasn't very good, there wasn't too many photo opportunities (rain and bitter cold wind = wet camera and frozen hands). Here's some of the photos that he took.
Despite the bitter, coldness and the threat of hypothermia, we had a great day. The entertainment value was great! It was so exciting to see such brave tumbles and turns in the sky and the powerful displays from the jets as they 'whooshed' past chalets on the side of the mountains. I think I have learnt a very valuable lesson too - always heed the advice from the wise Swiss girl in her bountiful layers of warm clothing and wear sensible shoes. Never trust your Aussie-girl instincts when it comes to European weather.
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