The last time I faced my fear of heights was about 3 years ago when I was driven up along the Costa Brava by a friend to take part in what I was lead to believe was a fun initiation class into Scuba Diving!
Dressed in flip flops and a summer dress I had mentally prepared myself to meet with the deep sea world for the first time. I was a little anxious and tried a few times to back out en route but after driving 1.5 hours and on arrival at our destination my fears and anxiety quadrupled when I discovered that my friend had played an awful trick on me and I was actually booked to do a SKYDIVE…………..!!! After the tears and panic subsided however I took part in what transpired to be one of the most awesome and breathtaking experiences ever and I lived to tell the tale. I did swear blind however that I would never again put my body through that freaky sensation it underwent as I threw myself off an aircraft and fell through sky for 1 whole minute before my instructor pulled the chute!
Anyway a few weeks ago when a group of 20 guys approached Lifestyle Barcelona about the possibility of organising a group Bridge Jump we were thrilled to make it happen! The guys were very excited about jumping off a bridge 65m above ground level. Some of the group had done this type of activity before but for others, although it was to be their first time and they were gripped by fear, it would have been an even worse feat to be the only guy not to jump! The girls in the office were all so excited about the prospect of this mass jump that by the time the date approached (2nd August 2008) a group of us had decided to accompany the group to the jump zone as supporting spectators and to capture everything on camera. We had an amazing time encouraging the clients and capturing the before and after footage of each client as they flung themselves off the bridge overlooking grassy woodland. Most of them jumped although a few of them came up with the most creative excuses for not joining in! We were there for about 4/5 hours filming all kinds of dives, back flips and lunges off the bridge – it was great!
However, to this day I still cannot tell you at what stage one of the instructors had managed to persuade me to don a harness and helmet!? “Not now not ever” I repeatedly told him. It still brings me out in a cold sweat when I recall the thumping of my heart, the spinning in my head and the numerous voices calling out a countdown for me as I stood poised on the wrong side of the bridge preparing to hurl myself off it! What the hell had gotten in to me!!?? After his 3rd attempt at a countdown failed to produce the necessary results the instructor came over tome to ensure I understood at which point I was supposed to let go ….. I understood exactly what was expected of me, I had just frozen and couldn’t let go! Finally however, the pressure mounting (my pride now wouldn’t allow me to climb back over the bride and admit defeat!), mouth totally dry and my mind blank I let go of the bridge and fell 65 meters through the air not able to comprehend what was happening! Arms and legs flailing wildly and eyes wide open with panic I suddenly reached the end of the ropes stretch and swung under the bridge coming up high on the other side. I swung back and forth like a pendulum under the bridge a few more times until I was gently lowered to a soft landing. I had done a Bridge Jump and lived to laugh, cry and scream about it! The adrenalin rush and the buzz I felt and still feel now when I recall the experience make it one of the most memorable experiences I have ever felt during my 5 years working with Lifestyle Barcelona! For those of you who have never tried this activity yet………..you haven’t lived!! The girls were so proud of me and secretly I was hugely proud of me too!
What would make a group of guys decide to fly to Barcelona and jump off a bridge?? It does not spring to mind immediately as you write your list of top ten things to do in Barcelona does it? Well for James Goldstone and his group, thats exactly what they did last week. Accompanied by 4 of our staff who decided that anything the guys could do, they could do as well. It was a fun day out for all and we had a real pleasure working with James and his group, they were a really nice charming bunch of guys!!!
This month sees Lifestyle join the Global Experience Alliance(GEA). The G.E.A. is a directive that has been spearheaded by RedletterDays UK (www.redletterdays.co.uk) The UK´s market leader in the gift experience market. Since 1989 Redletterdays has been pioneering the whole idea of giving unique experiences as gifts for birthdays anniversaries and other special occasions. After extended discussions and a study of our business model, Lifestyle were cordially invited to join the alliance in a meeting which took place in Verona, Italy in July.
Already part of the G.E.A. are the market leaders of Italy Wish days (www.elation.it) and market leaders in Germany, Yamando (www.yamando.de). The idea of the G.E.A. is to offer customers a wider spread of experiences around the world with exactly the same dedication to customer service that has made each company a leader in their own countries.
As the market leaders in Spain, we are proud to be members of the G.E.A. ´…this allows us to share more experiences with our clients, now its not just a trip with the FC Barcelona footballers or a Behind the scenes tour of a bull fighting arena that we will offer.. ´says Kristjan Kristjansson one of the directors of Lifestyle, ´we can now offer some once in a lifetime experiences in Italy, Germany and the UK´
We are now looking to add more members to the alliance which will grow quite quickly over the next few months as we search for the market leaders in key areas worldwide.
The website will soon be launched and the next meeting of the G.E.A. will take place in our very own Barcelona on the 22nd - 24th September.
Yesterday I was fortunate enough to see a very interesting and mind boggling spectacle. The spectacle I elude to was one of hundreds upon hundreds of motorbikes (mainly Harleys), cruising down the streets of Barcelona. It transpired that by far the world´s most famous “motorcycle” (I apologise to all you Harley enthusiasts for swearing), had just finished celebrating it´s 105th anniversary.
The four day event, which closed yesterday culminating in a parade of flags in, which for more than an hour over saw approximately 10,000 Harley-Davidsons cruising through the streets of Barcelona. As I understand it has been acclaimed as the largest gathering of motorcycles to have ever taken place in Spain, according to Sue Nagel, the Europa Press director of Harley Owners Group, which also celebrated its 25th anniversary this year.
Official attendance figures has it that over a million visitors came to check out this king of the “biking world” and that there were 18,000 Harley-Davidsons on display over the four days of the exhibition. The Barcelona Harley Day exhibition was held at the famous Fira de Montjuic with the additional benefit of being absolutely free.
