Travel – Willem's Planet

November 5, 2026

Thursday/ Ginza district 🛍️

It was still raining a little bit on Thursday morning, but light enough for me to walk around Ginza district.

Pictures:
Used cameras in a store inside Shinjuku station (the ‘Junk’ designation simply means ‘Final Sale’ or ‘As-Is’; the item should still work fine!);
The Chuo Line at Shinjuku station (gets over to Tokyo Station quicker than the Yamanote loop line);
Then from Tokyo Station the Marounochi line with its iconic red trains go to Ginza station;
Artwork and the fancy inside of Ginza station;
The T-rex wire mobile is from an at exhibition on the top floor of Matsuya Ginza department store;
The new Nissan Leaf Electric Vehicle in a splashy turquoise color;
Ginza station on the way back.

November 4, 2026November 4, 2026

Wednesday/ rain in Sunshine City ☔

Sunshine City is a building complex located in East Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo, Japan.

I set out to Ikebukuro station on Wednesday morning to look for a bookstore called K-books.
There were several unforeseen obstacles in my mission: a persistent rain; it turned out there were about a dozen K-books stores in the area, each tucked into a hole-in-the-all space; and when I finally found the right one, a sign outside said it was closed until Friday for renovations. Oh no!

The Yamanote line, on the way to Ikebukuro station.

An arch with the sun, in the Sunshine City complex of buildings.

A K-pop store. K-pop stands for Korean pop culture, meaning boy bands, girl bands, manhwa (Korean mange) and associated merchandise such as figurines.

Here is the K-books store that I tracked down to no avail. The basement section with books is closed for renovation until Friday.

Nitori is a Japanese furniture and home accessories retail company headquartered in Sapporo. It is sometimes referred to as ‘Japan’s IKEA’. (Even though Japan has IKEA stores as well).

Here’s a roadrunner, like the one in the Looney Tunes cartoons.

I made a run to Tokyo Station early evening to check out how to get to the shinkansen (bullet train) gates. I will travel towards Sapporo on the Shinkansen on Sunday with a stayover in Hakodate.

I got lost in Shinjuku station on the way back and ended up in a section called Shinjuku Tower with polished pillars, and stopped for a moment to take a picture.

The top of Tokyu Kabukicho Tower from my hotel room window.

November 3, 2026November 3, 2026

Tuesday/ on the train 🚆

I had the sense when I went out at 10 am this morning, that there were more people around on the stations and on the train than there normally would be.
And then there were fewer as the rush hour approached at 5.30 pm (the peak is normally 6.00 pm to 7.00 pm).

All was explained when the hotel staff told me that today was a national holiday in Japan: Culture Day.
Culture Day (Bunka no Hi) is a national public holiday in Japan held annually on Nov. 3. It promotes the arts, cultural awareness, academic endeavors, and a love for peace and freedom. – from Wikipdia

It is Election Day in the United States, of course. It will already be 8 am on Wednesday morning here when the first results will start to come in.

The first polls close at 6 p.m. ET in the eastern parts of Indiana and Kentucky. Then at 7 p.m., polls close in Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia, the rest of Indiana, Kentucky and most of Florida. Then North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia follow at 7:30 p.m- as reported by CBS news.

The **Shinjuku-Seibo station** opened in 1952 and is the terminus on the Seibu Shinjuku Line. Its entrance is right by my hotel.

This is the train station named **Takadanobaba**, on the green Yamanote Line operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East).

I love this graphic from a screen inside the train car that shows the estimated times to the upcoming stations. The **Yamanote Line** is a loop line and is one of Tokyo’s busiest and most important lines, connecting most of Tokyo’s major railway stations and commercial and urban centers.
The Yamanote Line opened on 1 March 1885: 141 years ago.

**Mejiro** station on the Yamanote Line has only this one entrance and exit.

The **Museum of Philately** is close by Mejiro station, and there are a handful of displays and a library with stamp catalogues on the second floor. There are a few stamp dealers with shelves full of albums and stock books, and I bought several sheets of Japanese frame stamps to add to my collection. (Frame stamp sheets: special, limited-edition sheets of customizable or themed postage stamps issued by Japan Post. I will post pictures of a few examples).

November 2, 2026November 2, 2026

Monday/ to Shinjuku City 🏙️

I checked out of my hotel in Asakusa on Monday morning.
There was a drizzle outside, and a taxi ride was in order for the transfer to my hotel in Shinjuku.
Shinjuku City is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, and functions as a major commercial, administrative, and entertainment hub.

Look for Godzilla at the left, on top of the IMAX theater in the last picture (the view from my hotel room on the 22nd floor). Shinjuku train station is towards the right side of the picture. Its inside is going to test my indoor navigation skills again!

November 1, 2026November 1, 2026

Sunday/ at the stamp exhibition 📮

Sunday was the last day of the JAPEX 2026 stamp exhibition.
I made a few more purchases, and mailed postcards with new stamps issued specially for the exhibition, and with a dedicated cancellation mark, to myself in Seattle.

They were marked ‘AIRMAIL’ (of course), and will be at my house long before I return there. (The post office is holding my mail until I get back).

A mailbox outside my hotel here in Asakusa (early in the morning). Japan Post mailboxes are usually plain red, but this one has been dressed up a little, with a panda bear on top that takes 100 yen coins. I forgot to look what the money is for.

My standard Japanese ‘Sakura’ stamp catalog lists one stamp only for the Earthquake Emergency Issue of 1926, but there are specialized catalogs that detail the printing locations, plate flaws, color variations and more.

Beautiful artwork on peace-themed postcards issued in July 1919, with stamps from around that time, as well.
(Japan fought in World War I from 1914 to 1918 as a member of the Allied Powers, fulfilling the Anglo-Japanese Alliance to help secure sea lanes and seize German territories in East Asia and the Pacific.)

A cover (envelope) sent from Tientsin (now officially spelled Tianjin) in northern China in 1899, to New Haven in the USA.
This was in the very early days of sending mail, and the I.J.P.O. stands for Imperial Japanese Post Office.
During the late Qing dynasty, Western powers and Japan established treaty ports in China—including Tientsin (Tianjin). Because the Chinese imperial postal system was not yet fully integrated into the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and was deemed unreliable for overseas transit by foreign merchants, major world powers set up their own civilian post offices right on Chinese soil.
By the way: is that not a gorgeous cursive handwriting from the sender? What a tragedy that we no longer write like that.

Covers (envelopes) from 1901.
Given that traditional Japanese writing go top-to-bottom (in columns that progress from right-to-left), that is the way you would write addressees and addresses on envelopes as well .. very boldly!

October 31, 2026October 31, 2026

Saturday/ Happy Harroween* 🎃

*The way the Japanese pronounce it. Japanese doesn’t have separate L and R sounds. It has one sound, the ら row (ra, ri, ru, re, ro), which is a quick tap of the tongue against the ridge behind the upper teeth. It’s a bit like the “dd” in “ladder” as pronounced in American English. To English ears it can sound like an R, an L, or a D depending on the word and speaker. The loanword version for ‘Halloween’ is ハロウィン (Harowin).
-explanation by Claude AI

I paid my dues at the JAPEX 2026 stamp exhibition on Saturday, and left after two hours. (The amount of money I spend buying stamps is directly proportional to the time I spend there).

From there I went to an obscure stamp shop on the 4th floor of a nondescript building here in Asakusa called Yuzudo stamp.
The store manager helped me find some Japanese stamps that I had been looking for, for a long time— an 1871 dragon stamp, a few 1872 cherry blossom stamps, and an 1876 old koban stamp.
It was just a few hundred dollars; the weak yen helps a lot, and I would pay 1.5x or 2x that if I had to buy them online. (Or that is what I told myself.) Anyway, I came away very happy with my purchases.

Then it was back to the hotel to chase away the jet lag with a little Starbucks pour-over origami coffee.

Early evening I ran out to the Yodobashi Camera department store in Akihabara to take advantage of the very last day that foreigners can get the 10% local consumption tax right in the store. Starting tomorrow on Nov. 1, the 10% tax has to be paid and an onerous process of claiming it back at one’s departure airport out of Japan kicks in. Aw.

Those watches caught my eye (based on the famous One Piece, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda). The crocodilian dinosaur is a Kaprosuchus. It lived 100 million years ago and galloped on land to catch small dinosaurs with its ferocious teeth.

The De Lorean from the Back To The Future movies is a special edition, highly detailed little model offered by toymaker Takara Tomy.

October 30, 2026October 30, 2026

Friday/ Asakusa (浅草) ⛩️

My hotel is in Asakusa.
Asakusa is the center of Tokyo‘s shitamachi (literally “low city”), and a district where an atmosphere of the Tokyo of long, long ago survives. Asakusa’s main attraction is Sensoji, a very popular Buddhist temple, built in the 7th century.

I took the sunset picture from across the Sumida river, looking towards Asakusa. Sunset is at 4.48 pm Japan Standard Time.

The communications tower is Tokyo Sky Tree (it opened in 2012), a broadcasting and observation tower, located in the neighboring Sumida district, across the Sumida river from Asakusa.

October 29, 2026October 29, 2026

Thursday night/ arrival in Tokyo 🛬

My flight went without incident.
We boarded in Seattle by simply looking into the camera at the gangway door. You only need your face. No boarding pass, no passport.
On board, I was in the middle section in the economy seats, but with open seats next to me—always nice.
There was a little turbulence as we descended towards Haneda airport; the kind that makes you hold onto your beverage on the tray table so that it doesn’t spill.

From Haneda airport I took the Keikyū Airport Line train to Asakusa station, and walked 15 minutes to the hotel with the help of Google Maps. (Where are my AI glasses that can tell me turn left here, or go straight? I had to stop every few mins to check the map. I would have loved to hail a taxi with the GO Taxi app they use here but I find it complicated to use, and the language barrier does not help.)

Our flight duration was 10 hrs 30 ins from Seattle to Tokyo, and here we are about halfway.

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (twin-jet) (B789) that brought us to Japan, at the gate at Haneda airport.

And here is the bed that I am about to dive into, to see if I can get a few hours’ sleep.
It’s 11 pm local time now. I landed at Haneda airport at 3 am Seattle time and I might have taken a 30 min nap on the plane.

The traditional woven floor mats in my hotel room are called tatami. They feature a core made of compressed rice straw (tatami-doko) and a soft outer cover woven from soft rush grass. Shoes are not allowed in the hotel, and you leave them at the entrance just as you would if you visited someone at their home here in Japan. The hotel has lockers at the entrance of the hotel for the guests’ shoes.

Watch out! Here comes Godzilla (TV in my hotel room.)

October 28, 2026October 28, 2026

Wednesday/ at the airport ✈️

I am at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, awaiting the departure of my flight to Tokyo’s Haneda airport on All Nippon Airlines.

The expansion of C Concourse here at Sea-Tac airport is complete, and I went up to the viewing deck to check out the action out on the runway.

Looking out towards the gates at Concourse D from the mezzanine at Concourse C.

The extension to Concourse C has several new eateries and stores.

Looking down from the new mezzanine level at Concourse C. These large wooden steps serve as a seating area.

The new view deck at Concourse C is another flight of stairs up from the mezzanine level. (There are elevators to it as well). The triangular space is not large, but offers views through large glass panes with an inch or two space to the outside air between them. To the south one can see the runway and gates at Concourse A, and looking north, one can see the departing aircraft as well.
Look for a Lufthansa bird that had just departed, to Frankfurt no doubt, in the distance just to the left of the lamp post in the middle of the picture.

October 8, 2026October 9, 2026

Thursday/ arrival home: day 3 of 3 🛣️

We started out in Bend, Oregon, a little after 8 am this morning.
We first stopped by the very last Blockbuster video rental store in all of the United States (and all of the world, in fact). We made another stop at the spectacular Smith Rock State Park.
After that we made our way north and west to Ellensburg, and across Snoqualmie Pass to Seattle.

We took **U.S. Route 97** (US 97) from Bend all the way to the Washington-Oregon state line (the Columbia River), and from there to Toppenish in Washington. From Toppenish we took **Interstate 82** to Ellensburg, and then **Interstate 90** that runs across Snoqualmie Pass to Seattle.

This is the the very last Blockbuster video rental store in the whole world (in Bend, Oregon). It was a Pacific Video store before converting to a Blockbuster franchise in June 2000. It became the last Blockbuster store in the U.S. in 2018 and the last Blockbuster store in the world in March 2019.

**Smith Rock State Park** is a state park located in central Oregon’s High Desert near the communities of Redmond and Terrebonne. The day-use area of the park is open daily from dawn to dusk.

The sheer cliffs are the result of a major volcanic eruption in the area millions of years ago. The stone material is called Smith Rock tuff.

This charging stop is in **Madras, Oregon.**

Here is Oregon’s **Mount Hood**, seen from U.S. Route 97.
Mt Hood is an active stratovolcano and the highest mountain in Oregon, standing at 11,249 feet (3,429 meters). It is located about 50 miles east of Portland.

Still in Oregon here, but now approaching the **Columbia River Gorge** and the Washington-Oregon state line.

Hello Washington State. We had just crossed the Columbia River. This is still U.S. Route 97.

Here is the Columbia River Gorge and the mighty **Columbia River**— the Washington-Oregon state line.

Look for the **Stonehenge Memorial** (round brown structure, middle of the picture) perched on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River Gorge.
It was built as a World War I memorial dedicated to soldiers from Klickitat County, Washington, who died in the war.

Wind turbines dotting the hills, very similar to the ones we had seen in California.

This Stars and Stripes flag on a tall pole is in **Toppenish**.

Here is the **Yakima River**, a stone’s throw from our charging station in Yakima.

Our last charging stop for the day was in Yakima.

On the way to Ellensburg. Light from the setting sun behind us is refracted on the car’s display screen.

Late afternoon in **Snoqualmie Pass** over the Cascade Mountain Range, on Interstate 90.

Crossing **Lake Washington** for the last few miles to Seattle. The light rail train on the left is still a new sight, in operation since late March 2026.

The end of our day’s journey on U.S. Route 97, Interstate 82 and Interstate 90 is coming up with the Rainier Avenue exit.
The lettering in the cement at the tunnel entrance says ‘Seattle — Portal to the Pacific’.

October 7, 2026

Wednesday/ going back: day 2 of 3 🛣️

Here is our drive for today: about 475 mi and just under 8 hours.

We took Interstate 5 through Sacramento and Redding, and then at the little town of Weed, went on to U.S. Route 97 to cross into Oregon, and go through Klamath Falls to Bend.

Morning rush hour near **Sacramento**. It helped a lot to have an HOV lane that we could use.

Our first charging stop for the day at **Anderson, CA**, was the same one we had used on the way down to Palm Springs. Check out the olive green Cybertruck.

Interstate 5 winding through the mountains near Redding.

One of the arms of the sprawling **Shasta Lake** north of Redding.

The souvenir store in **Weed, CA,** does not actually sell weed (cannabis) products. It does have t-shirts, sweatshirts, key chains, shot glasses and all kinds of other souvenirs.

Weed is also where we made our second charging stop.

Beautiful **Mt Shasta**, with very little snow this time of year. Mt Shasta peaks out at only 200 ft lower than Washington State’s Mt Rainier.
Mount Shasta is easier and simpler to climb than Mount Rainier, serving as a non-technical steep snow-mountaineering peak, whereas Mount Rainier is a massive, heavily glaciated objective requiring rope-team and crevasse-rescue skills.
[Source: Global Summit Guide]

Trees in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

Now approaching the California-Oregon border, and this is the little town of Dorris on U.S. Route 97.

A vista of the tranquil waters of Upper Klamath Lake, as seen from U.S. Route 97 that runs alongside it.

Trees at a last rest stop in southern Oregon, at about 4 pm.

We have arrived in Bend, OR. Giving the car one more charge before we head to the hotel.

October 6, 2026October 7, 2026

Tuesday/ going back: day 1 of 3 🛣

We left Palm Springs shortly after 8 am this morning.
We made two charging stops, a lunch stop in Bakersfield, and two additional stops, and arrived at Lodi, California, shortly after 6 pm.

Our route took us to Yucca Valley, and through the Mojave Desert to Barstow and then to Bakersfield. From Bakersfield we followed California State Route 99 (SR 99) to Stockton and then drove a few miles on Interstate 5 to get us to Lodi for our overnight stay.

An array of solar panels and a Joshua tree on the right.

A glimpse of the Mojave Air and Space Port (MHV). This 3,300-acre site houses over 100 commercial and experimental aircraft. Planes are stored here for temporary holding, part-stripping, or scrapping.

Evidence of wildfires that scarred the hills.

It was 1.02 pm and 102°F (39°C) when we rolled into Bakersfield.

Our first charging stop was in Bakersfield at the Double Tree Hotel there.

Evidence of the construction of the California High-Speed Rail infrastructure.
Construction of a 171-mile segment between Merced and Bakersfield, with revenue service projected between 2031 and 2033 is underway, but to date the project has seen massive funding shortfalls, complex land acquisition, and severe political and legal delays.

California produces about 80% to 82% of the world’s almonds.

October 5, 2026October 6, 2026

Monday/ last day in Palm Springs 🌴

We ran out to the Sunny Dunes Antique Mall today.
By evening it was time to take the EV pony to the Tesla Supercharger station at The Downtown Park.

We took an evening stroll along Palm Canyon Drive while the car was charging.

Sunny Dunes Antique Mall is packed with ornaments, books, pictures, and almost everything else found inside an old home.

Vintage framed picture from inside the antique mall. I don’t believe the names of the men in the picture are known. The picture was featured on the cover of a book titled ‘Loving II: More Photographic History of Men in Love, 1850s to 1950’ by Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell.

It’s about 6.15 pm, and here is the view of the mountains we had from our rented house.

The Marilyn Monroe statue is nicely lit up at night.

Charles (Charlie) Manuel Pasarell Jr. (born February 12, 1944, now 82 years old) is a Puerto Rican-American former tennis player, tennis administrator and founder of the current Indian Wells tournament.

We had dinner last night at this restaurant: Lulu California Bistro. I had Pacific sanddab (a medium-sized flatfish) with mashed potato and vegetables.

The Hyatt Palm Springs looks a little better at night. (Drab colors in daytime).

Artwork at the entance of the Hyatt Palm Springs.

October 4, 2026October 4, 2026

Sunday/ along Palm Canyon Drive 🌞

We braved the blazing mid-day sun today for a walk along Palm Canyon Drive. This boulevard is the primary commercial, retail, and hospitality thoroughfare through the downtown area of Palm Springs.

There is a Tesla Supercharger station inside the parking garage by The Downtown Park.

North Museum Drive ends at the Palm Springs Art Museum.

This sign at Ground zero for downtown Palm Springs offers a few statements about art.

Here and there misters along the sidewalk offer a brief respite from the heat.

Welwood Murray Memorial Library originally opened in February 1941. It is the home to the Palm Springs Historical Society archive.

The David Clark Lee Plaza Theatre is an intimate, renovated 1930s landmark offering live concerts, theatrical productions, film festivals, and community events with exceptional acoustics.
David Clark Lee is a longtime Palm Springs resident and the writer and producer of television shows such as Frasier, Cheers and Wings.

October 3, 2026October 4, 2026

Saturday/ an early morning walk 🚶‍♂️

These pictures are from our early morning walk in the Tahquitz River Estates neighborhood of Palm Springs.

The neighboring cities of Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta and Indio lie in the Coachella Valley between the San Jacinto Mountains and Santa Rosa Mountains to their southwest, and the Little San Bernardino Mountains to the northeast.

October 2, 2026October 4, 2026

Friday/ downtown Palm Springs 👩🏼

Happy Friday.
It was 100°F (38°C) outside here in Palm Springs today, so we could not spend too much time out and about in the middle of the day.

Forever Marilyn is a giant statue of Marilyn Monroe designed by Seward Johnson. The statue is a representation of the image of Monroe taken from Billy Wilder’s 1955 film The Seven Year Itch. Created in 2011, the statue has been displayed in a variety of locations in the United States, as well as in Australia.
In 1949, at age 22, Monroe spent time at Charlie Farrell’s legendary Palm Springs Racquet Club, where she was photographed by local photographer Bruno Bernard (“Bernard of Hollywood”).
These poolside photos and her time at the club helped connect her with William Morris Agency executive Johnny Hyde, who became a pivotal figure in advancing her early career.
[Source: PS Resorts.com, Reddit, Acme House Company]

Roadrunners (genus Geococcyx) are also known as chaparral birds or chaparral cocks, and are two species of fast-running ground cuckoos with long tails and crests.

Roadrunners are built to run and can fly only for short bursts— to escape a predator or get over an obstacle. They don’t fly to catch food but instead, chase down insects, lizards and rodents.

P.S. I ❤︎ You. A person as subject of the picture will make the I that is missing from the red letters.
The phrase “P.S. I Love You” is a nod to a classic mid-century promotional slogan and vintage ephemera from Palm Springs’ golden resort era.

October 1, 2026October 3, 2026

Thursday/ roadtrip: day 3 of 3 🛣️

We left Patterson, CA, at 8.15 am this morning, and made it into Palm Springs, CA, at 4.00 pm.

Instead of following Interstate 5 down to its junction with Interstate 10, we left I-5 south of Santa Clarita to steer clear of the heavy traffic in the Los Angeles area.

We left Interstate 5 south of Santa Clarita to take California State Routes 14 and 138 to get to Interstate 215. From there Interstate 10 runs out to Palm Springs.

Lots and lots of orchards in California’s Central Valley.

Our first charging stop was at the giant Tesla Oasis charging station with its 164 bays, at Lost Hills, CA.

The canopies over the charging bays are made of arrays of solar panels.

A great-tailed grackle taking advantage of the shade at the Tesla Oasis charger station.

Transmission lines south of Bakersfield.

Fields near the junction of Interstate 5 and Highway 99 south of Bakersfield. The mountains in the distance are the Tehachapi Mountains.

Water pipelines and oil pumpjacks in the Bakersfield area.

Interstate 5 follows the low contours of the hills around Grapevine.

This is a view of Pyramid Lake, a reservoir formed by Pyramid Dam on Piru Creek in the western Sierra Pelona Mountains, near Castaic.

Our second charging stop was in Castaic off Interstate 5.

This is Highway 14 on the way to Palmdale.

A Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) near the junction of Highway 138 and Highway 2. These plants are not true trees— it is a giant yucca belonging to the agave family.

Trains in Cajon Canyon, north of the city of San Bernardino.

Now nearing Palm Springs, with the wind turbines off Interstate 10.

The exit to Palm Springs from Interstate 10.

September 30, 2026October 1, 2026

Wednesday/ roadtrip: day 2 of 3 🛣️

We left Grant’s Pass at 9.20 am this morning and made it into Patterson, California by 5.30 pm.

Pictures:
‘Bullseye’, the white English bull terrier marketing mascot of Target, on the side of a truck;
The Siskiyou Mountains are a coastal subrange of the Klamath Mountains, and straddle the Oregon-California border;
EXQUS ME (‘Excuse me’) says the license plate on this Corvette;
Information plaque at a rest stop— the Shastan peoples are a group of linguistically related indigenous peoples from the Klamath Mountains in California and Oregon in the northwestern United States;
A pale moon in the sky;
Mount Shasta is a massive, snow-capped stratovolcano standing at 14,179 feet (4,322 meters) in Siskiyou County, Northern California;
Shasta Lake just northwest of Redding is California’s largest man-made reservoir, holding roughly 4.5 million acre-feet of water when full;
Our first charging stop for the day was at Anderson, CA (187 miles from Grant’s Pass, about 3 hours of driving);
The second charging stop was at a very large station with 47 chargers, at Dunnigan, CA, off Interstate 5;
The other images are en route to Patterson, where I took the picture of the aqueduct.

September 29, 2026September 29, 2026

Tuesday/ roadtrip: day 1 of 3 🛣️

I embarked on a roadtrip to Palm Springs, California, this morning, with my two amigos in their Tesla Model Y.

We left Seattle at 10 am and made our first charging stop in Ridgefield, WA, after 152 miles. Washington State’s only In-and-Out Burger restaurant is right there and we stopped in for lunch.

The second charging stop was just under two hours later off Interstate 5 near Halsey and Brownsville in Oregon.

Our overnight stop is Grant’s Pass in the south of Oregon. The Best Western hotel here has a free EV charger-enabled parking space, which a nice bonus.

(Thanks to Bryan for two of the photos below).

August 17, 2026August 17, 2026

Monday/ the ‘eclipse of the century’ ☀️

Danielle Dowling writes for the New York Times:
If you missed this summer’s eclipse, don’t worry.
There are still a handful of opportunities to catch the “eclipse of the century” next year.
Imagine standing beneath a blackened sun among the ancient Egyptian tombs in the Valley of the Kings or overlooking the Nile at the Hatshepsut Temple. The eerie darkness might fill you with a primeval mix of terror, awe and wonder. In other words, perfection.
In the midmorning and afternoon of Aug. 2, 2027, ten countries (and a few territories) on the Mediterranean Sea and in the Middle East and Africa will find themselves in the 160-mile-wide, nearly 9,500-mile-long zone.
In some places, darkness will last as long as an incredible six minutes and 23 seconds.