“Yes we did it! I have always had a fear of heights. I don’t like being on a footstool to even reach a cupboard! Some years ago Jim insisted we visit the Isle of Man and go up the Laxey Wheel. In the event, he thought he was going to have to get the RAF to rescue me - I was in such a state. I cannot look over a pier nor the edge of a cliff without feeling dizzy and sick, and even watching heights on TV gives me goosebumps and turns my tummy over. During a trip to Las Vegas several years ago, again Jim was insistent we go up the ‘Stratosphere’ - which we arranged: 107 floors with a glass part you can stand on and look down! Well I could feel the tower swaying and thought “take no notice you are ok” But then Jim decided to go on the roller coaster at the top which he did, (adrenaline junkie), so I was browsing around but didn’t feel too well. I told the friends we were with that I was going one floor down to the bar area, and that he should meet me there. As if one floor would make a difference! Eventually Jim came and found me.
I had invisible suckers holding my arms and body to the wall and the tears were streaming down my face. I couldn’t move! Very quickly Jim got one of the security guards and I was peeled off and whisked down to ground floor level, I think they must have had a special lift to get people like me down! Another year and on another trip to Las Vegas, we flew from Boulder into the Grand Canyon, landed in the Canyon and took a boat ride along the Colorado river. (I am fine in planes and helicopters and hot air balloons!) Then we were to fly to the Grand Canyon ‘Skywalk’, which is a horseshoe-shaped cantilever bridge with a glass walkway over the Canyon. I pushed myself to calm down and did the walk around. I was so proud! At least I could keep moving, not concentrating too hard on looking down.
Recently we returned early from a cruise (cut short because of the Coronavirus), but we did manage to book a ship excursion ‘To the Top’ at Burj Khalifa in Dubai. This is the tallest building in the world. It was fantastic!!!! 124 floors (my ears popped three times on the way up and down) and you can walk some stairs to the next level 125, which we did, and went outside. I wasn’t at all scared. The views were magnificent and the tower was ablaze in the sunshine, providing us with superb views. Half way round the tower we could see “the Palm” and then The World’ - which is an artificial archipelago of various small islands constructed in the rough shape of a world map, located 4km off the coast of Dubai. Here are two photographs of our trip to the top, one of which shows my foot on the glass panel overlooking the city. When I took the photograph I didn’t notice the fountains of Dubai until I checked back. I wasn’t scared at all and I did amaze myself. When we descended, there was only Jim and myself in the lift, it was all dark, with TVs showing where we had been. Jim took a video of the descending floors - it took just one minute from the 124th floor to ground level, the elevators going at 10 metres per second - among the fastest in the world. Dubai is a city where ‘if you can imagine it, you can do it.’ Everywhere was so clean and shiny and had the WOW effect. I do like the idea that if you have a dirty car you get fined and can eventually lose it if you’ve had more than a few warnings! If you can get there, please do, you will certainly remember a trip ‘To The Top!”.....Lestrene
image: Laxey Wheel, wikimedia, Ken Ruffles https://web.archive.org/web/20161028062345/http://www.panoramio.com/photo/93430662