VOLARE!

Who has never dreamed of flying?
Several friends of mine, during this period, say that living most of their time at home leads them to dream more. Maybe they dream as before and, on waking, less worried and distracted, they remember the dreams better. Perhaps the mind, compressed between four walls, has an extreme need for wide horizons, open spaces, free movements, in a word, to fly.

It has happened to me, since social distancing limits movement, to calmly observe the landscape around me and … see beyond. I direct my gaze to the hills south-west of our house and, beyond the hills, “I see” the beach of Cavi, Sestri Levante and beyond. If the eyes rest on the hills east of Villa Paggi, images of Zoagli, Rapallo are formed in my mind, and “I see” as if flying over a bird’s eye, all the jagged Ligurian coast up to Portofino, Camogli, etc. The images of beloved places, now unreachable, materialize as if by magic.

Dreaming during sleep and daydreaming, desire for boundless spaces, desire for lightness … where does all this lead me? It leads me to rethink the lucky ones, observed many times with my nose up, who launch themselves with a paraglider from the top of the hill of Paggi, hover in the air as if they were weightless, exploit the upward currents, make large vaultings, finally land over there in the valley.

And here I call Marco “Sky” Bini, known months ago when, on the occasion of a flight in the area, he visited us at Villa Paggi, and I explain my dream to him: I want to launch myself, even if I am a little afraid. He reassures me, Liguriadventure has been offering tandem flight for years, bringing many people, even beginners, to sail in paragliding, flying over the sea and the mountains of Liguria. For Marco the air is like the rest of us common bipeds, the land, he flies by paragliding since 2000, he first introduced the Paragliding Tandem flight in Liguria, therefore he is the right person, thanks to his great experience, to ensure that my first launch will be an emotion to live safely.

Are you curious? Do you want to try? That’s a deal, as soon as we will be free to travel again, let’s go, let’s run, let’s fly!

Vooolaaareee oh oh…