The night before I was going to leave Brasov, the owner of the guesthouse I’m staying at pointed up at the mountain at paragliders floating high in the sky. After hearing my ridiculously girly squeal of glee at even seeing them he mentioned that he knows someone here that takes people up. So of course I had to try it!
The next morning a slightly nervous but excited me popped out of bed (trust me, this may be the first time ever I popped out of bed, usually I’m not a morning person at all, barely human until caffeine is in my system to be honest!).
I felt a bit like a kid at Christmas, barely able to contain myself knowing that I was going to finally get the chance to try paragliding. You see, ever since I was a little kid I had a fascination with airplanes and flying. I’d imagine I was a brave pilot doing aerobatics in an old biplane, or a bird soaring free on the wind high above everything.. total freedom, enjoying the moment and flying just for the sheer pleasure of it. I love being in the air!
I could barely contain my excitement when I met up with George the pilot / instructor and we headed to the hill to begin the adventure. When we got there we found out that the cable cars weren’t running yet. So he got another idea, going up in a moto-glider! I’m really not sure if that’s the proper term, but it’s like an airplane for 2 that’s all open, kind of like a glider but with an engine and amazingly fun to fly in!
As freezing cold as it was I refused to admit that my limbs were feeling a tad numb for worry that he’d think I’d want to land. I was half shivering from cold and half from the sheer amazement I was feeling, it was like electricity running up my spine letting me know I was truly alive! The view was so breathtaking I was willing to ignore the cold and wished that we could stay in the air forever.
Eventually of course we did come back to the ground and I got to experience part two of the best day ever! Paragliding off the Carpathian mountains… twice!
While I was up there I kept closing my eyes to remind myself that what I was feeling at that moment had to be remembered forever, then popping them open quickly so that I didn’t miss a second of what I was seeing. It really did seem to me that this is the closest a person can get to understanding the freedom a bird really may feel. The day was so beautiful that there were quite a few other people out with the same idea, seeing so many other colorful canopies in the sky only added to the beauty of it.
Spiraling with the air current I felt both extremely small and somehow a part of everything, I really can’t describe how it effected me. It felt like I had a slight shift in my personal definition of the word ‘freedom’ and for the first time in a very long time I realized just how lucky I am to be living the life I am right now. Having the chance to experience so many of the things I’d always thought were out of my reach, travelling to places that before were completely unknown to me, talking to new people and hearing how they see the world and their place in it and knowing that a few of them will remain in my heart forever. Yeah, this is part of where my mind was wandering while flying, the other part of my mind was screaming “OMG!!!! This is AWESOME!!!!”, yes, the kid in me that wanted so desperately to fly is still here. 🙂
After paragliding we went for a ride on his motorcycle to take in the view near the top of one of mountains. There are no words to describe how beautiful this area is. The grass looked like soft velvet, rocky peaks of extremely high mountains in the distance peeking through the clouds, perfect little houses and a feeling of complete and utter contentedness.
So far this is definitely in the running for The. Best. Day. Ever!
Yup, I was pretending that I was going to be the one actually flying. Even with this special outfit it was freezing in the air but sooooo worth every second!
Here’s an aerial photo of the amazing Southern Carpathians taken from the moto-glider.
Some of the cities and towns in this area of Romania have tall white letters with their names.
Here’s an aerial photo of the black and white churches in Brasov.
This is one of my favorite photos of the day, a para-glider flying high in the sky.
Another of my favorites, looking up at another person flying past us.
What an I say, this region of Romania has upped the bar for beauty in my mind.
OK, so the outfit isn’t at all flattering but my silly grin shows how happy I was! I couldn’t stop smiling the entire day!
As the afternoon was ending we went up the mountain on his motorbike to check out the view, the cloud is covering the highest peak but you get an idea how gorgeous this area is.
Read the article on www.vagabondroots.com
Paragliding & More in Brasov, Romania
The night before I was going to leave Brasov, the owner of the guesthouse I’m staying at pointed up at the mountain at paragliders floating high in the sky. After hearing my ridiculously girly squeal of glee at even seeing them he mentioned that he knows someone here that takes people up. So of course I had to try it!
The next morning a slightly nervous but excited me popped out of bed (trust me, this may be the first time ever I popped out of bed, usually I’m not a morning person at all, barely human until caffeine is in my system to be honest!).
I felt a bit like a kid at Christmas, barely able to contain myself knowing that I was going to finally get the chance to try paragliding. You see, ever since I was a little kid I had a fascination with airplanes and flying. I’d imagine I was a brave pilot doing aerobatics in an old biplane, or a bird soaring free on the wind high above everything.. total freedom, enjoying the moment and flying just for the sheer pleasure of it. I love being in the air!
I could barely contain my excitement when I met up with George the pilot / instructor and we headed to the hill to begin the adventure. When we got there we found out that the cable cars weren’t running yet. So he got another idea, going up in a moto-glider! I’m really not sure if that’s the proper term, but it’s like an airplane for 2 that’s all open, kind of like a glider but with an engine and amazingly fun to fly in!
As freezing cold as it was I refused to admit that my limbs were feeling a tad numb for worry that he’d think I’d want to land. I was half shivering from cold and half from the sheer amazement I was feeling, it was like electricity running up my spine letting me know I was truly alive! The view was so breathtaking I was willing to ignore the cold and wished that we could stay in the air forever.
Eventually of course we did come back to the ground and I got to experience part two of the best day ever! Paragliding off the Carpathian mountains… twice!
While I was up there I kept closing my eyes to remind myself that what I was feeling at that moment had to be remembered forever, then popping them open quickly so that I didn’t miss a second of what I was seeing. It really did seem to me that this is the closest a person can get to understanding the freedom a bird really may feel. The day was so beautiful that there were quite a few other people out with the same idea, seeing so many other colorful canopies in the sky only added to the beauty of it.
Spiraling with the air current I felt both extremely small and somehow a part of everything, I really can’t describe how it effected me. It felt like I had a slight shift in my personal definition of the word ‘freedom’ and for the first time in a very long time I realized just how lucky I am to be living the life I am right now. Having the chance to experience so many of the things I’d always thought were out of my reach, travelling to places that before were completely unknown to me, talking to new people and hearing how they see the world and their place in it and knowing that a few of them will remain in my heart forever. Yeah, this is part of where my mind was wandering while flying, the other part of my mind was screaming “OMG!!!! This is AWESOME!!!!”, yes, the kid in me that wanted so desperately to fly is still here. 🙂
After paragliding we went for a ride on his motorcycle to take in the view near the top of one of mountains. There are no words to describe how beautiful this area is. The grass looked like soft velvet, rocky peaks of extremely high mountains in the distance peeking through the clouds, perfect little houses and a feeling of complete and utter contentedness.
So far this is definitely in the running for The. Best. Day. Ever!
Yup, I was pretending that I was going to be the one actually flying. Even with this special outfit it was freezing in the air but sooooo worth every second!
Here’s an aerial photo of the amazing Southern Carpathians taken from the moto-glider.
Some of the cities and towns in this area of Romania have tall white letters with their names.
Here’s an aerial photo of the black and white churches in Brasov.
This is one of my favorite photos of the day, a para-glider flying high in the sky.
Another of my favorites, looking up at another person flying past us.
What an I say, this region of Romania has upped the bar for beauty in my mind.
OK, so the outfit isn’t at all flattering but my silly grin shows how happy I was! I couldn’t stop smiling the entire day!
As the afternoon was ending we went up the mountain on his motorbike to check out the view, the cloud is covering the highest peak but you get an idea how gorgeous this area is.
