Posted by bookofjoe 3 days ago
Sure, hotels in popular areas get expensive, but totality is visible from such a large swath of land that you can stay anywhere in a 100 mile radius and get a great cheap view off the back of a few hours driving and a picnic, particularly as August 2027’s path goes through Andalucia.
I flew into Palma for this year’s sunset eclipse, watched it from the roof of the airport parking lot, then flew home. I booked late and didn’t get the best deal and my flight was still only €150.
And since the 2026 one is fresh, the 2027 one has a lot of hype and more FOMO for those who MO'ed.
It’s a rare and impressive occasion. It’s ok for people to be excited about it.
Buy your glasses in advance.
Humans have, and have had for a very long time. And eclipses do happen a lot more often than we realize, as the world is a big place, and not everything visible to us on one side is even talked about on the other side of this sphere, so international sites like BBC make it seem like a lot more stuff is happening, compared to less "this is about the entire planet" news.
We had like 60 seconds of totality, sharing the glasses with my wife would mean we get 30 seconds each. Of course both of us want double the viewing time and the glasses are a couple of euros.
https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety
It's during the partial/annular/penumbral phases when you use the protective eyewear, and those are lasting a couple of hours on each side.
But even protected viewing should be curtailed to a couple of minutes at a time.
https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/how-to-tell-if-viewers-ar...
I've found that a lot of vendors sell them in large quantity packs, for educators and institutional use. And it is not the sort of thing to find on the racks of stores in the off-seasons. I was unprepared for the last eclipse over the United States. Perhaps in the next two decades, I can score a pair of safety glasses.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Unwall might be a useful resource, though it appears small so I wonder how long it will last. The source code links are dead ends (his profile still exists on github, but that repository does not and a quick search doesn't find evidence that it has move elsewhere) - this could imply that take-down orders have already started flying and are having an effect.
--------
[0] Because it gives access to content otherwise blocked
[1] Because it gives access to content otherwise blocked, or because of the DDoS and other arseholery² in Jan 2026, or both
[2] including altering archived pages that make reference to, or altering them to make reference to, the target of that DDoS
https://i.imgur.com/mrcV1V9.jpeg
If you zoom in, you realize that every little pinhole between the leaves of the trees, works as a pinhole camera, drawing a little sun circle- and that during a eclipse, the whole shadow is made of thousands of little eclipsed suns.
