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Published: June 21st 2009
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Austria: 5th June - 19th June 2009
Earlier this year, I arranged to spend a week in Austria with a guide to learn more about Alpine flying. And this was the week. We arrived in Mayrhofen, Austria, after driving 6 hours through driving rain, the weather having taken a definite turn from the worse from Switzerland's sunny days. But, the bad weather would affect more than our drive.
Rayma and I checked into our cozy apartment nestled on a hillside, and we settled in for a week of life in picturesque Mayrhofen. The next day, I met up with my guide, Kelly Farina. A word about Kelly: former bike messenger, former skater, entrepreneur, martial arts enthusiast, diamond geezer, and (most of all) accomplished paraglider pilot with plenty of tales of learning the hard way (so we hopefully don't have to). He's been there, done that, got the t-shirt, and gave away the t-shirt...several times.
I was one of three pilots working with Kelly that week. Anyhow, as I said, on our first day together, Kelly announced that the north side of the Alps (Mayrhofen) was a lost cause for most of the week. We needed to head to
the south side of the Alps (Italy) for a few days if we wanted to do any flying at all. At this point, I began to regret paying our week's rent for our apartment in advance.
But, Rayma's been around pilots long enough to know that whether I was in Mayrhofen or Minneapolis, my head would be in the clouds all week. Wishing me good flying, I left Rayma in Mayrhofen and piled into Kelly's van for the drive south. We actually wound up in Bassano, which is near Levico Terme, where I had flown and competed a month before.
Once we got started, Kelly spotted basic skill issues in about 5 minutes. Most importantly, Kelly was able to give pointers on turning efficiently, a key skill in working light lift (everyone looks good in booming lift...the light stuff is what keeps good pilots up and puts so-so pilots on the ground). The conditions south of the Alps were not stellar, but we flew every day, and the conditions improved as the week progressed. I finished the week with plenty of new ideas & skills to practice and a greater understanding of Alpine weather.
On Thursday, while
I was in Italy, my parents and Suji arrived in Vienna. We had planned to all meet up on the weekend, but Rayma got a head start. I took the train in on Saturday. We spent the rest of the week enjoying that amazing city. We felt a little like Goldilocks: Rome is too big and spread out, Florence is small and crowded, but Vienna is juuuuust right! Besides being a manageable size, Vienna is clean, organized, and stunningly beautiful, not to mention flat, which was perfect for our bikes.
By the time I'd gotten to Vienna, Rayma was solidly in tour-guide mode, including a trip to see the Vienna Boys Choir, which everyone enjoyed. On Sunday, we went to the Spanish Riding School, which must be seen to be believed. Its origins are in martial traditions, training horses and riders for combat. With all due respect to the students (human and equine), cannons and machine guns have ensured that their art form has been that and nothing more for about the past 100 years. But what a show! I can provide no description that would be adequate, and any pictures can only hint at the spectacle.
The
remainder of our Vienna trip focused on the major museums and palaces. It was great to see the folks and spend some time with them. Thanks to the timing of their trip, we were also able to celebrate Father's Day and Shobha's birthday a week ahead of time. But, after 3 weeks on the road, they were ready to go home. Rayma and I had a few extra days in Vienna, though, to explore. The weather was amazing, and we enjoyed our time to the fullest exploring the extensive bicycling paths that run throughout the city, amid parks, and across the Danube.
Like most really nice cities, Vienna is relatively expensive. We observed this directly when we accidentally had a fabulous lunch while passing through one of Vienna's many lovely parks. Rayma had spotted a nice restaurant among the trees (Steirereck im Stadtpark) as we rode by, and when we approached, the waiters' white gloves and bowties were perhaps not so apparent as we were shown to our delightfully large table near the ladies who lunch. Any budget-conscious voice within us became suddenly inaudible when the campagne trolly rolled over, followed by the bread trolly, followed by a small
appetizer, compliments of the chef. At this point, it was too late: to “review the menu & skidoo” would simply not do for these two loyal Americans supporting President Obama's goal of rebuilding America's image abroad. Two more glasses of champagne with the cheese platter, Herr Wenger? Yes we can!
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Daddy
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Great Stuff.
G;reat stuff.