A few weeks ago, I’ve decided to pick up open water long-distance swimming [30.07.2021 update: I’ve since completed several long-distance swimming events, but in my mind attempting the 10km Hever Castle Endurance event was the highlight so far, even though I dropped out after 6km]. This is why I started to check out open water swimming venues in and around London. I ended up at West Reservoir Centre in Stoke Newington. Open water swimming? Basically swimming. When I grew up in Germany, my buddies and I would always go wild swimming in rivers and lakes, often several times a week, twice a day during summer. My parents grew up in the Bavarian town of Passau, at the confluence of the mighty Danube, the Inn, and the Ilz rivers. When they were 10 or 11 years old, they swam across the Danube with their big brothers and sisters, zigzagging between the […]
My Marvel Comic Experience – Jetlev in Wyboston
Today I did what I had been planning on doing for a long time. I took a ride with a Jetlev. In this case: with Ride Leisure at Wyboston, near Bedford. It’s about 30 minutes by car from Cambridge, which is 50mins by train from London. Driving from London would take about 1.5 hours. My instructor, Malcolm, greeted me upon arrival. As soon as I got myself into one of Ride Leisure’s wetsuits, we walked the few metres over to the lake. The safety briefing and training took the best of fifteen minutes, and off I went, hopping into the water with the jetpack attached to my body. I’m a solid swimmer, but it did feel strange jumping into deep water with heavy gear attached to your back. However, Malcolm’s calm, reassuring manner and the training made me feel somewhat ok with this idea. You take a […]
Finally – My first Balloon Ride (with Adventure Balloons)
Ms B had been bothering me by going on and on about how awesome her ride on a hot air balloon through the Valley of Kings during her trip to Egypt in 2005 had been (and admittedly that must have been fabulous, judging from the pictures, with all the pyramids and things). So today, while Ms B went on with her business, doing some lawyering in Canary Wharf, and with me being ‘between jobs’ (my next assignment will only start in a few weeks’ time, again abroad in Germany), I got up real early, 4:15am to be precise, sat myself in a rental car I had hired the night before by 4:45am, and drove to the launch site in Hampshire, 1h30m drive away from home. Due to a couple of bad turns (despite the Tom Tom, I know, inexcusable! I’m not a human lifeform before 8am, more like a mix […]