Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Way Up High

I was back in Benalmádena Tuesday with Kristina to go up to the town's highest point, Mount Calamorro. We rode the "teleférico" (funicular or sky cablecar). The trip begins at about 100 meters above sea level (328 feet) and ends at nearly 800 meters (2,625 feet). San Geraldo didn't join us. He has a fear of heights, can be a bit claustrophobic, and experiences motion sickness. (Other than that, he really is loads of fun.)

BEGINNING THE CLIMB.

Story Time
Twenty-three years ago, we were stuck in a ski lift (chairlift) in Vermont with our friend Judy. While we waited in the air above Mount Snow, Judy and I commented on the spectacular view.

San Geraldo was not pleased. "Stop turning your heads!!! You're shaking the chair!!!"

We were stuck for about 10 minutes — maybe less — at a height of about 30 feet.

San Geraldo says we swung wildly over a 500-foot chasm — for more than two hours.

Admittedly, there was a really big boulder below us. It would have hurt.

So, I suppose Benalmádena's Teleférico is one thing San Geraldo will likely never experience.

HANGING OUT THE WINDOW FOR A VIEW BACK TO THE SEA.
LOOKING WEST.
FROM THE TOP: VIEW FROM ONE OF THE HIKING TRAILS.
HANGING OUT THE WINDOW AS WE HEAD BACK DOWN.
WE COULD ALWAYS JUST HIKE THAT TRAIL..
ON A CLEAR DAY, YOU CAN SEE THE NORTH COAST OF AFRICA.
LOOKING BACK AT MOUNT CALAMORRO.
GETTING THERE (IT IS HALF THE FUN).


Maybe some fairy dust would help San Geraldo. 
Then again, maybe not. He'd still be airborne.
I remember seeing this on TV for the first time in 1960 and it gave me goose bumps. It still does. (I won't grow up, I guess.)

20 comments:

  1. My sweetheart has such a fear of heights even looking at these photos would be impossible... I got the claustrophobia, lol. I think I would take the funicular rather than hiking the trail; energy conservation y'know.

    What a lovely memory the Peter Pan video brought back: When I was 4/5 my father took me to see it, live, in a nearby town. I was absolutely spellbound!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jacqueline:
      San Geraldo (the first) gets the same feeling just looking at the photos. There's a service road for cars. I wonder if we could sneak them up that way.

      Delete
  2. I am no fan of heights, but mostly the looking down from the heights. I could, and would love to, ride that funicular but that's neither here nor there.

    This ...

    "Other than that, he really is loads of fun."

    ... made me spit coffee out my nose!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bob:
      I forgot that San Geraldo also hates walnuts (and pecans), olives, and coconut. Other than THAT, he really is loads of fun. (You spit an awful lot of coffee out of that nose!)

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. Hayley:
      I'm looking forward to going up again on a clear day (which is the norm here). I would love to see the coast of Africa.

      Delete
  4. Can SG look at your photos without panicking? I hope so, because they are too good to miss out on!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wilma:
      He doesn't look for long at the photos, but he can manage a glance.

      Delete
  5. I'm so scared of heights, it was a relief to get past the last photo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ms. Sparrow:
      It's all your years on the Great Plains! I take it you didn't try the video...

      Delete
  6. We just returned from vacation where we rode one of these contraptions--to the top of the Alps.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stephen:
      That must have been amazing! All we went was 25,000 feet.

      Delete
    2. Stephen: That would be 2,500 and NOT 25,000!

      Delete
  7. They are a really good way to get the lie of the land. I always enjoy riding on them.

    ReplyDelete
  8. All you need is some of that fairy dust for San Geraldo. Oh, wait...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Walt the Fourth:
      Well, a little extra fairy dust never hurt anybody.

      Delete
  9. Heights are on the fence for me. I used to climb trees and such but one day in St. john's Newfoundland while Jim and I were walking around Signal Hill ~ I began to freak ~ slope of hill / height of hill! Such is this fence I'm on. I understand Jerry explicitly!

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    Replies
    1. Ron:
      Odd how those things change over time. I have no fear of heights but am almost phobic about stepping off from or onto the top of a ladder. The climb doesn't bother me. Just that one little step.

      Delete
  10. I have a vague memory of seeing a special rendition of Peter Pan starring Kate Smith. The chains kept breaking.

    ReplyDelete

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