Hot Air Ballooning in Tuscany

My Ballooning Experience

Here you will find some useful information to experience a rush of adrenaline through hot air ballooning in Tuscany.
I have experienced hot air ballooning in Tuscany before and I think this is a wonderful way to discover Tuscany from a very different perspective indeed!!

Yes, when you landed in Florence (did you land in Rome? Too bad..) you might have had a glimpse of what a hot hair ballooning experience in Tuscany might be!
Or may be not? Well, lets' see...A hot air ballooning ride starts on the field, when the balloon is still uninflated, the basket is tumbled on one side, and everybody is running around trying to make it possible for the balloon to get in as much hot air as it is needed to tilt the basket back into position and see the ballon get its right shape!

This moment is absolutely thrilling... you feel like a kid before going on a roller coaster for the first time... you don't know what to do, and ask lots of questions to the pilot, which gladly answers them. His job is also to make you feel confident in the means of transportation you are about to jump in... it makes it all the more enjoyable. You watch the flame heat the air inside the balloon, then watch the air get a little colder and sucking in more air, which gets heated immediately with a deafening sound of flame thrower...

Sooner than you would think, the balloon is nice and plump, and next thing you know you are in, shaking like a leaf, grabbing the border of the large basket with you heands, clenching your fingers in the intertwined hay, familirizing with this ancient but oh-so-new flying contraption....

The basket rises gently, almost effortlessly, giving you the impression that you are still and the Earth is actually moving away. All of the sudden a little vertigo gets in you as you realize it's the contrary and you are actually flying!
The breeze becomes stronger and you move with it, observing how this perspective and the precariousness of your situation makes everything magical, unique, just a once in a lifetime experience.

The light of the Sun blurs the contour of the mountains and hills that you are now commanding from afar. The art patchwork that composes the Tuscan country side rolls away underneath you, around you, everywhere... nature seems to be in awe at the miracle of you flying, and as everybody on the hot air balloon is feeling this magic, the silence becomes absolute, and you are bewildered by the spectacular match that a perfectly silent motion composes with the Tuscan landscape.

To be there I had to renounce to the fear of death. I refused to think about what could go wrong in such a situation (however nowadays very little), and just abandoned myself to the idea that if I should fall, I would be ready to die then and there. With this my inner peace was complete. I was really living as if those were my last life moments, tasting every element I could feel, enjoying the least important memories of family and friends, feeling every single inch of my skin and rediscovering the touch of my fingers on my hands.

When I got off the basket I stepped back onto the usual world, but I still feel that this experience has enriched me on so many levels of perception and life consideration that I can definitely compare this to a religious (meant in the broad sense)experience.

The organizers that had come to pick us up also brought us back. We were a group of 6 people (the maximum for a basket) and we paid 220 euros each, plus 50 or 60 euros of pick up and drop off service.

The organizers work off Tavernelle Val di Pesa. I will be posting soon their new website and number. The reservation can be made through credit card.
The organizers also provide with Honey Moon Hot Air Ballooning tours for a price of 450 Euros to let the groom and bride enjoy this spectacular experience all alone!