La locanda was wonderful, and Montisi is a charming little place, but to be honest the only reason I even learned of it is because it is the launching point for Ballooning in Tuscany www.ballooningintuscany.com Flights leave very early in the morning to take advantage of the best wind conditions, so they suggest you stay locally the night before. I would second that. La locanda is less than a mile away from the launch site, you could walk there in 10 minutes if you wanted. I was afraid that the fog from the day before would repeat itself and ruin our views. My fears were justified, but Robert had anticipated this and set up a later flight for us.
In the meantime we decided to explore the surrounding area. Just about 7 miles from Montisi is the Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore. Deep in the woods and much larger than you would expect is a Monastery where the monks still live and carry on their traditional ways. The cloister is beautifully frescoed. They are restoring some of them, and I sat and watched the painter delicately touch up a purple robe. He was quite good, but with the precision he was using you can only imagine how long it’s going to take him to finish the whole thing. His restoration is going to need restoration when he’s finally done.
We started heading to Massa Marittima, but it was obvious that if we even made it there, we’d have to turn around immediately to get back in time for the flight. Instead we looped back around and found ourselves in the middle of the Banfi wine estate. It’s easy to see how they can produce 12 million bottles a year. The road was lined with Cypress trees, and through the breaks you could see row upon row of grape vines. It was a very nice ride, and very much the Tuscany that most people think of when they think of Italy.
Montalcino is also famous for it’s wines. I believe the Brunello is the biggest one. If you are into wine, this is a great place to be. I’d say that at least 3/4 of all the shops were wine shops. Most were direct from the farm type, so I imagine there were some decent deals to be found. Outside of the wine, the streets were very nice, everyone seemed to be proudly flying the flag of their neighborhood. There is a fortress and a couple of nice churches, but I’d say that the best thing to do here is to stroll around, sit have a glass of wine, stroll some more, drink another glass, and repeat this pattern until you are no longer capable of strolling. Oh, there is an interesting well with numerous small openings. You look inside expecting to see water, but inside there are 1000's of pairs of eyeglasses. Pretty strange!
It was time to head back to Montisi, and I was getting very excited. I’ve never been in a hot air balloon, and I can’t think of a much better place for my inaugural flight. The Tuscan landscape is great from the ground, I could only imagine what it was going to be like from the air. We met Robert and Liz in the field beside their house. They are an English couple who have been living in Italy for 15 years, and I doubt there is anyone who knows the area as well as Robert, at least from the air. You don’t realize just how big the balloon is until you see it deflated on the ground and start fanning air into it. You could literally fit hundreds of people inside. After there is a suitable amount of cold air pumped in to more or less inflate the “envelope” the burners are cranked up and it starts to rise vertically. We climbed in, Robert gave us the important instructions, and we gently lifted off the ground. It’s so smooth that you don’t even feel like you are going anywhere. Then you look down and realize that birds are flying underneath you. It was a beautiful day, but not completely free of haze. Robert pointed out that on a truly clear day you can see both coasts! Can you imagine? We floated around, and he pointed out villages, and told us about some of the farmers that owned the different plots of land below us. Ballooning is great, and the landscape was beautiful, but having someone fun and knowledgeable along like Robert was possibly the best part.
We started our descent into an open field while Robert was on the walkie-talkie with Liz. She follows behind in the 4x4 with the trailer. Shortly after landing she came rolling down a path, and before you know it there is champagne, wine, cheese, bread, fruit and more set up on the basket. We sat in some farmer’s field as the sun was setting, enjoying the treats and talking about our trip and our ideas. Then we loaded the equipment and rode back to the launch site. It wasn’t until we were driving in the car that I realized how far we’d actually traveled. I literally thought we had gone a couple of miles.
When you’ve finished you Ballooning in Tuscany experience you are presented with your certificate. The interesting part of the certificate is that it is decorated with a reproduction of an original watercolor commemorating the very first ever balloon flight. In Italian a hot air balloon is called a “Mongolfiera” and it was the Mongolfier brothers who piloted the first flight. This painting has sat on the wall in the family estate ever since it was completed. Basically nobody has ever seen it. But it just so happens that Robert and Liz are friends with the descendants of the Monglofier family and they gave them permission to borrow the painting and copy it. So you will have a little curious piece of history/art history in your possession.
We had to high tail it out of there at that point in order to make it to Livorno before our ferry left without us. The ferry takes about 7 hours to get from the mainland to Sardinia, so we decided to take the overnight boat and book a small cabin. It’s the longest I’ve ever been on a boat, and the first time I’ve ever slept on one. This boat was so big that you didn’t even notice that you were out at sea. It isn’t cheap, but it’s the only way to get a vehicle across, and if you subtract the cost of 2 night’s hotel from the ticket it isn’t really too bad.

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