What happens when you go paragliding on Saturday morning

6 am alarm clock rings, it's Saturday though. I get up to slowly get ready for the day. At 9 am we reach a field next to Birštonas. A huge wing of cloth is lying on the grass.
You guessed it right. Paragliding. Again. Only this time in a different location and with a different instructor. When the question who's going to fly first, arrives, my colleague is a gentleman - I receive a "ladies first" attitude, that makes me think, he is afraid of something. First to the sky! Why not?
Few seconds of running, we are pulled with a car, and the earth under the feet starts to disappear. It's not scary. Not yet. Objects below become smaller fast which makes me feel like a giant - trees, fields, roads, everything shrinks and stays below you. You cannot touch them though.
I know nothing about air streams and torrents, but the instructor starts to complain about the wind, that it suddenly has disappeared. This is important if you want to get higher. We definitely get higher than first time. It doesn't make me feel more afraid. If the instructor is not doing any turns and tricks, I can just enjoy the beautiful landscape of Nemunas river loops. But it's definitely very high - I cannot see everything clearly, the horizon becomes a little bit foggy. If we get higher, the height metering device starts to beep.
The instructor asks to wave for the go pro camera he's holding on a stick. After posing, he fixes it somewhere at the side and asks me not to close my eyes no matter what. I'll try, I think in my head. I know the turns and swings are coming next. Can somebody be afraid of something and like it at the same time? This is definitely the case. I am that somebody, and these turns and swings is that something I have double feelings for. Keeping your eyes open is important, if you don't want to get sick. Sure, facing earth without the need to turn my head is slightly frightening. I was not screaming, but I bet my face could tell the real feelings.
After these swings we lose some height and start to descend. I get handed over the camera with the selfie stick, so, I can turn it any way I want. When I ask the instructor whether it's possible to overcome the fear of height, he assures me, that - 1 hour of flight and it's gone. Of course, if you do not get sick.
We are already at the tops of the trees, few more seconds, but I do not hear the instructions to run we we are really close to the earth. I ask about that, and he says - no need, as we land in the field. Apparently, he is one of the most experienced paragliding instructors in Lithuania, with "only" over 4000 hours of flight. It's like spending half a year in the air!
10 am, and both me and my co-worker have completed our flights. No, the day is not over, it has just started! But we have plenty of time to explore the little town of Birštonas. It's an old health resort with sanatorium, longest river in Lithuania and central park full of tall pines. These trees make you feel like you are the seaside. There is a beach at the river, so we go for a tanning session(which I never do!). I do not believe I can fix my tan marks I get this year from a bike trip, but if I won't try, I definitely won't. The only problem is that even it's morning, it's damn hot outside. So, hot, that normal people stay at home - and they do - there a very few of those outside. The water is no good for swimming - it's warm, but not very clean.
Getting hungry and feeling bored sets us out to exploring the park nearby. It feels like a forest, but has lot's of paths for biking, walking, sculptures, training grounds, skate park, mini-golf field - lot's of possibilities to pass your time there, hidden in the shade. And in the shade the heat is not so unbearable!

That's the cutest sculpture I've ever seen. It's called Kitty and can be found in Birštonas Central Park. Looks like characters from some fairy tale or animation.

Other surprisingly pleasant place you can find in this park is hard to describe. It's not big, it's shaped in circle, it's made of branches, wood and it has a water constantly dripping from it. There is a little fountain in the center of it as well, and a dark cool corridor. Picture is worth a thousand words, so, here it is.

If you manage to end up there alone, when there is no strangers around there, besides the cool mist, you'll also get a pleasant sound of water drops dripping and splashing on a wooden surface. I don't know how it's called, but I would call it "Water Oasis".

Another good place to hide on such a hot day, is Birštonas Art and Culture Center - and you get to look at the pictures there as well. Or just to eat at the local cafeteria. But stepping outside of any cool place into the heat again - is so hard, so demoralizing, that we have to grab some ice-cream.

2 pm and we are the meeting point where other 15 co-workers of mine agreed to meet before the rowing regatta. 1 boat - 16 men, and 3 more other teams will try to sweat out their way into the victory. And there is only me and a wife and a 2 year old son of another co-worker, who will try to cheer for them. I should say, the boats they are sailing with are pretty impressive: a head of adder is decorating one end, 14 men are rowing, the drummer beats the drum and the steersman is responsible for the direction.

Viking boats decorated with a head of adder

Being dressed in company's t-shirts and red caps, as well as good team work helped them to win the first place in a one hour long competition. I can only be proud to work with such strong IT specialists.
And the day was not over yet - more smaller competitions took place: a rowing competition with concept machine, rope pulling and grass- skiing. In the last two, I joined the team for a small, but funny workout.

The tip of the grass skis, nine more skiers to go - behind the first one.

What can I say - staying outside, even on such a hot day - it paid off. With so much different and fun, and extreme experiences, air filled with pine smell, and a beautiful sunset when going back home.