Partial phase of the total solar eclipse of 11-August 1999. Unfortunately, this is all I got to see of the eclipse, despite my position directly on the centerline.
A friend and I had driven to a small town near Stuttgart the night before the eclipse in order to get set up early, so we could catch the entire spectacle.
As luck would have it, the three days before and after the eclipse were pure sunshine, but we awoke to a cloudy day on eclipse day.
It did not get better, even as first contact passed. About 30 minutes later, a small patch of clear sky was spotted and thought to move right towards the sun which was hiding behind the clouds.
Several minutes later, the clouds gave way to the partially eclipsed sun, an awesome sight for a first-timer. I quickly snapped my pictures, and as quickly as the sun had been revealed, it disappeared again.
Totality came, it got very dark, but I wasn't quite sure if it was the Moon's shadow or a storm cloud that was responsible for the lighting, and totality went.
My friend, pretty annoyed by the fact that we had gone so far (he doesn't really understand the importance of such a trip - some people travel around the globe to see an eclipse; we had to travel a few hundred kilomteres), wanted to drive home right away.
I wanted to stay and wait for another chance to see the partially eclipsed sun. However, it was his car and he wanted to go, so we went.
Which didn't help much - as soon as we hit the highway, we came to a stop again. It was the longest traffic jam of my life - 150km! In other words, the entire drive home. While the trip down to Stuttgart had taken approximately 1 1/2 hours, the drive home took an entire 6 hours.
All in all, it was not an experience I would like to repeat, but that does not mean I will never go to an eclipse again.
On the contrary, I've been bitten by the bug and want to see every eclipse possible. I didn't get to see the 2001 eclipse in Africa, but I'm sure I'll be seeing one soon!
