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It’s the third time Béa and I have been on a hot air ballooning holiday in Todi, and just like the others, it’s wonderful. The weather is pretty much guaranteed to be flyable in the morning and because the weather is so hot in the afternoon, we never really do evening flights, so there’s no pressure. It’s more like a normal holiday with a bit of ballooning thrown in every morning

We joined for the second week – the ballooning festival lasts two weeks and we arrived on the Saturday in the middle, along with a few others who we’d never met whilst a bunch were leaving.

The adventures started before we even arrived – due to a temperamental radiator in one of our retrieve vehicles, as I was on the BA flight out, I didn’t know even if we were going to be picked up. As we landed at FCO, the relief as I listened to Andy’s message on my mobile was immense! It sounds silly, but I really don’t feel comfortable not knowing who / how we were going to be picked up. Todi (the town we’re staying in) is around 150km north of Rome…

Every time we’ve been, we’ve always stayed at a lovel farmhouse villa called La Mela, around 6km outside Todi. It’s a lovely place with a wonderful swimming pool, on the side of the hill where we can enjoy the view over the Umbrian hills. I’d really recommend it to anyone wanting a stay around Todi but not in a “hotel”.

So we finally arrive just before lunchtime, and the first thing to do after dumping our bags was to prepare lunchAnd, being Italy, of course, it just has to be pasta, tomato and mozzarella salads, lots of parma ham, watermelon, etc. Ahh yummm

After lunch, Emma and Tom started packing their bags as they were to carry on their Europe road trip. I’ve always been amazed just how much you can get into a mini! The timing of their visit couldn’t have been better as it really got us out of a hole after our retrieve car was out of action. We had an Avis hire van, but it can only really carry three people as the rear has no seats! So a big thanks to both of you!

And then they were off!

A few minutes later, we were all really surprised to hear there was a slight problem. The road track out of the villa back to the main road is just gravel and on a pretty steep hill, and the ditch claimed another victim!

Fortunately, it was all hands on deck to help out. The real issue was the fact the centre of the mini was beached on the edge of the ditch, and being loaded up, didn’t have enough clearance. So getting it out was not as simple as we first thought. At least we were all having fun!

Yup, it’s the front left that’s deepest in the ditch!

And so out came the Avis van to the rescue!

The following morning, we crewed for the flights. We had two balloons out in Italy this year; Jubilee (below) and Zigzag with the colourful patterns.

And off they go!

Here’s “Team Avis” with Zigzag about to launch

The light on the bottom corner is the morning sun, and we aim to be in the air between 6 and 7am.

One of the benefits of crewing in Italy is that you get all the nice Italian perks while you wait. After launching, those of us doing the retrieve pop down the local caffè for a morning latté and cornetti (stuffed croissant). Needless to say, the coffees are awesome and the croissants are lovely and fresh, filled with marmalade or a kind of custard. Just what we need after the workout launching!

After Jubilee and Zigzag landed and we pick them up and refuel, it’s time for the proper morning breakfast. Emilio’s is the local bar, and Nigel (Jubilee’s pilot) is a real regularWe often go there in the evenings for food (great pizzas and pastas). Andy had a penchant for some rather awesome raspberry yogurts.

And here’s Emilio, having his hair restyled.

As we’ve already had a morning coffee just after launch, we’re of course ready for beer by the time we get to breakfast. And no exceptions were allowed, so “piccolissimo”-sized beers were arranged

And the not so piccolo beer for the hardcore amongst us

Then it’s back to the villa for a bit of a rest then prepare lunch for later.

We decided to stay in the afternoon, just lounge around and relax. Time to try out the pool too. The villa is split up into several apartments and a Dutch family often stay there, and we’ve got to know them quite well. It’s great fun and we just play silly ball games in the pool. In true Dutch fashion, inspired by the national team’s football final at the World Cup, it was all fair play

Dipesh “Swiss” (he’s really handy with his Swiss army knife!) meditating over the pool.

Then develops the ability to fly like Superman. I’m sooo jealous!

And here’s NigelAlthough renowned for his grumpiness, I couldn’t see it at all.

That evening, it was really really hot and I couldn’t sleep. Popped outside and as the skies were so clear and I’d never taken any night shots before, I thought I’d give it a go. The very slight diagonal cloud is the Milky Way, at least I think!

Following morning flight – cold inflation assisted by the fan. Once the envelope is pretty much filled up, then we get some heat into it to get it vertical.

Cutting the fan once we’re getting upright.

Todi on the hill at dawn.

Béa enjoying the beautiful views over the Umbrian countryside.

Keeping an eye open for what’s above us!

The low sun early in the morning makes for some great shadows, and here we are bulls-eyeing Zigzag.

After landing, we pop into Emilio’s for breakfast and to get the address of the Avis van rental office in Terni. We could only have two named drivers on the van’s insurance and as we’d had a swap-over of people in the second week, we needed to pop round as it couldn’t be done over the phone.

Seb looking up the address!

And off to Terni! I didn’t need to ahead – Angie’s glasses provided perfect view of the road

Evening out at a local restaurant. Jess apparently didn’t like having her photo taken. But I never noticed!

Several of us were all out there with our cameras, and the new technology never ceases to amaze me. This shot was taken at ISO 12,800. It’s incredible what today’s sensors are able to pick up. This was in pretty much darkness!

View of Todi town square at night.

Kevin’s a PUT – pilot under tuition, part of the training process we all go through to get out P1 balloonist’s licence. Part of the training process involves log books and some paperwork. After a great first flight, Nigel’s providing the feedback

That afternoon, we went down to Orvieto. There’s a pretty impressive cathedral and an extensive network of underground caves. Everyone admiring the facade of the cathedral.

And here it is. I just wished I’d brought a wider angle lens to get it all in!

Apparently, most of the underground caves are privately owned as many of the houses have their own trap door to a private cave. We went on a visit to see a few of them. All of the caves are man made and the holes in the wall were dug out for pigeons. During times of siege, pigeons would be bred for food and people could sustain living for lengthy periods of time. Deep wells were dug for water, and as Orvieto is on a hill top, they had openings on the side where the birds could fly in and out of.

Group shot

Here’s one of those accidental shots. Not that I admire my feet, but it does make me look taller, so I rather like it

Back at Todi, the “major” street that exits the town is a rather lengthy and narrow road which goes back several hundreds if not thousands of years. And to think 20 years ago, it was two-way traffic. Must have been quite a sight with the legendary Italian patience at the wheel!

Flight of the following morning.

That afternoon, Emilio popped round with his lovely children and we spent most of the time fooling around in the pool.

Every year, the ballooning championships have a set of competitions called hare and hounds. The idea is that one balloon sets of before everyone else, and after a period of time, all the other balloons set of, chasing down the first. The “hare” will land somewhere and our challenge is to throw out a marker. The balloon with the closest marker to the hare’s landing spot wins.

Nigel’s been going to Todi for years, and as he had such a lead after two of the three competition flights, no one could catch him up on the last one so he won the cup!

Flight preparations the following morning – holding the mouth of the balloon open for cold inflation.

Jubilee and Zigzag inflating side by side.

And that evening, we decided to have a big barbecue. Lots of stuff grilled on the barbie and great food as always, thanks again Seb. In fact, it was so good that Nige awarded Seb with a never-obtained-before 5-grumps rating.

It was now our last flight. The week had flown by (no pun intended, honest!), and I thought I’d take a few photos to explain how it all works.

After the balloon is set out on the ground and cold inflation starts, the top of the balloon has a kind of detachable “parachute” that acts as an inverted bath plug. It seals the top of the balloon so the hot air doesn’t escape, but of course needs to be “removable” so when we land, we can let the hot air escape to allow us to deflate the balloon. The chute is initially attached with Velcro tabs, slightly offset from its natural position. This allows the pilot to deflate the balloon before taking off if anything should go wrong: there’s a rope called a rip line which you pull and it pulls the chute back towards the centre of the balloon (allowing the air to escape in the newly formed hole at the top). Once the inflation has completed and the balloon is upright, the pilot pulls on the rip line enough to unstick the Velcro tabs, then lets go to allow the chute to resume its natural position, sealing the top of the balloon.

Kevin and Seb are on the outside, matching up the Velcro bits.

Viewed from the outside.

Final visual checks before getting some heat in.

The basket is attached to the balloon envelope by four sets of flying wires. Each corner post of the balloon has a carabiner to link it all up, and allows the envelope to be detached from the basket for transport.

Inflation provided thanks to five Honda horses

Close up of the burners. They don’t always come in pairs, but most pilots have it set up this way – it provided a backup and gives you double the power should you need it in an emergency. Each burner is fed by two separate pipes – the thinner, lower one on the right is the pilot light. This goes to a gas cylinder in the basket and is fed from the “top” of the tank so it’s gas vapour. The tanks are filled with liquid propane gas, and whilst the pilot gets its gas feed from the top, the other pipe feeds the main burner which in turn has a long dip tube into the tank taking liquid gas.

Each burner has two levels of power – the normal full power is on the black lever in the middle. Swivel it down and you have an instant hot dog! There’s also a “whisper” lever which is less power, but quieter. We use it for finer control (it’s provides less heat) and more importantly, when flying over cattle so not to terrify them! The yellow valve in the middle is the cross flow valve. When open, actuating one of the burner’s gas levers will fire both burners simultaneously. Double power! And finally, there’s a pressure guage for each feed.

A variation to “the last supper” – “the last latte”. Thanks for the cheesy grins, guys! This looks soooo posed. OK, it was!

For our last afternoon, we went to Marmore, just next to Terni. Some amazing waterfalls.

I’d always wondered if there was an internal warning sign for waterfalls. There is

This tunnel passage is dug out about half way up the main waterfall and brings you out on a ledge where one experiences the best showering experience ever!

You can’t really see it in the low resolution photo, but we’re all getting absolutely soaked! It was truly addictive and I had to go back several times to experience the awesomeness of it all. Oh and I thank Nikon for water sealed bodies – the camera got soaked too!