Tonight was our second go at watching the perseids. Last night we took the kids and walked out of Bubesheim a short way along a footpath until we were beyond the street lights. This was great, and we had the added benefit of a distant thunderstorm to watch and a warm tarmac path to sit/lie on, but it adjoined the main road through the village and we were frequently blinded by car headlights.
We did get to see some good perseids though, and me and James saw some more later that night sitting on the front steps outside our apartment.
Today we were a bit less sure about the skies being clear. After a 5.5 hour journey (an hour more than it should have been due to a crash up ahead), we arrived at our accommodation and walked down to the supermarket, stocked up on food and drink and were just about to head out the door when we saw the heavens had opened.
We took refuge under the supermarket eaves until a lull in the rain, then raced back up the hill with thunder echoing around us. We were very relieved to make it back without being soaked!
So we weren't necessarily expecting a clear night, but by 9.45pm it was looking pretty good, so we headed out up the hill on another tarmac path. It was dry but not warm like the previous night, and we were glad we brought our jumpers. Unfortunately it was also still quite light (we were quite a bit further north) so we had to wait a while for the show to get started.
It was beautiful up there, peaceful and calm, and although we didn't see as many perseids as the previous night, we saw a few and the experience was lovely. Jowan was tired though, and we realised he'd dropped off when we saw some really good ones and prodded him, to get no response. So it was probably time to head back... Lowenna's already talking about where she wants to watch them next year!
Published on Tuesday 14 August 2018
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