Blogs from Weinstadt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, Europe
November 14th 2010
Believe it or not. I spent TWO months in a row in Hamburg. And I had a great time. I might have mentioned it before , but the city is really a beauty. So much to see and do. And it was great to have my mum around for a couple of days, and to spend weekends with my friends Hetty and Christiane, whom I hadn’t seen for a long time because they are just as busy as I am. Let me introduce the city to you. As there is a lot of water, you can do different boat trips. There are two rivers, one of them is the Elbe, which is a large river that has only about 100 km to go from Hamburg until it joins the North Sea. As far as I know, ... read more
Mike Harker’s flight from Tegelberg
Published: June 7th 2010Europe » Germany » Baden-Württemberg » Weinstadt
June 7th 2010
As you might recall, Mike Harker flew from Tegelberg last month. He said it was going to be his last flight. He sent me two pictures, one that shows him when getting ready for launch, and one that shows him in the air with the Seedwings Space. There was a little documentary on that last flight on German TV, nice one. Have a look url=http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/hauptnavigation/startseite/#/beitrag/einzelsendung/1054186/SPORTreportage-vom-23-Maihere. Go to the bottom of the screen and click on "Sport Aus Aller Welt" and then in the time line to about half way. His flight flim is the last minute of the broadcast. There is also an interview with him and a report on his flight from Zugspitze in 1973 and his bad accident in 1977 url=http://www.br-online.de/bayerisches-fernsehen/suedwild/schwangau-aktuelle-sendung-20100518-ID1274206253452.xmlher... read more
October 24th 2009
Ever tried travelling on crutches? I did. It requires some logistics and is exhausting, but it works. And I was glad to get moving again. The first Saturday in September, I travelled to Bonn to see my friends Katrin, Simone, and Anke. I went by train, and as I needed my hands for my crutches, I took two backpacks for my luggage and carried one in my front and one in my back. My friends picked me up at the Bonn train station, and we had a great day together. The next day, which was a Sunday, I participated in a triathlon relay with the three girls and some of my former colleagues from the Bonn office. There were five teams of colleagues altogether. The triathlon consisted of 500m swimming, 20km cycling, and 5km running. Fortunately, ... read more
September 3rd 2009
On Thursday, my mum, my aunt Lore, and I left for Bayreuth, which is about 300 km from here, to attend the Bayreuth Festival. It is a very famous festival, where operas by the German composer Richard Wagner are played. We spent the night in a very nice hotel, and the next day, we were picked up at the hotel by a shuttle bus at three p.m. Wagner's operas are very long, that's why they usually start in the afternoon. We were to watch "Tristan und Isolde", which would take around four and a half hours. The festival house is situated in a beautiful park, and we walked around that park a bit while waiting for the opera to start. The festival house is very functional. Wagner himself made all the specifications he wanted for that ... read more
August 22nd 2009
I don't have much to tell you at the moment. Just wanted to let you know that I'm getting better and better. I'm still on crutches and will be for another week. Then, I'll have an appointment in my hospital again and see how well the leg healed. I was discharged from hospital four weeks ago. The leg was really sore and kept me awake for many nights during my first two weeks at home. Painkillers didn't help. But the last two weeks were okay. It is still sore, but a lot better now. I go to physiotherapy three times a week and to manual lymphatic drainage twice a week. The latter is really nice, it is supposed to reduce the swelling in the leg, and it is a very soft massage. I have to see ... read more
July 17th 2009
Last Friday, I picked up my friend Rebi in Ulm, and then we drove to Regina's place which is not far from Munich in a most beautiful area. We were looking forward to a true girls' weekend. Regina had cooked lunch for us, and after lunch, she showed us around the - as I said before - beautiful area. We hiked up the Blomberg, a mountain that she flies from quite often. The mountain is about 500 metres high, and we walked all the way up without making a break. I did pretty well, did not even have sore muscles after that and was really proud of myself. Regina showed us the two launches and explained what flying from that mountain is like. For the way downhill, we chose a summer bobsled track. It is pretty ... read more
The Worlds in Laragne - The end
Published: July 9th 2009Europe » Germany » Baden-Württemberg » Weinstadt
July 9th 2009
Sorry for not giving an update for such a long time. I was just so busy that I didn't have the time. We had two more tasks from Aspres. On Wednesday, a 104 km task was set at first, but they changed it again to a shorter one of 89 km due to the cloud development. The pilots didn't even get to fly that task - the overdevelopment was so severe that the task was stopped before the first start gate opened. The next day, pilots were sent from Aspres to Sigoyer (to the southeast), Malaup, Longue Dent, back to Sigoyer, to Mison, and finally to Ribiers. We got everyone off the hill within only 40 minutes - best time ever! I drove more or less straight to goal so that I would be able to ... read more
April 16th 2009
English Rehabilitation is hard work, believe me! And learning to walk again is not easy. After being discharged from hospital, I started ambulant rehabilitation. Three times a week, I go to a rehab place not far from where I live. When I'm there, I do physiotherapy, gym, and exercises in the pool. Physiotherapy takes half an hour. I'm alone with the physiotherapist, and she gives me workouts especially for the muscles in my pelvis, bum, and legs, and for coordination. It is really hard work. After that, I go to the gym for more than one hour and work on machines in order to build up all my muscles again. The exercises include the crosstrainer and treadmill. Finally, I go into a 36°C warm pool for some more exercises, in a group this time. As I ... read more
March 25th 2009
English My week here in hospital was completely different from how I had expected it to be. On Thursday morning, the doctors turned up in my room. They told me that they had been pretty surprised that the Australian doctors didn't want me to weightbear for another ten weeks. They said the bones had healed pretty well, and the reason for operating patients was to mobilize them as soon as possible. They even explained to me that the bones needed weightbearing for mending. They wanted to start mobilizing me the very same day. So a few hours later, the physiotherapist came into my room with a walker. I got onto my feet for the first time in exactly seven weeks. It was great, although it felt a bit strange. My legs were like rubber, bent all ... read more
December 7th 2008
Noch knapp zwei Wochen bis Australien - am 26. Dezember geht es los Einige von Euch haben vielleicht am 23. November den kleinen Beitrag über mich auf SWR3 Weltweit gehört. Für alle, die ihn verpasst haben: Ein kleiner Bericht mit Fotos ist auch im Internet auf der Homepage von SWR3 Weltweit. Länger habt Ihr nichts von mir gelesen. Australien rückt näher, und es gab einfach viel zu tun. Ein bisschen was habe ich trotzdem zu berichten. Ende November war ich auf der Jahreshauptversammlung des Deutschen Hängegleiterverbandes. Zu Beginn hat Rebi ihren „Hamma-Rap“ performt, fand ich irre mutig und einfach klasse. Vor sämtlichen Delegierten aus ganz Deutschland! Danach wurden die erfolgreichen Mädels und Jungs der Damen- und Herren-Nationalmannschaft geehrt. Die Mädels haben ja, wie ich schon bericht... read more
