from above

7 people floated into the air in a cozy wicker basket. We were 1500 ft above ground, and I wasn't as scared as I thought I would be. I didn't feel that funny tickle in my stomach, the one you get when you go really high up on a rollercoaster.

Jin and I finally went air ballooning! We were planning to do it for our anniversary, but the weather was not cooperating then. We were lucky we only had to wait a month later to take flight. I think it was better that we waited, we got to see some autumn colours.

We took flight at dawn, so it was very peaceful. We floated above farms, and some dogs were barking at us from below, but they looked like tiny tiny ants from where we were.

After we landed, we all had a toast of champagne! It is a ballooning tradition, dating back to the first balloon flight from Paris in 1783. Farmers thought that the hot air balloon that landed in their field were demons falling from the sky, and they came after it with pitchforks. The pilots offered the farmers champagne, to prevent them from destroying their balloon!

We had a more friendly greeting when we landed, farmer's children in their pyjamas happily running towards us instead!