This is the archived version of our free weekly newsletter. To start receiving it in your mailbox on the send-out day, join the newsletter list!
Hi from Croatia!
I left Basel, the Swiss city where the highest-ever temperature on the northern side of the Alps was recorded this year – 39.7 degrees Celsius.
With places like Lugano experiencing 50 tropical nights (lows above 20 degrees), this is officially becoming the hottest summer ever.
All of Europe is warming up, raising the heat death toll to 25,000, with Germany making up almost half of this sad number.
One of the worst droughts emptied Lake Brenets on the Swiss-French border, and the once-mighty Danube revealed everything from World War shipwrecks to cars dumped in the river’s depths in recent years.
So, here I am standing before the Adriatic Sea, the cooling agent for millions of tourists looking for an escape on the Croatian coast. This time, they can refresh themselves by taking seabed walks on Krk island, diving in an underwater museum near Trogir, or even swimming with horses on the island of Brač.
When the sun sets over the sea horizon, just experiencing the views above the sea surface can already boost one’s soul. Well, not everyone’s.
“Centoquindici fotografie!”, tells me the Italian passerby as his wife stands on the sea promenade, filling up her phone’s memory with sunset pictures.
I do wonder how he’ll escape this evening’s views, when the solar eclipse will draw our attention to the sky again. Plus the Perseid meteor shower. Plus the planetary alignment. A lot of wonders scheduled for tonight!
Sometimes, however, the powerful nature of this planet surprises us with small miracles of beauty even without an announcement. Whether it’s rainbow clouds over Indonesia or a fire rainbow over West Virginia, natural phenomena above our heads can brighten up a bad day.
As you prepare to watch and take pictures of our shortly darkened Sun this evening, remember that not all stars are created equal.
There is one, actually, that almost nobody is allowed to draw. But that’s a whole ‘nother story.
Have a starful rest of the week,
Ivan Kralj
Pipeaway.com
This is the archived version of our free weekly newsletter. To start receiving it in your mailbox on the send-out day, join the newsletter list!
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you click on them and make a purchase, Pipeaway may make a small commission, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our work!
