A few weeks ago the opportunity presented itself to take place in a big basket and take a ride with Archimedes. The experience was simply incredible. Usually, a thrill ride is associated with break-neck speeds and tight corners. This was something else entirely. Shocking discovery number one: The thrill is in the tranquility! imagine that!Usually, things are made more exciting by adding things. Adding speed, adding sound, adding sensations. But this relied on the art of leaving things out. No speed, No sound and no tremors. Until only the bare experience remained. It was sensational.
As we took off effortlessly, you could feel that everyone on board understood. No loud OOHH's and AAHH's. There was silence. This silence quickly lead to shocking discovery number two: The sound you pick up from the ground. Even in a sailplane, the sound of the air rushing past the cockpit blocks out the sound from the ground. In the total silence of ballooning, the sounds from people on the ground could reach our ears uninterupted. And Oh my god, people make a lot of noise! people yelling, dogs barking, cars honking their horn, it was like hovering over a chickenfarm! And the fact that we floated above all this sonic madness made us feel like we were somehow not part of it all. Only briefly, it felt like we could see our world from outside. Is this what it is like to see the earth from space?
As we were gliding along, shocking discovery number three was nearing swiftly: Our landing and our re-insertion into the madhouse we so quietly observed only moments ago. A strong breeze blew us along fast as the basket hit the field we were landing in. The giant balloon tore us along the ground violently and toppled our basket over. People were fallling onto each other, yelling, laughing, cries of relief... we were back on the planet.
Jeroen Breukels
