a group of hot air balloons in the sky
Photograph ©2025 by Brian Cohen.
Brian Cohen·
Experiences
··5 Comments·1 min read

Hot Air Balloons Over Melbourne. Sunday Morning Photograph.

The sight of them was uplifting.

I looked out of the window of my room at the Radisson Hotel on Flagstaff Gardens Melbourne and saw hot air balloons floating in the cloudy but clearing Australian sky.

Hot Air Balloons Over Melbourne. Sunday Morning Photograph.

hot air balloons in the sky
Photograph ©2025 by Brian Cohen.

The sight reminded me of the time I was in a hot air balloon as we floated across the desert in Arizona. I enjoyed that experience.

a group of hot air balloons in the sky
Photograph ©2025 by Brian Cohen.

Final Boarding Call

Trivia time: The first hot air balloon flight with human beings aboard was thought to have occurred on Wednesday, October 15, 1783 — although the apparatus was tethered.

The purpose of the weekly series of Sunday Morning Photograph articles is to feature photographs from my travels around the world which you can view while enjoying your morning coffee.

Please click here for a complete list of the Sunday Morning Photograph series of articles at The Gate With Brian Cohen, which include photographs taken of nature and sights of interest in many countries and territories around the world — including but not limited to:

See also

Albania • Andorra • Argentina • Australia • Austria • Bahamas • Bahrain • Belgium • Belarus • Bosnia and Herzegovina • Botswana • Brazil • Bulgaria • Canada • China • Chile • Colombia • Côte d’Ivoire or Ivory Coast • Croatia • Cyprus — including the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus • Czechia or Czech Republic • Denmark • Dominican Republic • Ecuador • Egypt • England in Great Britain in the United Kingdom • Estonia • Fiji • Finland • France • Germany • Greece • Greenland • Hungary • Iceland • Ireland • Italy • Jamaica • Kenya • Kosovo • Latvia • Lebanon • Lesotho • Liechtenstein • Lithuania • Luxembourg • Malaysia • Mexico • Montenegro • Morocco • Mozambique • Netherlands • New Zealand • North Macedonia • Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom • Norway • Oman • Panama • Philippines • Poland • Portugal • Romania • Scotland in Great Britain in the United Kingdom • Singapore • Slovenia • South Africa • South Korea • Spain • Swaziland or Eswatini • Sweden • Switzerland • Thailand • Turkey or the Republic of Türkiye • United Arab Emirates • United States of America • Uruguay • Vanuatu • Wales in Great Britain in the United Kingdom

All photographs ©2025 by Brian Cohen.

Related

5 Comments

  1. That would have been hilarious to see! I did experience the xray screening and found it incredibly ironic that I had to remove my short sleeve cardigan that covered me up, and had to get down to my undershirt. It’s XRAY!!! No pockets full of change on a cardigan or beads, or anything of the sort.

    I guess that is better than being asked to lift my dress so I could put my hands in my underwear waistline, yes this happened, seriously. At a 2nd checkpoint before the gate at YYZ, and no private room was offered. Jeez, I might have better luck just removing all my clothes. Who needs a scanner!

    Reply

  2. This happened to us yesterday with my 17 yo grandson in Denver. Here is the story……… We were in line getting our boarding passes. Andre said he felt bad because he always kept us waiting after security because of all the stuff he had to put back on… (he has carabiners, a complicated belt, wallet, phones, etc.) and lace up shoes. He said, “It would be so much easier if I could just take off my shorts, run it all through and slip them back on.” We all agreed and I asked him if he had any underwear on. He said he did, the long boxer kind that looked like biking shorts. I said, well, go ahead. After all, people go through security with much less on. So when he was taking off his other stuff, he quietly slipped of his shorts, put them into the bin and walked through. When he got through, a TSA agent asked him where his pants were, Andre told him and the whole area erupted with agents. Honestly, we thought it was all funny..the much ado about nothing. We felt he was making things easier…no biggie. no threat, no resistance, etc. We never thought about the recent scandal about two gay TSA agents getting into real hot water for picking out young men to grope at the same airport. AND… it was a gay TSA agent who flagged him. When they told him he had to leave the airport, we told them everything, but they insisted we “made a mockery” of security. Guess they are still embarrassed over the legal issues still fresh. The manager of TSA in Denver also told us “We take security very seriously!!” Uh, ok. WELL……. guess whose bags weren’t pulled?????? Yup.

    Reply

  4. Hi

    I went through a somewhat embarrassing security check at Seattle International Airport.

    I was dressed in my usual shoes, Nike, blue skinny jeans and a simple white t-shirt tucked into my pants.

    When I arrived at the checkpoint, one of the officers asked me to take off my shoes, watch, necklace and… my pants.

    So I obeyed without question and took off all the requested items and put them in the boxes.

    I found myself, in front of everyone, in red panties, white sock and white t-shirt for 10 minutes before I could get dressed again after passing the scan.

    Here is

    Reply

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