29 Set Bassano from above
Just 15 minutes from Bassano you reach Borso del Grappa and a popular area for paragliders. Mathilda from the hostel chose to try a tandem flight.
To start with, I’m afraid of hights. Very afraid. Four steps on a ladder and I start to shake. Anyway I decided to try paragliding. I felt it so strong, maybe I wouldn’t enjoy it, but I had to do it.
My friend was late and I had too much time for getting even more nervous and thinking “what if…”. Speaking with friends didn’t really help, nobody understood my choice. In the car I was pretty tensed, the “Are you ok”- question was asked even more often the closer we got.
Then the car was slowing down and we’d arrive. I was watching out over the clear blue sky filled with paragliders. No wind. No clouds. We chose the perfect day. In five minutes I was supposed to be among them. What was I doing?
The pilot got 20 years of experience and although I felt more than safe with him I couldn’t help that my body felt cold and heavy as a stone, my shoulders were close up to my ears and I couldn’t say much more than “yes”. But anyway I continued to say yes, I didn’t want to go back down in another way than in the air.
The paraglide was ready, I got all security on me. “Ready? Run!” I stopped to feel the ground under my feet and was looking out over the houses and trees below. Was I really flying? It was a strange feeling of being so light, but what was holding us? Could I be sure that we wouldn’t fall? The pilot asked me for the 8th time to relax, “You know that you can relax in your hands”. My hands we’re holding in the handles hard. I looked at him: relaxed and smiling. It seemed so easy. After a while I tried too do the same, released the handles and slowly let the hands out in the air, not without being afraid, I was shaky byt happy. And I heard the pilot behind me: “Now I can see that you are more relaxed, it just took 12 minutes…”
We landed slowly and safe, I couldn’t stop smiling. I could only think of one thing: I did it. And I want to do it again.
No Comments