Adventure! Fedora Lounge Folks in Action!

[sixsexsix]

this thread makes me feel like i haven't lived enough!

 

[Ripper]

Ahmen to that !

 

[zaika]

thirded.

i have some pics of me in russia...but that's hardly an adventure like the ones here. lol

 

[Copper]

Fourth'd!

I hope to never feel as though I have lived enough...

And Zaika - please do post some of your photos from Russia! Your hardly-an-adventure is another persons' trip of a lifetime.

I haven't been since 1992, when I spent a few weeks in Kiev and then took the train to Moscow and Petersburg. I need to return someday to see how things have changed since then...

 

[zaika]

oh yay...i managed to find some photos i had stashed away. not very adventure-y...but i still had the time of my life. these were all taken in 2001...the last time i was there. when i get my computer back from the repair shop, i'll have to scan some other pics that are more interesting.

this is me at the castle trakai in lithuania. i LOVED lithuania, and really want to return.

me in front of the cathedreal of the assumption at the kniaginin monastery in vladimir. i literally lived next door to it, and would go to church here. beautiful place and the nuns were very sweet to this bright eyed convert. lol

my house mother and i went grocery shopping one day together (it was an event because we'd always pick stuff up on our own). i don't think she trusted me not to return home with a pound of cranberries again. lol. it was a luxury, she said. what can i say? i love cranberries.

the monastery at bogoliubovo. my russian lit teacher took me on a field trip...quite literally...from the monastery here across a field of cows to the church of the intercession on the nerl river.

this was in st petersburg, as we were walking towards the spas-na-krovi cathedral. a new way to beg for money, i guess. only minutes before i had been acosted by gypsy kids. i found out later that my russian student id card had been taken! that was not good, but luckily i didn't need to show it and got a replacement later. boy...that was a hassle, though. my teachers really came through for me.

 

[splatt]

I spent just over 5 months traveling across Europe Zaika, but i never got to Russia or Lithuania...and your shot of Lithuania is just how i thought it would look....stunning St Petersburg must be pretty spectacular as well as imagine.

So after traveling by car through 9 countries In Europe in 1992 (see page three of this thread), i finally switched to a train and headed towards Venice in Italy...stopping at a great castle along the way.

Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria (southern Germany).

Me on the train from Munich to Venice

The Rialto Bridge crossing the Grand Canal at Venice

Me standing at the waters edge near the Santa Maria della Salute church in Venice

After spending nearly a week in Venice, I explored old ruins in Rome for three days.

After i'd seen enough ruins i had a 14 hour train trip (it should have taken 7 hours according to the schedule) from Rome to Brindisi. I'd given up smoking when i left Australia, but during this train trip i started smoking again...due to the incessant offering to me of cigarettes by my companion in the train cabin who couldn't speak a word of English except when asking me if i wanted a "cigarette and some coffee" at every single stop..and there were a lot of stops. After about 3 hours, i gave in and started partaking of his heavy strength Camel cigarettes.

Arriving 7 hours late in Brindisi (missing my original boat) and buzzed up on lots of caffeine and tobacco, I caught the next available passenger ship over to Greece spending the night on the deck with an American and a Russian (smoking their Cuban cigars and drinking their Russian vodka) watching explosions going off in parts of Yugoslavia till the sun broke over the horizon...a truly strange experience...

After spending a large chunk of time visiting various relatives from my mothers side of the family in northern Greece (the Macedonian region) and exploring the area on foot, i headed of to spend a few weeks in Turkey...with most of it spent in Istanbul.

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (built between 532 and 537AD)

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) in Istanbul.

The view from my room at the "Piyerloti Pensione" in old Istanbul

About a month after leaving Turkey i flew to Frankfurt and spent two nights sleeping in the airport lounge (due to plane delays)...all the time being kept company by German Sheppard patrol dogs and their large leather over-coated German soldiers/policemen.

I was tired and glad to be heading back to Australia...

 

[zaika]

splatt....what an amazing trip!!! i did get to see neuschwanstein as well...back in 1994. it was overwhelming...the scale of the place and the extravagence in the details. and...of course, the view.
the idea of watching the explosions going off in yugoslavia is definately eerie...but the scenes in istanbul (especially of hagia sophia) are amazing. i really want to see hagia sophia someday...maybe on a pilgrimage to greece. lol thank you so much for sharing!! :eusa_clap have you done any similar journies? how does one even finance something like that?

lithuania was a wonderful, beautiful place. except for the part where we were followed and very nearly assaulted by chechens on the bus trip from kaunas to vilnius. i guess us speaking russian and them being completely smashed wasn't a good combination. [huh] i did wish i had more time to spend touring the countryside, though. estonia and latvia were also wonderful.
to be honest, after spending so much time in central western russia, st. petersburg was...meh. to be sure the history and the palaces were beautiful (the hermitage alone is worth spending a week there for!!!), but there was something missing for me. after all these years i still can't put my finger on it. i loathe moscow like you wouldn't believe, but i preferred it to st. petersburg. maybe because my soul is there...in the form of the tret'yakov gallery.
boy...i could go on and on...so...stopping. now.

 

[Mike K.]

The things that crawl into my backyard...I just don't know sometimes!

Kinda makes you want to say - Crikey!! Have a look at this little beauty!

 

[JumpinHowie]

Here is my at the WWII Airborne Demonstration Team training. Its about a week and a half of training where they teach you everything you need, then send you out of a C-47 for 5 jumps to get your wings.
“Suspended Agony”

Drag Training

Sleeping arrangements

‘chuting up (Me on the right)

Loading up

That’s me upsidedown

Back on Terra Firma

Of a class of 27, only 9 of us got our wings.

 

[carebear]

Congrats on getting your wings.

Skydiving a rectangular chute is fun and all, but going out the door in full combat gear as part of a stick, that is something altogether different.

 

[Harp]

101st, a most excellent choice.

 

[StraightEight]

I didn't know they had an Airborn demonstration jump team. That looks fabulous. Why do people wash out?

A few from this year's excursions:

Lake Tahoe in the off season. Paradise. On our way to Utah.

Descending into The Maze district of Canyonlands NP. Eight hours of serious off-roading to reach our destination...

...which is here. A land of big skies and silence.The roof tent is made by Eezi-Awn of South Africa, whose motto is "We keep you out of the food chain." We've since moved it off this very nice Land Rover test vehicle and on to our own Mitsubishi Montero beater.

 

[JumpinHowie]

Why do people wash out?

Some of them cant make it through the tuff ground training. Others cannot perform the skills well enough and you are disqualified from jumping because they are worried you might injure yourself. Most wash out after the first or second jump. They get scared. First jump you don't know whatr to expect so it's not too hard. After that you know what it is like. And some people just can't bring themselves to do it again.

 

[Harp]

Any night jumps?

 

[carebear]

Any night jumps?

I closed my eyes on exit, technically all I ever did was night jumps.

 

[Harp]

I closed my eyes on exit....

Always screamed going out a Hook. lol

 

[JumpinHowie]

I closed my eyes on exit, technically all I ever did was night jumps.

HAHA, yup, all night jumps. Actually on my first jump I had perfect body position going out the door, but I freaked for a second in the air before the 'chute deployed and started flailing my arms until I figured out that was a great way to get stuck in the suspension lines, so I went back to the correct body position. That was the only time I opened my eyes on a jump.
Kinda funny how the body reacts sometimes. "Maybe if I don't see it, it's not happening"

 

[Harp]

...That was the only time I opened my eyes on a jump.

Check out your main/blown panels?

If my main don't open wide,
I've got another chute by my side;
If that one don't open well,
I've got a one-way ticket to hell.
If I die on a drop zone,
box me up and send me home.
Pin my wings upon my chest
and bury me in the front leanin' rest.

 

[Mojave Jack]

The things that crawl into my backyard...I just don't know sometimes!

Kinda makes you want to say - Crikey!! Have a look at this little beauty!

Nice little critter you got there, Mike! Looks like a successful capture. Was it a relocation?

I opted out on a capture of a spotted skunk a couple weeks ago, and completely missed out on a bobcat capture when I was out of the office. My buddy got a warning shot across the bow from the skunk, but it was a friendly little fella once he realized no one wanted to eat him. I was really bummed about missing the bobcat capture.

Descending into The Maze district of Canyonlands NP. Eight hours of serious off-roading to reach our destination...

Now that is awesome! I haven't been up to Utah since I've been here in the Mojave. I really have to get up there.

...which is here. A land of big skies and silence.The roof tent is made by Eezi-Awn of South Africa, whose motto is "We keep you out of the food chain." We've since moved it off this very nice Land Rover test vehicle and on to our own Mitsubishi Montero beater.

I've seen those rooftop tents, and always wondered about them. Are they convenient and comfortable? Seems like it would get you up into the breeze a bit more, if nothing else.

 

[The Wolf]

Alright, here are some pictures from when I used to rock climb. That was B.C. (before children).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/18534972@N08/

Sincerely,
The Wolf