Pre-Pyrenees Private Hot Air Balloon, Barcelona Pick-Up

On a clear morning the view from the basket holds a good part of Catalonia at once. The rock wall of Montserrat. The Pyrenees behind it, and the forked outline of the Pedraforca. The wooded massifs of Montseny Natural Park, the old town of Vic below, and the Mediterranean as a pale line at the far edge. Barcelona can appear too when visibility allows, which is the clearest way to describe where this flight goes: up over the Pre-Pyrenean countryside, with the city on the horizon rather than under the basket. The balloon is private. A group, a family or a couple flies alone with the pilot, so nobody else is in the basket and there is no shared booking to fit around. The operator says its baskets have doors to climb in through, which most balloons do not have, and describes its pilots as having thousands of flights behind them and good knowledge of the area. Pick-up is in Barcelona, at Plaça Urquinaona, five minutes from the Ramblas, and a minivan drives the group about 35 minutes out of the city to the launch field. After landing there is a cava toast, the local Catalan sparkling wine, with soft drinks and pastries for anyone not drinking. Each passenger gets a first flight certificate. The photos and videos taken by the pilot and the ground crew are sent over at the end of the flight.