 Pear Orchard |
Tony was soon by my side, and we resumed our journey. We stopped off for breakfast on the way. We were sat by a large group of Japanese tourists, part of a coach party, who were also having a break. I was mesmerised by one of their party, a Sumo wrestler sized lad who delicately devoured a huge ice cream. He could have swallowed the lot whole, but he diligently hacked away at it with a tiny plastic spoon.
The temperature climbed as we fought our way on, images of Wilfred Thesiger crossing the deserts of Oman in "Arabian Sands" flashed across my mind. Five hours later we arrived at Agriturismo Camiano Piccolo, perched on the slopes of the beautiful town of Montefalco in Umbria.
Niall, Liz, John and Fiona were already there to greet us. They had flown together to Perugia in the morning, and had travelled down in a car they had hired for the week. They had arrived early enough to buy in provisions, so an al fresco lunch was awaiting us - bliss.
This was the first time I had met John and Fiona, an easy going and well matched couple who hailed from Brighton. John, recently retired from the insurance industry and now part time consultant, was Brighton through and through. "Brighton is the centre of the universe," was his motto. In appearance, I was struck by how much he resembled Rio Ferdinand. Fiona had roots up in Huddersfield, and still possessed a trace of Yorkshire twang, had been involved in education. I had met their son, Tom, though in 2009 while ballooning in Pareid in France. John told me that Tom had come on by leaps and bounds in the sport, and now considered his son to be a much more competent balloonist than he was.
 Agriturismo Camiano Piccolo with the Town of Montefalco Above on the Top of the Hill |
Agriturismo Camiano Piccolo was run by Giuseppe, his father, and his son Ricardo. The extensive farm, surrounded by olive groves, had many apartments which were basic but clean, each with air-conditioning, and the pool offered respite from the heat, a place to cool down, read and snooze. Giuseppe and his family were wonderful hosts and looked after us well, nothing was too much trouble. The family also provided breakfast, lunch and evening meals to order, the food being of excellent quality. With just a short climb up a hill to Montefalco with its host of bars and restaurants, this place was a gem.
Once settled in, Tony, Niall, John and I went down to the Parco Acquarossa Sagrantino airfield, the centre of operations for the Sagrantino Balloon Meet 2019. The event has been set up for many years by Ralph Shaw who lives in the area.
Ralph's father was a British soldier during World War II, and while his regiment was sweeping the Germans aside as they progressed up through Italy, he met his wife to be in this region. Ralph's family relocated to Italy when he was 27 years old, and Ralph has been resident in Todi since 1982. He obtained a fixed wing commercial pilot's licence, multi-engine and Instrument rating in the USA, but devoted most of his time to hot-air ballooning in Umbria with his hot air balloon company Mongolfiera Management, now known as AGPIM. He firmly believes that Todi and the Sagrantino area is the perfect location to stage one of Europe's leading ballooning events, and decided to dedicate his time to making this conviction a reality. He spoke fluent Italian and had an English East End accent. Very much a wheeler-dealer, he sought all sorts of sponsorships from local companies and vineyards. He also arranged accommodations, from which he obviously got a kick-back. Those balloonists not wishing to use his list of accommodations had to pay him 400 Euros up front; after all he had to sort out propane supplies etc. etc., so he had to run the event as a business. The event used to be the Todi Ballooning Event, Todi being a historic town further down the valley, but the Todi elders in their wisdom decided to no longer be forthcoming in sponsorship deals, so the event was moved to the Parco Acquarossa Sagrantino airfield situated near Gualdo Cattaneo. This year, the main sponsors were the Arnaldo-Caprai vineyard, and the occasion given the grand name of "Sagrantino Italian International Balloon Challenge Cup 2019". This was a truly international event with 50+ teams from all around the globe as far apart as South Africa and the USA, a competition with a strong appeal to clinch the "Prestige Cup of Winemaker's Trophy".
Once registration had been completed, we filled up the gas tanks with propane, parked two full tanks and the Puffin envelope in a hanger, and then enjoyed a short relax with beer and food. The latter was very welcome since filling the tanks was hard graft in the intense heat of the day.
Many other balloonists were there too, with an appreciable contingency from the UK, some of whom I had met before. Bonhomie was already buzzing.
 Views around Agriturismo Camiano Piccolo |