Burgos
First, a note… We’ve been moving so quickly that I’ve fallen seriously behind. So everything I’m posting here is from last week. Also, due to time and privacy, I’m skipping over a lot of parts. Hopefully I can fill in some of those details whenever I see all of you in person.
Niolon
When I last wrote, Tim and I were enjoying a few quiet (and delicious) days in Lyon. At the end of the interlude, Tim and I took a train from Lyon to Aix, where Meg met us at the train station. We had a handful of hours before the kids and Opa landed at the airport, so she took us to a delightful town on the coast named Niolon. It’s a teeny town with a handful of houses and restaurants, where local families were swimming and sunbathing. Most of the restaurants were opening later or not at all because it’s August in Europe, when almost everything shuts down so people can go on vacation. But we found a place with sandwiches and salads and bread and cold drinks (it was already hot, hot hot) and a view overlooking the water.
After lunch, we headed to the airport for a quick reunion with Amelia and Duke, and Meg, Alex, Opa, and Jack. We got drinks, got caught up on a little bit of news, and then the four of us checked in for our flight to Madrid. We had an appointment with an eclipse.
Salas de Los Infantes
After a few adventures with the rental car company and a drive through the Spanish countryside, we arrived late into Salas de los Infantes, a small town in the Burgos region of Spain. By that point, all of us were exhausted – the kids had been traveling almost non-stop since the end of their camp in Colorado, and Tim and I had traveled by plane, train and automobile in the course of one day.
We were meeting a group of other families there in Burgos. A few of the families had met up together nine years ago in Oregon to enjoy the 2017 eclipse. I still find it so amazing that we would be able to meet again, all the way on the other side of the year.
The next day was incredibly hot, but we found shelter at a picnic bench along the river for a late breakfast, and then met up with everyone at a nearby monastery for a late lunch. After lunch, we found a spot to dip our feet into a cool stream to cool off, and then attended a performance in the abbey of Gregorian chants by the famous monks of Santo Domingo. When we got back to our bed and breakfast, the girls organized a game of Neanderthal poetry in the common room, and eventually we all fell into bed.
Burgos Eclipse – 2026
The next day was the main event. The eclipse was in the evening, so we spent a fair amount of the day debating where exactly we wanted to set up, and when we should go and how to get there. In the end, we ended up in a perfect spot, overlooking the valley below. We had platters of cheese and charcuterie and cold wine and sodas. Afterward we had plates of cakes and pastries. Among our group we had a wide arsenal of cameras – telephoto and 360 degree and drones and SLRs. We were well prepared.
Watching an eclipse in the path of totality is an experience unlike any other experience. A profound realization of our smallness in the universe and the preciousness and precariousness of our world. It’s especially powerful to experience it with other people – to share the moment of awe.
