Balloon Flight over Monsaraz and the Alqueva, with Champagne Toast

The Alentejo changes as you cross it, and an hour in a balloon is enough to see where. To the north the fields are green and worked. Further south the ground turns dry: gold cornfields, holm oaks and olive trees standing apart from each other, each with its own shadow at that hour. Where you actually go is decided by the wind, not by a route. Below at some point are the schist walls and the narrow streets of Monsaraz, a medieval village on its hill, and the water of the Alqueva dam, which since it filled has been the largest artificial lake in Europe. The morning begins on the ground with the envelope laid out flat, and the first surprise for most passengers is how big it is once the fans and then the burners bring it upright. After that you climb into the basket. A champagne toast closes the flight.