Every year in August, Piers drags me to the beach to watch fancy airplanes zip back and forth in the sky.

 

 

The Bournemouth Air Festival is the same every year. Same planes, same air performances, same crowd (and by crowd I mean omg CROWD).

 

 

There are other attractions such as military and vehicular exhibits, stage and street performances and fireworks, but I’m not really big on those things either.

I’ve gone to this event three years running now, Piers probably a lot more since he’s lived in Bournemouth all his life. And, still, he keeps going back.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that. At least, I have to admire his dedication. It’s just that planes do not particularly interest me, so I don’t really need to watch the same thing over and over again.

 

 

“But honey!” said Piers, “The Eurofighter Typhoon is flying this year. We HAVE to see it!”

“Why do we HAVE to see it?”

“Because it’s LOUD and it’s FAST!”

Right, of course. A perfectly sound reason why we HAVE to see it.

Wait a minute.

“All planes ARE loud and fast, you nuthead!”

“Not as loud and fast as the Eurofighter!!!”

Yeah, yeah.

Never mind we’d already seen it two years ago at the very same place at the very same show, and it does nothing but fly back and forth, up and down.

 

 

I was more interested in this little boy flying his own Typhoon while the real Typhoon flew in the sky.

 

 

He was very cute doing it!

Well, I do enjoy watching the Red Arrows because they have fancy formations and colourful smoke, so I don’t mind so much going all the way to the beach to see them. Still, it’s kind of the same every year and I’m not sure I want to watch them every single year for the rest of my life, which increasingly seems to be my fate.

 

 

 

We saw the Red Arrows last year, too . This photo was taken last year:

 

 

And the year before.

I took these photos from my window at home:

 

 

 

We can actually watch the air show from our flat (although with limited visibility). So there is really no reason to go to the beach to watch it every year, is there?

The air show is on four days a year, with a different lineup of planes each day, so we have to make a few different trips to the beach to see the specific planes that Piers wants to see.

 

 

Silly Piers.

Actually, many people make a day of it at the beach with their beach umbrellas, chairs, towels, tents and windscreens.

It’s nuts but it looks very fun. Get a few windscreens together and you can partition off a private little enclosure for yourself and your friends. Have an all-day picnic or barbeque. Bake in the sun.

I can totally understand the draw.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, that sort of thing is not my past-time of choice because I don’t like to burn. Which IS unfortunate because I miss out on a lot of fun, but which is also very sensible because I’m protecting my skin.

Which explains the silly hat I was wearing.

 

 

And this is me all prepared for my Mallorca holiday:

 

 

These are absolutely the best sunscreen ever because they are non-greasy and non-sticky, easy to apply and don’t smell disgusting. In fact, they have a very mild and pleasant fragrance.

The only problem is that I have to buy them online and they are quite expensive.

But I’m digressing. Mostly because I’m done talking about the Bournemouth Air Festival, (which IS a very good event, to be objective about it). So I think I shall end with a small anecdote.

Heard at the festival, the host interviewing some random people at the beach:

Host: You guys come to the festival every year?

Guy: Yes, we love the Red Arrows.

Host: Which plane are you looking forward to seeing this year?

Badum tish!