| what goes up must come down |
|
My personal highlight of the excursion began with a mini internship at the Bath Abbey. Helena and I were the ones chosen for that internship so we spent the whole day in the Abbey. The manager invited us for lunch and during this lunch break he told us about the wonderful view from the top of the church tower and about plans to bring up tourists there in future. We were curious and asked for a trip to the roof and the church tower.
At this point it is time to tell you that I am horribly afraid of heights. But I said to myself: "Well it is just a tower right?" So we marched up the narrow stairs to the Abbey roof and the only thought that came to my mind was: "Oh my goodness. How the hell am I supposed to get down again????" I bravely walked up but couldn't suppress my worries about getting down again. The manager noticed that, looked at me and smiled: "Don't worry, what goes up must come down!" Was that supposed to be comforting? Maybe it was meant to be a nice comment but it didn't improve my situation.
After 273 or more steps we finally reached the roof which we had to cross to reach the main tower. I can tell you, for someone who is even scared to stand on a high ladder, the height there was more than enough…. But I didn't say one word. I followed Helena, who was walking in front of me and who was definitely enjoying the view more than I. But well, I thought, it will get better when we are on top and I would have got used to the height. So we stepped into the high main tower.
The manager opened the door to a dark room. There was a small hole in the floor and he told us to look through. So I made my way through the dark and reached the hole. Carefully I looked through… Bad mistake! I could look right into the Abbey and I saw the floor inside which I had just walked on a few minutes before. Suddenly I realized that under this room there was nothing but 100 meters of air and all the way down the Abbey floor. I very carefully made my way back and my stomach was not really happy with that trip anymore. Then the manager said: "Isn't it amazing that the roof is more than 500 years old?" My thought: "500 years??? Panic! Panic! Panic!" But I was able to calm myself down again and so I continued to climb up more narrow stairs until we finally reached the bell room. The manager had a surprise for us. We would be in the middle of the church bells when they rang on the full hour. My first thought: "Hey, this is awesome!" My second thought: "Oh my. This building is over 500 years old. Can these old walls stand the vibration of ringing bells?" But when the bells rang I was actually able to enjoy the spectacle although I stayed in the background while Helena was curiously watching the bells.
But our trip wasn't over at that point. We wanted to see the whole of Bath so we left the bells and climbed up more narrow stairs which finally led us to the top of the tower. As you all can imagine: The view was fantastic. And I was convinced that there was no need to leave the secure place next to the stairs, next to the emergency exit. I mean, I was convinced that I could see everything perfectly from were I stood. So no need to make a move.
Helena was obviously not afraid of heights. She turned out to be the direct opposite of me. So when we reached the tower roof she made her way straight to the church-rail, took photos and even looked over the rail. She was so enthusiastic that I didn't have the heart to complain. I had to pretend I was so overwhelmed with the view that I wanted to take my time to enjoy it from where I stood. So I said about a hundred times "Wow", "Beautiful" and "This is so amazing."
Surprisingly my fear vanished after a while. The reason for that was simple. I said to myself: "Well, if this floor crashes you will land in the bell room and not on the Abbey floor. So there is a big chance that you will survive." I convinced myself of this theory and actually walked up to Helena and started to enjoy the view. We took some photos so you all can see how brave I was! I even made my way all the way down again without any big problems.
You may think now: "Well this sounds more like a punishment than a highlight." But to me it was a special highlight of our excursion and I told everybody about it - not only because of the wonderful panorama of Bath but also because I conquered my fear one more time.
Well, at least until our flight back...
Jennifer Koch |