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I planned for this year's eclipse two years in advance, and it was a bit disappointing: the eclipse, just before sunset, disappeared behind some wisps of clouds

by mcv 10d ago

I planned for this year's eclipse two years in advance, and it was a bit disappointing: the eclipse, just before sunset, disappeared behind some wisps of clouds just before the totality. Now I'm wondering if this is as good as it's likely to get, or if I should book again for next year. Honestly, the idea of combining Tatooine with an eclipse sounds awesome, but that particular trip is already sold out.

embedding-shape 10d ago
> I planned for this year's eclipse two years in advance, and it was a bit disappointing: the eclipse, just before sunset, disappeared behind some wisps of clouds just before the totality. On the other hand, we didn't plan at all, threw some plans together the same day, ended up on the top of a parking lot from Mercadona outside of Tarragona somewhere, and it was magical, about 60 seconds of clear totality and no clouds as far as the eye could see :) Do it, worst case scenario you've seen more places in the world!
- bluebarbet 10d ago
  >Do it, worst case scenario you've seen more places in the world! There is a cost to be paid - somewhere, by someone - of mindless travel. I know this is not a popular position but it's true. I would correct your advice to: "Do it if you are not too far away". Otherwise enjoy the photos. The real thing is not so very different. I speak from experience too.
  - embedding-shape 10d ago
    Yeah, sorry for not being inclusive enough to the people on the other side of the planet :) I'd also advise people with very late pregnancy to not board an airplane to fly here either, and people without legs might want to figure out transportation far ahead, and people not liking big groups might prefer more secluded areas instead of cities. But yes, YMMV depending on your personal circumstance, don't do it regardless of other constraints you might have :)
    - deleted 10d ago
      [deleted]
    - bluebarbet 10d ago
      I was rather talking about the multiple tons of carbon emitted for the purpose of one person's 40-second esthetic experience. Disappointed that here we are in 2026, the world is burning before our eyes, and yet still almost nobody is ready to accept the slightest constraint on their personal choices.
      - embedding-shape 10d ago
        Well, we also have straight up data why the world is currently burning, and it's not because few people travel with airplanes to other places in the world to view eclipses once or twice in their life. But it's easy to blame the individual, rather than the larger problems, probably because you can't really write directly to "Larger Problems" and get that off your chest, but it's much easier when it comes to individuals.
        bluebarbet 10d ago
        Flying is a completely unscalable form of transport. One scientist has calculated the marginally sustainable lifetime quota at "4" long-haul flights.* If you or I are flying and the climate is still livable that's because most people in the world have never got on a plane. If all 8 billion people did it to view eclipses even "once or twice in their life", the impact would be massive. My arguments are "easy"? What's even easier is to blame politicians, and corporations, and systems, and basically anyone and anything but oneself. In the end we're all in this together and every action will count. *https://www.lechotouristique.com/article/quota-de-4-vols-par-vie-jean-marc-jancovici-persiste-et-signe https://www.lechotouristique.com/article/quota-de-4-vols-par...
  - mcv 10d ago
    True. I try not to fly, and prefer to travel by train. We saw this eclipse on Mallorca, and we got there by train and boat. I don't know how viable that will be to get to Tunesia from northern Europe, though.
    - bluebarbet 10d ago
      That's great to hear. I did Mallorca by ferry once, from Barcelona. I've also got to Tunisia, from Palermo. It's surprisingly easy and quick, the main issue is to make sure your documents are strictly in order because the Tunis port police are, let's say, more corrupt than their counterparts at the airport. As for next summer's eclipse, I recommend you forget Tunisia and just go to Tangier, opposite Gibraltar! It's a quick hop on a catamaran from Tarifa. Morocco is good value and much better set up for independent tourism. And Tangier is right on the line of the eclipse, from memory it will be a full 4 minutes there! Should be quite special if the clouds stay at bay.
      - mcv 10d ago
        Sad to hear about the Tunis port police. High speed train to southern Italy is otherwise an excellent idea. We'd probably also spend some time on Sicily, which has been on our wishlist for a while. Tangier is absolutely also an option. In fact, doesn't the totality also pass over parts of Spain? But I figured that might be too expensive and crowded. I thought Tunis has been doing reasonably well lately (though I haven't been keeping up to date) and it has the advantage of also having Star Wars-related locations to visit. But I haven't looked into any details at all yet. I'll keep all of this in mind.
antaviana 10d ago
Totality is unbeliveable. You have the urge to start a religion. For some reason the images you see on videos are by far not as impacting as the real thing. That said, a single tiny cloud can ruin everything, but in my case it was espectacular what I saw when the sun, the noon, the earth and me were aligned.
- bluebarbet 10d ago
  >Totality is unbeliveable. You have the urge to start a religion. Meh! This is what I'd heard and what I was hoping for (though certainly not counting on). In the end it was little more than a beautiful sight. A genuinely stunning sight, no arguments about that. But there was no "eerie wind". The birds and insects did not "go crazy" (they continued chirping as if nothing was up). The experience did not move me metaphysically. But again: a very beautiful sight indeed.
  - mcv 10d ago
    That was because it was just before sunset; it was going to go dark soon anyway. I think it's more spectacular overhead. I also watched an eclipse in northern France long ago (it may have been 1999), and that was overhead. Unfortunately very cloudy, so it was more like the mothership from the movie Independence Day was hovering just above the clouds. That one did see animals go quiet, and eerie feeling (despite the clouds), and then everything turning back to normal. But just for once I'd like to see a total eclipse without clouds.
Al-Khwarizmi 10d ago
I didn't need to plan because we live right in the totality path of this year's eclipse. But our experience was similar... it was a great day, forecasts were good, but half an hour before totality black clouds began to form right in front of the sun. It was too late to try to go elsewhere, because traffic in the city was cut due to the eclipse. Result, we didn't see anything (even though people in places just a few kilometers away saw it just fine). It sucked, although it must have been even worse for those of you who needed to plan and travel. I got mad and that same night, ragebooked a flight and hotel in the south of Spain for next year's one, at that point I still managed to find something that was only somewhat overpriced but not outrageously so. If next year's plan also fails somehow, it will be a signal that I need to go to Beijing in 2035.

by mcv 10d ago

embedding-shape 10d ago

> I planned for this year's eclipse two years in advance, and it was a bit disappointing: the eclipse, just before sunset, disappeared behind some wisps of clouds just before the totality. On the other hand, we didn't plan at all, threw some plans together the same day, ended up on the top of a parking lot from Mercadona outside of Tarragona somewhere, and it was magical, about 60 seconds of clear totality and no clouds as far as the eye could see :) Do it, worst case scenario you've seen more places in the world!

bluebarbet 10d ago
>Do it, worst case scenario you've seen more places in the world! There is a cost to be paid - somewhere, by someone - of mindless travel. I know this is not a popular position but it's true. I would correct your advice to: "Do it if you are not too far away". Otherwise enjoy the photos. The real thing is not so very different. I speak from experience too.
- embedding-shape 10d ago
  Yeah, sorry for not being inclusive enough to the people on the other side of the planet :) I'd also advise people with very late pregnancy to not board an airplane to fly here either, and people without legs might want to figure out transportation far ahead, and people not liking big groups might prefer more secluded areas instead of cities. But yes, YMMV depending on your personal circumstance, don't do it regardless of other constraints you might have :)
  - deleted 10d ago
    [deleted]
  - bluebarbet 10d ago
    I was rather talking about the multiple tons of carbon emitted for the purpose of one person's 40-second esthetic experience. Disappointed that here we are in 2026, the world is burning before our eyes, and yet still almost nobody is ready to accept the slightest constraint on their personal choices.
    - embedding-shape 10d ago
      Well, we also have straight up data why the world is currently burning, and it's not because few people travel with airplanes to other places in the world to view eclipses once or twice in their life. But it's easy to blame the individual, rather than the larger problems, probably because you can't really write directly to "Larger Problems" and get that off your chest, but it's much easier when it comes to individuals.
      - bluebarbet 10d ago
        Flying is a completely unscalable form of transport. One scientist has calculated the marginally sustainable lifetime quota at "4" long-haul flights.* If you or I are flying and the climate is still livable that's because most people in the world have never got on a plane. If all 8 billion people did it to view eclipses even "once or twice in their life", the impact would be massive. My arguments are "easy"? What's even easier is to blame politicians, and corporations, and systems, and basically anyone and anything but oneself. In the end we're all in this together and every action will count. *https://www.lechotouristique.com/article/quota-de-4-vols-par-vie-jean-marc-jancovici-persiste-et-signe https://www.lechotouristique.com/article/quota-de-4-vols-par...
- mcv 10d ago
  True. I try not to fly, and prefer to travel by train. We saw this eclipse on Mallorca, and we got there by train and boat. I don't know how viable that will be to get to Tunesia from northern Europe, though.
  - bluebarbet 10d ago
    That's great to hear. I did Mallorca by ferry once, from Barcelona. I've also got to Tunisia, from Palermo. It's surprisingly easy and quick, the main issue is to make sure your documents are strictly in order because the Tunis port police are, let's say, more corrupt than their counterparts at the airport. As for next summer's eclipse, I recommend you forget Tunisia and just go to Tangier, opposite Gibraltar! It's a quick hop on a catamaran from Tarifa. Morocco is good value and much better set up for independent tourism. And Tangier is right on the line of the eclipse, from memory it will be a full 4 minutes there! Should be quite special if the clouds stay at bay.
    - mcv 10d ago
      Sad to hear about the Tunis port police. High speed train to southern Italy is otherwise an excellent idea. We'd probably also spend some time on Sicily, which has been on our wishlist for a while. Tangier is absolutely also an option. In fact, doesn't the totality also pass over parts of Spain? But I figured that might be too expensive and crowded. I thought Tunis has been doing reasonably well lately (though I haven't been keeping up to date) and it has the advantage of also having Star Wars-related locations to visit. But I haven't looked into any details at all yet. I'll keep all of this in mind.

antaviana 10d ago

Totality is unbeliveable. You have the urge to start a religion. For some reason the images you see on videos are by far not as impacting as the real thing. That said, a single tiny cloud can ruin everything, but in my case it was espectacular what I saw when the sun, the noon, the earth and me were aligned.

bluebarbet 10d ago
>Totality is unbeliveable. You have the urge to start a religion. Meh! This is what I'd heard and what I was hoping for (though certainly not counting on). In the end it was little more than a beautiful sight. A genuinely stunning sight, no arguments about that. But there was no "eerie wind". The birds and insects did not "go crazy" (they continued chirping as if nothing was up). The experience did not move me metaphysically. But again: a very beautiful sight indeed.
- mcv 10d ago
  That was because it was just before sunset; it was going to go dark soon anyway. I think it's more spectacular overhead. I also watched an eclipse in northern France long ago (it may have been 1999), and that was overhead. Unfortunately very cloudy, so it was more like the mothership from the movie Independence Day was hovering just above the clouds. That one did see animals go quiet, and eerie feeling (despite the clouds), and then everything turning back to normal. But just for once I'd like to see a total eclipse without clouds.

Al-Khwarizmi 10d ago

I didn't need to plan because we live right in the totality path of this year's eclipse. But our experience was similar... it was a great day, forecasts were good, but half an hour before totality black clouds began to form right in front of the sun. It was too late to try to go elsewhere, because traffic in the city was cut due to the eclipse. Result, we didn't see anything (even though people in places just a few kilometers away saw it just fine). It sucked, although it must have been even worse for those of you who needed to plan and travel. I got mad and that same night, ragebooked a flight and hotel in the south of Spain for next year's one, at that point I still managed to find something that was only somewhat overpriced but not outrageously so. If next year's plan also fails somehow, it will be a signal that I need to go to Beijing in 2035.