Good Morning or afternoon or evening - whatever time you are reading this. The weather here is absolutely perfect. I deserve a little perfect weather.
I took the gondola up this morning and another one even higher to Weisshorn.
To here for, drum roll please, a tandem paraglide.
I elected to take the thermal flight because I wanted the full experience. I have already parachuted out of a plane. People ask me why I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane. They didn't see the plane. LOL. I didn't want to just jump and land at the bottom.
This was my partner Loris(?). His English was slight, and I didn't ask him how to spell it as we were running off a cliff to fly. And fly we did, for more than an hour. It was exhilarating! We started at 4000 meters (approx 13, 200 feet) and soared much higher than that. Admittedly, that first step off the cliff is the only nervous part of the entire experience. Once airborne, I couldn't imagine anything better to do on a day off or anywhere better for such a magnificent experience. The only sound I heard was the gentle rushing of the wind. Catching a thermal and soaring upward was the thrill of a lifetime. Every sense was invoked, and the world almost ceased to exist as the next breeze caught us, higher and higher. There was nothing jerky or scary about it. Talk about slowing down and smelling the roses. The houses below looked like monopoly pieces, and the people were so small you couldn't see them. Loris guided us close to the landscape when we heard the distinctive whistles and tooth-chatter of marmots. We saw several of them, as well as two deer, running gracefully across the rocky terrain. Finally, we floated down at a gentle pace back and forth until we touched down. The only thing that surprised me was how tired I was when it ended. I could have sailed around the sky forever soaking in the majesty of the Alps. My only confession to make was that I took three bonines (the greatest over-the-counter seasick medication with no side effects) before I took the gondola up. Motion sickness could be true of paragliding because Andral asked me if I felt any nausea. My former brother-in-law had a glider plane, and he used to talk about people getting motion sickness on flights. Since I get motion sickness, if you even mention the word, I decided preparation was the word of the day. And I never even considered throwing up.
As Loris was packing up the shoot, I was able to take a photo of another paraglider as he landed. He landed upright with no trauma, and so did we. Easy Peasy.
Boy, was I hungry. I walked immediately to this restaurant across from my hotel. Look at this beautiful salad. It had a ball of soft, creamy mozzarella in the center and was garnished with many pine nuts, which I happen to love. The highlight of the dish was the various types of tomatoes. I couldn't finish it, but I picked out every pine nut, and in the European way of eating (or I am at home and no one sees me way of eating), I dipped the bread in the vinaigrette to capture every last morsel of flavor.
I have videos, but I can not get them to download to this blog. Boohoo.
Included dinner tonight at my hotel, the Besso. Who knew Switzerland had such incredible food. Especially when you get away from all the cheese dishes. My starter was this lovely tomato - real homegrown tomatoes- dish with very thin slices of toast, almost like a cracker. And it was topped with the soft mozzarella and the perfect touch of basil.
The main course was sea bass, another favorite of mine. It was perfectly cooked, moist, and succulent. It was accompanied by these fried potatoes. I have enough Irish blood to proudly boast that I never met a potato that I didn't like, but these were off-the-chart good. The potatoes were interspersed with many little fried onion pieces and herbs.
My favorite dessert of the trip. I am coming out of the closet. I am not a true chocoholic. While I love chocolate and would kill for another Aunt Ruby See's Candy Day. (You will have to ask me about this in person.) Cindy will catch the joke. I really love berries. This is the perfect pavlova (meringue) with something rich and creamy at the bottom and a load of berries on top. It was drizzled with just the right amount of chocolate. To die for!
I have videos, but I can not get them to download to this blog. Boohoo.
I am sending this double post today and you will get another one tomorrow. I have one more night here in Zinald and then I am headed to my last hut.
As I waddle off to my little room, I bid you good night and happy feasting.
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