I have it. I have it bad. But it's not just heights, it's far more animal than that.
I can stand on a ladder and muck about with upstairs windows.
I can lean out of 4th floor windows.
I cannot paint the eves of a bungalow.
But the thing that gets me most is a non solid barrier.I can stand at the window of a 40 storey hotel so long as the solid bit comes up to at LEAST waist height.
The Grosvenor Place Hotel, Sydney. Once I had to deliver a package to the 40th floor. The walls are entirely glass. I couldn't stand within 6' of it.
Golden Gate Bridge has only railings. and between the road and the footpath is a gap with NO railings. So I could walk only a very narrow path between the two. No amount of coaxing made that crossing a happy one.
I took this from the top of St Peter's in the Vatican. The railings were stylishly Italian. I've seen thicker wire. So I was spreadeagled against the dome not being able to take another step further forward.
A few years ago I went to Taipei 101. As the name suggests, the one-time tallest building in the world at 101 floors. That's 500m of tallness. the observation platform is 89 floors up. It only takes 45 seconds to get up in the express lift.
However once there, the window ledge is only 6" high. The glass is thick and it's VERY VERY VERY safe. Cue me on my hands and knees crawling to the window from 6' away to get close enough to take photos.
I can understand that. I can lean out over a balcony, no problem, I can stand at the top of a tall building and look down, fine. I can't climb ladders or stand on chairs. I avoid walking down particularly steep steps, if there's an alternative, even if it means walking another mile, I will take it.
ReplyDeleteYou've been to some amazing places, I am very jealous.
I've been very lucky. I travelled a lot as a youth. Never too late to start.
ReplyDeleteas a child I hated the London Kings Cross underground escalators going down....