Eighteen Years, and a Balloon
This year my husband Oscar and I hit eighteen years married. Nineteen years together. We have known each other since 2003, which means our marriage is now a full legal adult, and that's something worth celebrating properly.
There was one small problem. We didn't actually get to spend our anniversary together. I was here in Montepulciano, and he was still in the States, flying over a couple of days later to spend a week and a half with me. So instead of letting the date pass quietly, I decided to save the celebration and make it into something neither of us would forget.
I have always wanted to ride in a hot air balloon. Doing it over the Tuscan countryside with the man I have spent half my life with seemed like the kind of idea you don't talk yourself out of.
How It Came Together
A few weeks before, I got in touch with my friend Sandy, who plans trips and excursions for travelers coming to this part of Italy. I remembered her mentioning that her clients love hot air balloon rides, and that stuck with me. She passed along Simone's contact information; Simone runs the flights.
Simone was wonderful from the very first message. We picked a date and then stayed in touch about the weather, which matters more than you might think. Fall is a beautiful time to fly here, with the light turning golden and the vines changing color, but it is also the edge of the rainy season. We originally planned a morning flight and moved it to the afternoon, which turned out to be the better call.
If you are booking a balloon ride in Tuscany, expect the date to be firm and the time to be flexible. Operators watch conditions carefully, and a shifted time slot is a sign they are doing their job.
Pickup at the Gate
I don't have a car here, which I mentioned to Simone, and he offered to pick us up right outside the historic center gate. That one detail took all the stress out of the day. Fifteen minutes later we pulled into an enormous open field where his team had already begun unrolling the balloon.
I had never seen a hot air balloon up close. I knew they were big. They have to be big to lift people off the ground. But I had no idea how enormous ours would be, blue and white and red, stretching farther across the grass than I could have imagined.
Watching the crew work was half the experience. They slowly filled the envelope at first with a huge fan, to get air circulating so it would start to take shape, then switched to the hot-air burners. The basket was still lying on its side while all of this happened, and that is when one of them said, " Come in, come in, do you want a picture?” So we have a photo of the two of us standing inside the balloon itself while it inflated around us. I did not know that was something you could do, and it is now one of my favorite images from the whole trip.
Then they righted the basket, and we climbed in one at a time. Little indents built into the side, like a mini ladder, helped the crew lift us up and over.
Up, and Then Tuscany in Every Direction
Before I knew it, off we went.
If you are nervous about the lift-off part, let me put your mind at ease. It is slow. There is no stomach flip, nothing like the push of an airplane taking off or the drop of a roller coaster. You notice that the ground is further away than it was a minute ago. When the wind picked up, we moved a little faster, but the whole flight stayed gentle and easy.
Simone and one colleague flew with us. We were in the air a little after five in the afternoon, which meant we had that long, soft, late light that makes this part of Italy look like a painting. We stayed up roughly thirty to forty-five minutes. The wind was a bit uncooperative at one point, and we dipped down partway before the crew brought us back up, which honestly just extended the fun.
And what we could see from up there. The outline of Montepulciano sitting on its ridge in the far distance. Lake Trasimeno shining off in the other direction. Hills and farmland and cypress and vineyard as far as the eye could go, in every single direction.
Simone and his team brought grapes and a bottle of prosecco, popped the cork at altitude, and we toasted eighteen years of marriage somewhere above the Tuscan countryside. I don’t think I will ever top that one.
In a Hot Air Balloon, Everywhere Is Your Runway
As the sun started to set, it was time to come down. And here is the thing about balloons I hadn't fully considered beforehand: you don't land where you planned to land. You land where the wind lets you.
Simone and his colleague steered us toward another open area and brought us down smoothly. Neither Oscar nor I realized until we were on the ground that we had just landed in the front yard of somebody's home. A very large front yard, but a front yard all the same.
Two women came out to meet us, what looked like a woman and her mother. I braced a little. They were not annoyed in the slightest. They were delighted. Simone thanked them for letting us set down, and they told him how wonderful it was to look outside and find a hot air balloon in the yard. Oscar and I thanked them too, and the whole exchange was so warm and so unbothered that it became one of my favorite parts of the afternoon. Very Italian, in the best way.
While the crew deflated and packed up the balloon, Oscar and I had a picnic right there in the grass: Prosecco, salami, cheese, grapes, and that good Tuscan bread. Toasting your anniversary in a stranger's yard at sunset after falling out of the sky is not something I would have thought to plan, and it was perfect.
What to Know Before You Book
A few things I learned that might help you plan your own flight.
Fall flying is gorgeous, but it comes with a catch. Autumn light and colors are hard to beat, but you are also heading into the rainy season. Build in flexibility, and do not schedule your balloon ride for the last morning of your trip.
Expect the time to move. Our flight shifted from morning to afternoon based on conditions, and the afternoon was better. Stay in touch with your operator and trust their read on the weather.
You don’t need a car. Simone picked us up just outside the historic center gate and drove us about fifteen minutes to the launch field, then back to the city wall at the end. Ask about pickup when you book, especially if you are staying inside the walls where driving is restricted anyway.
Plan for the whole evening, not just the flight. We were in the air for about thirty to forty-five minutes, but between inflation, the flight, the landing, and packing up, it is a lovely, slow couple of hours. Do not book dinner too tightly behind it.
Bring something to toast with. Nobody told me I could pop a bottle of prosecco in the sky. Now you know. (Or know to at least ask!)
Bring a real camera, or at least a charged phone. Oscar and I came home with an absurd number of photos and videos, and I am not sorry about a single one. The crew also offered to take pictures of us several times without being asked, which tells you they do this often and they are good at it.
Was It Worth It?
Yes. Without hesitation.
If you’re considering a balloon ride over the hills of Tuscany, whether it is for a birthday, an anniversary, a honeymoon, or simply because you have always wanted to, I think you should do it. It is romantic without being fussy. It is beautiful in a way photos only partly carry. Most people never get to do it, which makes it feel like a gift you give yourselves.
Eighteen years in, Oscar and I have celebrated plenty of anniversaries. This is the one I’ll be telling people about for a long time.
Planning a trip to Montepulciano and want help building a day you will still be talking about years later? I would love to hear what you have in mind.
