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First time ever in a hot air balloon.
The air was hot indeed. They told us the burner fires off enough gas in 7 seconds to heat a 200l litre Japanese style bath. I can understand why the season is usually in autumn and winter. My student revealed in the passing a couple of weeks ago that her husband's hobby was hot air ballooning, and today we were lucky enough to be taken up for a short ride. A lot less bumpy than I expected, and despite my slight fear of heights and small spaces, I actually really enjoyed it.
The urge to cut the ropes and fly off somewhere over the rainbow was quite strong, but I managed to resist and came back down to the hot earth reluctantly.

30 degrees at 6am. Can I make it through this summer???