Balloon Adventure Over Valle Umbra

Post author:jlupori
Post published:October 11, 2023
Post category:Blog / Culture / Travel
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Up, Up and Away in a Beautiful Balloon

The TandemSpirts have some very special friends who gave us a certificate for a Balloon ride for our 40th Anniversary. We were thrilled to receive this. We had done a balloon ride many years ago in Seattle, and have thought about going up with the pilot here.

Our reservation was for September 30th with Balloon Adventures Italy. We drove to the meet-up point at Dionigi Winery in Cantalupo. There were 19 people in the group. We were then driven to Cannara where the Balloon was almost ready to go. Our pilot, Peter, introduced himself and provided information about the balloon and safety instructions. Then everyone climbed into the basket and we were off.

A Video Taken by Captain Peter

Riding in a balloon has got to be one of life’s greatest pleasures. It is such a gentle ride – calm, peaceful and quiet. You don’t feel the balloon rising higher and higher. Nor do you feel it moving lightly along the valley. Peter talked about what we were seeing and gently turned the balloon around from time to time to ensure that everyone got a good view of all there is to see in our beautiful region.

Peter took us to an altitude that was higher than Mount Subasio (About 1524 Meters or 5000 Feet). Once we had reached that altitude, he called air-traffic control to let them know he was in flight. The vistas were stunning – the towns, the fields, the various mountain ranges in the distance. We could see all the way to Tuscany to the west. We also watched a plane take off from the local airport.

Landing - The Tricky Part!

Landing is the tricky part. The pilot never knows exactly where he’s going to end up. There are a lot of fields in the area, but he doesn’t want to land in an empty field as it will get the balloon all muddy, and he also has to avoid landing in one where crops are growing.

He was able to find a field of cover crops and obtained an OK from the owner to land. Once we were on the ground, he again called air-traffic control to let them know we had landed safely.

Once we landed, the ballon had to be deflated, folded up and loaded onto his truck. His staff did this with some help from the clients.

Breakfast at the Dionigi Winery

Once everything was put away, we were driven back up to Dionigi winery for a breakfast, winery tour and wine tasting. Our meal included local salumi and cheeses accompanied by various wines. Peter was fun to talk with, as were our fellow adventurers. We may have also come home with a bottle of wine or twelve.