As I said yesterday, the oft-postponed balloon flight happened at last, and having been really quite nervous about it it was a relief to find it was actually very enjoyable - I did feel 'vulnerable' at times when I thought about being 3,000 feet up in an open basket with only a thin canopy filled with hot air (and of course the expertise of the pilot, Peter) keeping us there, but I'm sure we were very safe and so I concentrated on making the most of it, but yes I was glad to get back down to earth!
What was wonderful though, apart from just being out in the stillness of the early morning, was seeing the landscape from above and the features that perspective brings out, e.g. the earthworks (below), which you might not detect from ground level.
We took off from just outside West Linton and flew ten or eleven miles west over farmland and sporting estates on the edge of the Pentland Hills (for the literary connection look here) eventually touching down again in a field near Carnwath.
The weather over the course of the hour we were in the air was mostly beautifully clear but for a sudden bank of cloud which engulfed us - disconcertingly - for a moment or two until we rose above it.
As we landed and packed up the balloon prior to having a celebratory glass of champagne - in a field at 8 am - so the very smart University of Edinburgh balloon which took off from the same spot just after us made its descent and landed a short way beyond us.
Would I do it again? Yes, I would, and I'd recommend Alba Ballooning who fly from Perthshire, Lothian, the Borders and Northumberland. It's a marvellous way to see the country, a unique experience, and I've lived to tell the tale. My thanks again to the very generous friend whose gift to us this was.
