Saturday 12 June 2010

On Top of the World? Ground me again please...

I recently read an article on The Cool Hunter entitled On Top of The World - The Rise of The Observation Deck.  From observation orbs added onto the Ericsson Globe to the Eureka Skydeck and the London Eye for years the rise of heights has been growing as an ability to appreciate landscapes and areas in a new way.

 Image of the Ericsson Globe taken from The Cool Hunter

 It is by no means a new concept...I mean how long has the Eiffel Tower been around?...but as the concept spreads to places such as Brighton, with the planned i360, consider new ways of attracting tourists and locals to appreciate what they have to offer I'm becoming concerned about how high my friends will be wanting me to go.


  Image of The Edge at the Eureka Skydeck, Melbourne, taken from Luxique
and The Aurland Lookout, Norway, taken from Gossip Rocks

I am scared of heights.  Massively.  I didn't think I was, I just thought I had slight vertigo.  When I explained this to some university friends in Paris they laughed and said "so you're scared of heights then."  I got to the first level of the Eiffel Tower and freaked out.  I definitely should have taken the lift, creaky stairs that are surrounded by thin air and some metal strips are not the way to overcome a fear of heights.  I shook, I couldn't stand next to the edge and I couldn't get down quick enough.


Every time I go to Alton Towers, securely strapped into Oblivion, I wonder why the hell I'm doing it.  The next time I go I get in the queue and don't understand why, it's like I'm daring myself.  What is most important in these situations is not the view it's the fact I feel physically sick and dither continusously.  So...with this newfound passion for heights that the world is going through (because if it's not an observation experience it's the new heighest skyscraper) how does a girl overcome the fear?

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