"Dingo" Dave's rants and raves

I conquered my fear of heights and went up the Eiffel Tower today.

I waited in line for nearly three hours, and only discovered when I got to the head of the line that it was for the stairs! I couldn't see the sign from where the line ended, so at that point I was committed. Took me twenty minutes to go up the first set of stairs to the 1st level, where I stopped for water and a donut. Then I started on the second set of stairs.

Of course, this is when my fear of heights kicked in big time. The stairs are all open, with just heavy chicken wire between you and a fall of several hundred feet. So I concentrated on my legs and getting up the stairs instead, and finally made it to the second level.

As you can see, we were entertained on the ground waiting in line by a group of the local police doing rappels down from the tower. Several came all the way down from the second level head first. I kept thinking that if that was me, I'd be swinging up there and frozen in place! LOL

Once I made it to the second level, I didn't have to climb stairs any more. We PACKED everyone into the lift and made a five minute trip to the top.

The architecture of the tower itself fascinated me. The grid work between the legs and on the legs themselves was so intricate, but didn't look like it could hold the weight of the tower above.

But the views were spectiacular, and with the breeze blowing at that height, about 1000 feet up, it was a pleasant day. Waiting in line, I was sweating from the heat, and believe me, it was the best part of the trip up! At least I didn't freeze up when I got to the top! I was proud that I could actually look down and take pictures at that point.