Parade of crews

It's finally over
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In every one of these towns during the sailing festival, the organizers put on a parade of crews for the local townspeople. And today was the day!

Apparently the group that came sailing on this trip had done so numerous times before for Tall Ships Races and had a running joke with one of the other Russian tallships. So among all the Polish flags and chants, we had a "NAS NIEDOGONIAT" poster that took up the whole street. The whole thing was pretty uneventful. I mean, we walked around the street of Antwerp chanting and showing Polish pride. It was pretty sweet, but after a while got a little bit tiring.

When will this torture end?

Nas Niedogoniat
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The whole parade was over by around noon and we had nothing else to do. I still didn't know this crew very well so it was kind of weird to suggest activities as the outsiders. Someone had heard that they had set up a bungee jumping area and we decided to go check it out. HELL YEAH, it was true. In the middle of the dock area there was a fucking tall-ass crane that just happened to have people jumping off of it.

After inquiring about the cost and realizing it was FREE we hopped in line and waited our turn. I'd never been bungee jumping but had always wanted to go so this seemed like the perfect opportunity! Free and in Belgium! SWEET!!! The line moved really slowly cuz they only had one crane and all these people wanting to go. To pass the time and entertain everyone else, the employees would look around and try and find the girliest girl standing in line. They'd then attach a microphone to her so everyone heard her scream. It was hilarious to hear this loud shrieking reverberating through Antwerp. Good thing they didn't attach it to me cuz all they would've heard was one long "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!
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When it came my turn, my weight put me (safely) between two different cords, and naturally to get more bounce, I chose the thinner one. I don't think that was such a good idea. They put the harness on and attached the cord to my feet (and also the torso, just in case) and away I went. On the way up the guy is chatting you up the whole time so you don't get scared and cop out. Your back is to the edge of the edge of the crate so you don't even realize how high up you are, that is, until you get to the top and are above all the masts of the tallest tallships in the world. The blow-up mattress that's supposed to save your life if the bungee breaks has shrunk to about one-inch square, from its previous 6-foot high 100 feet square size.

Alcoholic Christmas
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The dude tried to convince me to turn around as soon as we got to the top, but I had to know how high we were before I could jump off this things. It's only sixty meters, he said. Not too bad. And then this is how it went down. He asked me to turn around, put my feet on the edge of the crate, and stick my arms out to the side. Then it was "1, 2, 3" and as soon as he reached 3, he *gently* pushed me off the thing. HOLY CRAP! If he hadn't done that, I may've been up there for another 10 minutes too scared to jump off myself.

Tallship by night
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That free-fall definitely felt like more than 60 meters. It's like it wouldn't stop. And this whole time I'm praying in between "fuck"s and "shit"s. Then finally the cord catches me and bounces me back up. BUT my feet are somewhat entangled in the bottom and it's somewhat unpleasant. So the whole time I'm thinking, "When will this torture end?"

It eventually does and I dangle in shock as they try and unhook me. Scary as fuck! We're late for dinner because of the 2-hour wait time, but they've saved some for us, so all is good. Afterwards we try for another go at it, but the lines are even longer than before and I really don't want to wait that long.

But another form of entertainment rolls around, in the form of a shopping cart full of duty-free booze. Holy crap! This shit is gonna last us a while. It's like Christmas for adults: beer, vodka, gin (in what looks like a gasoline bottle)--all the wonders of the alcoholic world!

We stowed all the vodka in the freezer and went off to see the tallships by night. It was a beautiful sight. We took the ferris wheel to the top and were above practically all of the masts of the boats. Holy crap, it was majestic.

Eventually we got tired and headed back to the boat for some festivities. Since I had renewed my energy for part two of this sailing adventure, I was good to go to drink with the Poles and our neighboring Scots.