欧州「最高」のブランコでベルリンを一望 ドイツ

【ベルリンＡＦＰ＝時事】ドイツ・ベルリンに「欧州で最も高い場所にあるブランコ」が登場した。（写真は地上１２０メートルの高さでブランコをこぐパスカルさん。ドイツ・ベルリンで）
　同市最新のアトラクションは今年６月、４０階建てのホテルの屋上に設置された。すぐそばには旧東ベルリンを象徴するテレビ塔がある。
　利用者はハーネスを装着してブランコに乗り、最高地点では１２０メートル下に地面を見ることになる。
　３６歳の誕生日にブランコに挑戦したのはメディア業界で働くパスカルさん。最初はこわばった笑顔を見せていたが、「何回か行ったり来たりしているうちにすっかり慣れた。開放感を味わえた」とＡＦＰに話した。
　料金は５分間で約２０ユーロ（約３２００円）。６月にオープンして以来、１日当たりの利用者は１００人を超える。
　ブランコを設置した会社の責任者は「シンプルで気軽に体験できるものをつくりたかった」と話す。同社は以前、同じホテルの屋上からパラシュートを着けて飛び降りるアトラクションを運営していたが、こちらの人気はいまいちだったという。
　これまでは、オランダ・アムステルダムの１００メートルの高さに設置されたブランコが欧州最高だった。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/08/23-19:48）

Pascal Vent let out a nervous laugh as he peered down at the ground from Berlin's newest tourist attraction, a swing on the top of a 40-storey tower block.
Billed as the highest swing in Europe, the contraption on top of a hotel next to Berlin's famous TV tower is a novel way to take in the city -- with a dose of adrenaline thrown in.
Once strapped into a harness, customers are propelled forward so that when they are at the high point of the swing, there is nothing between them and the ground 120 metres (nearly 400 feet) below.
After the first few swings, you get used to it and you feel free, said Vent, a media worker who wanted to try out the swing for his 36th birthday.
I came here to feel a bit younger, he said.
The swing, which charges around 20 euros ($22) for five minutes, has attracted more than 100 visitors a day since it opened in June.
Victoria Voigt, a 34-year-old care worker, discovered the attraction via social media.
It feels a bit like flying, she said.
Wendy Sorice, a 30-year-old hotel worker, described the experience as an adrenaline rush and said she could happily have done it for longer than five minutes.
But her boyfriend was not so enthusiastic -- overcome by vertigo, he stayed on the ground to film her instead.
We wanted to create something simple and easy to access, said Andi Hoefer, managing director of the company that set up the swing, which operates several attractions in Germany.
The company had previously offered base jumping from the top of the building, but it attracted only limited interest.
The swing offers some competition for the 368-metre TV tower, a famous symbol of the former East Germany with sweeping views across Berlin.
They have sloping windows, but we have a terrace and fresh air, Hoefer said.
And the fact the attraction beats the record for the highest swing in Europe, previously held by a 100-metre swing in Amsterdam? Pure chance, he said.