I never used to suffer from vertigo or fear of heights.
NEVER.
My mother will attest to this.
Today however, a little.
I went up one of the towers at the Sagrada Familia with our guest, and there were a few moments....
Part of it has to do with a certain lack of faith in Spanish buildings, possibly unjustified, but still....particularly the older concrete work.....ummmmmmm, just don't lean on those railings, m'kay?
Then there is the key differences between Spanish and Canadian safety requirements....such as rails that come up higher than the bend in your hip to keep you from tipping over.
SO
We were up there, and it was WAY cool....
and yes....I didn't take the camera.......Picture me hammering myself over the head with the laptop.....
what was I thinking?????
Then there were these two little balcony things you could go out on....but the entrance was actually up a few steps, and the the balustrade was kind of low, so as you came out the door, the top of the railing was sort of above your ankles but well below your knees....this coupled with the stunning view of BCN gave you the sense that you were about to sail off into the distance....things improved as you moved down the short flight of stairs, but the rails were none too high, and I found I had an uncomfortable feeling in the soles of my feet.....
The stairs down from the tower were fine, but some British girls ahead of us were having a rougher go of it....
Sooooooo
gotta ask,
anyone out there afraid of heights?
13 comments:
I don't have a fear of heights - I have a fear of falling from heights! (Sorry, couldn't resist...)
Seriously, I've never experienced a fear of heights but I would have been afraid at the spots you described with those not-so-high barriers.
Not much of a fear of heights here. I don't like cramped spaces, though, and I suppose if they were up high, I'd be pretty darn scared!
Sounds like you had a cool adventure!
Not heights per se but open balconies or stairs with tiny, perhaps flimsy handrails, you bet! I like a view but you won't find me anywhere near the edge of anything.
and this is why I *always* have my camera in my jacket ;)
Maybe a cellphone can be annoying, but the camera in it is NOT! i can't count the times I've thanked my lucky stars that I had the thing with me so I could get a quick snap of an event that otherwise would have passed me by undocumented!
And, yes, I am afraid of falling off high perches. But I'm even MORE afraid of one of my kids falling. They're not babies any more, but it still instills panic in me to see any of them near a railing overlooking a long drop down.
I do fine in tall buildings and on balconies, but in college while working in the theater I discovered I had a terrible time with the tall ladder we had to sit on while we set stage lights. Probably because there was nothing to hang onto, and they rolled it around while you were perched on the top rung. Gak!
Not afraid of heights, but I will never again climb the towers of the castle in Segovia-- they are tiny winding stone staircases, with absolutely no railing on the open side. It's unbelievable. Plus people are coming up and down at the same time, and there's not room for both at once so it gets pretty tricky...
I'm afraid of my kids being up high and close to railings... not so much for myself. Seeing them always makes my stomach lurch.
Yes, very scared of heights. I go up stepladders one step at a time and very carefully. I hate glass walkways even though I know they are safe. I don't go close to the edge on cliff paths, and when the kids were little I was paranoid about them going close to edges. Driving up hairpin bends make me hold onto the edge of the seat tight. Do not like heights
Beth, I am also not sure if it is fear of heights or a reasonable fear in an unsafe situation....
She, it was cool....a very nice day.
JG, the edges of natural spaces normally don't bug me...it is the underguarded man-made space that seemed to be giving me problems...
elP...I know, I know, I knowwwwww mea culpa....
Beth, I TOTALLY forgot about the cell phone camera till long after I was gone...totally...
Hula, I think that would count as a reasonable fear in a fearful situation....
Kate, the stairs were like that, and they didn't bug me I have to admit...though the traffic was only one way...still....
Mmichele...I agree completely....my poor mother...
Helen, neither does your brother.
Ha! When I was a kid I was fearless, climbed trees, hung out of clock towers, you name it. Now I have trouble looking out the second floor window. I once got on the chairlift in the summer time on Whiteface Mountain for the view and to go up to the top and hike down. The second my feet left the ground I had a full on panic attack. This is something that has gotten worse as I've gotten older and much, much worse since I had my child. Interesting, huh? I hope you are able to conquer this and not let it get the better of you.
I had no problems when I was younger, but with age I have developed vertigo. Even reading, and visualising, your walk up the Familia Sagrada, gives me that nasty feeling inside. You know, that feeling of being physically sucked over the edge and down down down .... Awful feeling!
Swenglish...that is kind of it, a feeling of being sucked over...and the soles of my feet felt so odd....first time ever.
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