Diary

On Saturday we headed for Lake Karpendonk for "Eindhoven Ballooning". This event featured putting up and sailing more than two dozen hot air balloons. A beautiful show that is best illustrated with a lot of pictures:

First the balloon is completely empty and it is lying on the grass as a dull sheet of canvas. It has to be filled with air, so the ballooners lift the bottom end of the canvas to let in the first air.			The balloon is first filled with cool air the get into the right shape. That takes a lot of time, because it takes a lot of air to fill such a balloon!
The balloon slowly gets bigger...			...and bigger...
...until is it in the right shape.		Then the burner is switched on, to warm the air inside. Now it is starting to lift itself off the ground...		...and then the balloon sailors have to go aboard quickly, because it is taking off!
Not all balloons are the same shape. Some of them are true works of art!
This is the 'frog-balloon', PH-ROC. It takes a lot of time to put up this balloon, because the air has to fill all the compartments of the balloon, including the four frog legs...		And this is the 'orange-balloon' from Belgium. It has a very beautiful color and it has a special shape because it has a flat surface on one side.		Not a special shape, but a remarkable painting on this 'guy in sunglasses'.
After a successful flight the balloons returned (by car) to Lake Karpendonk for the closing event: the 'night glow'.
The burners of several balloons were switched on and off to the rhythm of music. Seen against the dark evening sky, this looks like a gigantic light organ!

"And what about you? Did you sail a balloon yourself, Evelien?"

Err... No. Not yet. But I would love to do that one day. And there were vacant places available. But I wasn't prepared. I wasn't properly dressed for it. I was afraid I would have to pee while up in the air. And I didn't bring 160 Euros ($200) to pay for the trip.

"Chicken!!"

OK, OK, next year! Next year I will sail a balloon, I promise...


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