[Amigo] > [Bob Hurlbett flight index]

Bob Hurlbett
September 2005
Italy

After a long, 19 1/2 hour return flight on Thursday, I'm still jet-lagged but buzzing from our flirtation with the Italian Alps.  Benson and I logged 8 straight days of flying from, I think, 14 different launches.  With Greg Knudson and local pilots, Grace and her husband, Paolo, as our guides, we began this odyssey in the pre-Alps surrounding the gorgeous terrain of Lago (Lake) Maggiore NE of Milan, then west to Mt. Baldi overlooking Lago di Garda, then west, again, to Bassano de Grappa and Feltre on the southern edge of the Dolomites.

Sharon and Sylvia joined us during our first several days of flying with accommodations provided by Lela Knudson's family in their villa overlooking the eastern shore of Lago Maggiore near Intra.  On our second night in town, 35-40 local pilots hosted a welcoming party for the visiting Topa pilots (including Sara, of course) that included dinner (4 courses or 5, I lost track), more local wine, grappa and a citrus fizz (the name of which I missed somehow) than we were capable of consuming.  Still jet lagged on the front-end, we had a wonderful time until the wee hours, talking at length with our hosts who rarely spoke a word of English but for whom paragliding was, indeed, an international language.

From huge, manicured launches to LZs the size of football fields, always with a windsock and absolutely never a cross-word from local land owners, we saw paragliding from a new perspective--a country where our sport is accorded official sanction and is openly accepted by the non-flying public--what a concept!  Near Bassano and Feltre we enjoyed the hospitality of two pubs/restaurants/hotels devoted exclusively to pilots!

Ron Faoro, Tom and Debbie Pipkin joined us in a mountain-top hotel near Bassano where, for about 45 to 65 Euros/night (single or double occupancy) we received breakfast each morning and, in the evening, a delicious many-course dinner complete with all the wine we could drink and sinful deserts personally prepared by the chef who regularly visited our table to be sure we weren't missing anything.  The owner was a friend of Grace and Paolo and we were treated like members of an extended family.

Although the weather was sometimes overcast and, on the last day, rainy, the flying was incredibly picturesque and the thermals lacked the desert edgy-ness so common in California.  Of our crew, Ron had the longest out-and-back, Benson had the most flights in one day and I had the farthest from launch.

Pics to follow.