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See Basse Ham Report
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See Czech Republic Part 2.
Woe there big fella!
The rolling train continued with no slowdown in sight--traveling
with Eric Dufour and his wife Elisabeth Geurin, having a blast. They're
interactions alone are worth the price and boy does Elisabeth pack a
schedule--I'm just hangin' on.
I'm sitting on the 2nd floor of an unfinished bed-and-breakfast here
in Brno (yes, Vanna, they'd like to buy a vowel). Earlier, cruising down
the highway, we were drooling over a gorgeous countryside and listening
to it's call to flight. This place is gorgeous. Rolling hills have just
the right amount of interloping ridges to make it really interesting.
Tomorrow we visit Axis paragliders in the morning then Nirvana in the
afternoon. Of course I'm hoping like crazy to mooch a ride on one of
Nirvana's latest propellants -- my camera is charging as we speak.
The reason it's so dead is because today was our only tourist day and
I couldn't resist capturing it. Jack Kimble, his brother-in-law Alfie,
Eric, Elisabeth and I spent the entire day checking out Prague. How
incredibly beautiful. This, by the way, is every bit as first world as
anywhere I've been and is a lot cleaner than many places. Graffiti
is a problem outside of the touristy areas but no more than many other
big cities. Catch those little miscreants and put them on work details
cleaning that stuff up.
Alfie, at 82 years old, is more lively than some 40 year olds I've
encountered, and a great chap to hang out with. He ambles along kinda
slow, helped by his cane, but we had no idea as to his endurance until
our "bus tour" turned out to be a walking tour. A SIX HOUR walking tour.
Well, ok, there was a river cruise and lunch in there but still he was a
trooper. We all had a great time and I enjoyed learning about this
remarkable place. Traveling convinces me more and more that people are
the same everywhere. There are rude ones, nice ones, gracious ones, etc.
City life tends to make people less tolerant of their elbowmates and the
nicest people populate rural areas--they haven't been jaded by
humanity's less savory sorts who get concentrated in big cities. Just
like everywhere else. Culture plays its part, obviously, but the
variance is universal.
  
  
1. Racing around Prague, Eric,
Elisabeth and I nearly lost the tour group several times after getting
sidetracked.
2. Eric, Jack, and Alfie pose in front of the main square where a
"Velvet Revolution"
earned Czech Republic's (then Czechoslovakia's) independence.
3. Alfie races towards his seat on the River Cruise. 4. Settling in.
5. The communist museum nestled between a McDonalds and a casino.
6. This chapel's construction spanned 600 years!
Plan
After Axis we plan on spending the evening and morning with Nirvana.
That's good because I hope to try out their latest and see the factory.
I didn't fly any of their stuff at Basse Ham because I planned on having
more opportunity here. I'll be taking lots of pictures and video. Sadly
I don't have my helmet cam but, if they have some gaffers tape and a
coat hangar, look out. Even if we can't fly it will be utterly
fascinating to see how wings are made and how these guys build their
paramotors. All the more reason to make sure my camera is readied.
On Thursday, after Nirvana, we go to Sky gliders, then MacPara to
finish out my portion. Eric and Elisabeth will drop me off at Prague
airport on Friday so, unfortunately, I won't get to see Walkerjet. I
originally planned on it but we got our times confused and I won't be
able to. Bummer. But Elisabeth has promised me a report with pictures.
(You can see her Blog on Paratour.com).
I'm also working on writing reviews. I do apologize to those whose
motors I've flown and haven't finished. I'll probably have some time on
the flight home and have alreadysehd two on the engines I've flown and
haven't gotten around to writing about. |
Elisabeth posing for her brides camera touch.
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