Montserrat Hot Air Balloon Flight, Half Day from Barcelona

Montserrat rises straight out of the Catalan plain, a wall of rounded stone pillars whose serrated profile gave the mountain its name, with the Benedictine abbey set on a ledge partway up. From a balloon basket the whole massif is in view at once instead of one face at a time. The flight is over the countryside inland from Barcelona, not above the city itself. Barcelona is where the half day starts. Flights run through the year and go up early, when the wind is calm and the air cool and stable. Hot coffee and croissants are handed out at the launch site, and passengers who want to can help lay out and inflate the balloon before boarding. Time in the air is about an hour. The pilot stays in permanent contact with the ground crew, who follow the balloon and are waiting at whichever field it comes down in. What passes below depends on the area chosen on the day. The meeting point is on the C-16 at kilometre 59, near Sallent, where a driver waits. After landing, the crew packs the balloon away and the traditional Champagne toast follows, with local cheese and sweet wine to taste. The pilot signs a personal flight certificate before the group heads back.