- A trip that was absolutely worth taking!
- Unless there’s a special reason, try to avoid traveling to Europe in the summer. It is HOT—really, really hot! (And apparently, this year was the hottest one yet.)
- WhatsApp works almost everywhere.
- Uber may not work in smaller towns, so be prepared with alternative transportation options.
- Be ready to rely on Google Translate!
We chose this summer time to visit Spain because we wanted to see the total solar eclipse on August 12, 2026.
Ever since my son, Nicholas, convinced his sister, Carolynn, and me to travel to Texas to see our first total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, we have been completely hooked. We decided right away that we wanted to see the 2026 eclipse as well.
In my family, both of my children had visited Europe multiple times since high school, while my husband, Eugene, had visited once in 2017. Nicholas, in particular, had traveled to Europe several times for work since completing his PhD in 2025. This trip, however, would be my very first time visiting Europe, which made it especially meaningful and exciting for me.
According to the path of totality, we had two options: Iceland and Spain. Nicholas mentioned that some of his friends were considering going to Iceland. However, I preferred to visit Spain, as it is one of the European countries I had been hoping to explore, particularly Madrid and Barcelona. After discussing the options with the children, we decided to choose Spain as our destination to witness the solar eclipse.
My daughter Carolynn planned most of the trip and booked our flights and hotels in Madrid, Soria, and Barcelona back in January. The three of us, Carolynn, her boyfriend Theo, and I, arrived in Madrid on August 8 and met up with Nicholas, who flew from Vienna where he had just finished a week-long academic conference.
For the eclipse, we chose the city of Soria, in north-central Spain, quite early in our planning. In the end, we felt incredibly lucky to have picked what turned out to be one of the best places to watch the eclipse. The sky was perfectly clear, with an unobstructed view, and we experienced nearly two full minutes of totality with our own eyes!
As the total eclipse began, the sky suddenly grew dark. The still- scorching heat of the late afternoon sun gave way to a surprisingly cool breeze, and the sound of crickets started filling the air. It felt almost magical, like we had suddenly stepped into another world. Later, we heard that the eclipse viewing in Iceland was somewhat affected by bad weather.
It was quite an adventure to see the perfect solar eclipse!
Seeing that perfect eclipse came with its own little adventure.
On August 12, after spending four wonderful days touring Madrid, the big moment, the solar eclipse, was drawing near. We took a nearly three-hour bus ride in the late afternoon from Madrid toward Soria. For some reason, we were only able to buy tickets as far as the stop before Soria, a tiny village called Coberteleda, about 25 miles away. As a result, we had to get off the bus before reaching Soria. 😬
The bus stop was completely shelterless. It was the middle of a scorching Spanish summer, with the sun blazing overhead and temperatures reaching nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit. In front of us, all we could see were endless, open hills stretching into the distance. Every once in a while, a car would pass by.
My daughter’s original plan was that, once we got off at this stop, we could just call an Uber for the rest of the journey to Soria. Of course, anything that could have gone wrong went wrong! It turns out that Uber didn’t work around there, and we had just arrived in an area that is completely Uber-less! 😅
The four of us suddenly realized we had a problem on our hands! Our only option was to activate international phone service and call the hotel where we were going to stay for help. Thankfully, the call went through without any issues; they were expecting us, and the hotel assistant gave us the number for a local taxi service.
However, when we called the number, in English, to ask for a taxi for four people traveling to Soria from 25 miles away, the person on the other end of the phone became suspicious. He apparently thought we might be scammers and wasn’t exactly eager to take the risk!
Luckily for me, Nicholas, Carolynn, and Theo immediately went into problem-solving mode, especially Nicholas, who had traveled abroad frequently and had plenty of experience navigating unexpected travel problems. He pleaded with the driver to connect with him on WhatsApp, patiently explained our situation, and even offered to pay extra for the long trip.
The driver initially asked for €80, and also asked us to use an obscure Spanish app called Bizum which requires a Spanish bank account which of course we didn’t have. He was skeptical. So we increased our offer to pay him more at €120. Finally, the driver agreed to come and pick us up.
Nearly an hour later, as we were watching the partial eclipse that started a short time ago, the taxi finally arrived. When our driver, who later introduced himself as Daniel, saw the four of us standing there: each carrying a backpack and dragging a piece of luggage, and witnessed how incredibly relieved and happy we were to see his car, he realized right away that we were definitely not scammers!
Daniel became incredibly warm and helpful.
During the drive, Daniel explained in his broken English that his colleagues had advised him not to take the job because they were afraid it was a scam. He had decided to take the chance anyway, which was why he had asked for such a high fare.
We kept telling him, “No problem! You deserve it. We are so grateful that you came to get us.”
He then asked why we were going to such a small place. We explained that we had traveled all the way from the United States specifically to see the total solar eclipse in his part of Spain.
At the same time, we put on our eclipse glasses and started watching the partial eclipse that had just begun.
Daniel was fascinated, and became even more enthusiastic when he realized what we were doing.
He told us that he had never seen a total solar eclipse in his life.
My son then used Google Translate to communicate with him. We asked whether, when totality happens, if he could pull over somewhere so that all of us could watch it together.
And Daniel did just that.
Soon, Daniel pulled off at a random highway exit at exactly the right moment. There were no people around, just a couple of cars and trucks zipping along the highway. As it turned out, we had stumbled upon a fantastic elevated viewpoint, with a completely unobstructed panorama of the eclipse.
Daniel happily joined us for his very first total solar eclipse, wearing the pair of eclipse glasses I handed to him (at first, he thought he could just look through his sunglasses), while Nicholas, a practicing astrophysicist, explained what was happening in real time.
At the end, Daniel asked Nicholas to send the photos and videos he took via WhatsApp to prove to his colleagues that he hadn’t picked up four scammers after all. Rather, he had picked up four people who had traveled all the way from the United States to witness a total solar eclipse that lasted less than two minutes!
It was all worth it!
Before dropping us off at the hotel, Daniel told us about his six-year-old son, whom he loves dearly. They live in Soria, Spain.
For dinner, Nicholas, Carolynn and Theo walked to a local restaurant, which they said may very well have been the best meal they had in Spain. Soria looked like a historic and quaint city, and they wished they could have spent a few more days there!
The next day, we began our next leg of our journey, a six-hour bus ride to Barcelona, after which we spent four equally wonderful days exploring one of Europe’s largest cities.
Adventurers we met along the way
On the morning of August 13, while having breakfast at the hotel where we were staying in Soria, a very nice young man approached our table and started a conversation. He introduced himself as Jason, 18 years old, and from Shenzhen, China. He said he had traveled all the way from China by himself to Soria to see the solar eclipse. Afterward, he planned to take a bus to Madrid. In the fall, he would start college at Columbia University.
A few days later, on the first leg of our return flight from Barcelona to Philadelphia, I happened to sit next to a couple who were about 73 years old. The husband was pulling a suitcase that looked pretty heavy.
I struck up a warm conversation with them and discovered that they, too, had traveled all the way to Spain specifically to see the total solar eclipse.
The gentleman, Spencer, was a very active volunteer with an astronomical organization: Eclipse Megamovie Project. Despite having Type 1 diabetes, he and his wife Cathline had gone to a remote Spanish town carrying his own photography equipment so that he could photograph the eclipse. His images would later be uploaded to the organization’s website for research and for others to enjoy.
What an incredible dedication to astronomy—and what an inspiration! I salute him!
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