Travel log of Dr. Hitt to view a total solar eclipse that occurred on March 29, 2006.

Below is a map of the Mediterranean Sea and the travel route of Dr. Hitt.  Notice the eclipse viewing site will be off the coast of Egypt.

March 21, 2006 (Genoa Italy)

I arrived in Genoa on the morning flight from Washington DC.  Genoa is a coastal sea port town located on the western side of Italy. It is most famous as the birth place of Christopher Columbus in 1447.  It is also the birth place of music composer Niccola Paganini in 1784.  Genoa was destroyed in 205 and rebuilt by the Romans.  It is Italy's most important seaport.

The port of Genoa is near the middle of this photo.

March 22, 2006 (Rome, Italy)

I had the chance to visit Rome for only one day. I rode into Rome on a train from the coastal port of Civitavecchia.  The train ride cost only 9 euro (around $10) and took around 40 minutes.  I got off the train near St. Peters Cathedral and walked across the oldest part of the city to view the famous ruins of the Roman empire.  

Rome was and still is an ancient city built on seven hills. It has monumental buildings such as the Collosseum, the Forum of Trajan, and the Pantheon.  It was considered the "capital of the world" during the time of the Roman emperors.  The Romans built large aqueducts to bring water into the cities from the distant mountains.  The emperor Titus opened the Collosseum in 80 AD. This was a large circular building where an estimated 50,000 people could watch chariot races and mock sea battles.  Another large arena called Circus Maximus was built to hold 300,000 spectators.  The most popular events were chariot races.

March 23, 2006 (At Sea)

Today was a day at sea and I used the time to get my telescope and cameras ready for the solar eclipse.  I had packed my cameras and tripod in separate cases and had to bolt them together.  Once the optics were attached to the tripod, I needed to align the telescope and the cameras.  

March 24, 2006 (AT Sea)

We are now getting close to Egypt.  I am very excited about getting to see the most ancient wonder of the world, the Pyramids.  The weather is now getting warmer and the days are getting sunny. I hope the weather clears up for the eclipse that will occur in several days.

March 25, 2006 (Cairo, Egypt)

This morning I woke up early to see the ship enter the harbor of Alexandria.  The skies were clear and the harbor was busy with ships from all over the world.  Alexandria is named after "Alexander the Great".  He was a famous Greek general that conquered most of the ancient world.  It was here in Alexandria that a famous library existed that contained the works of all the famous scholars of the world.  The Great Library of Alexandria burned, but no one today knows the year.  It may have been around 300 BC. 

Soon I was off the ship and on my way to Cairo to see the pyramids.  Cairo is the largest city in Egypt and is a three hour drive from Alexandria.  Cairo is also the largest city in the Middle East and Africa.  It lies at the center of all trade routes leading to and from the three continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe.  Cairo has been called the "cradle of civilization".  Egypt is where the famous Pyramids are located.  They are the only surviving wonders of the Seven Wonders of the World.  The pyramids are located east of the city of Cairo in Giza.  

March 26, 2006 (Cyprus, Greece)

In Greek mythology, Cyprus was the birth place of the goddess Aphrodite.  She was the goddess of beauty and love.  Cyprus was ruled by the Greeks as early as 1200 BC. It was taken away from the Greeks by the Egyptians, Romans, the United Kingdom (England) and the Turkish.  It gained independence in 1960.  Click on the photo below to see a picture of the island of Cyprus.

Photograph taken by NASA Space Shuttle.

March 27, 2006 (Rhodes, Greece)

Rhodes was called " the Island of Sun" and was said to be the home of the Greek Sun God Helios.  In Greek mythology, the island is the body of a beautiful woman that Helios loved.  When Helios shone his light on her, she was transformed into the island.  The name Rhodes means "rose" and the island is a flowery place.  Rhodes is known as the place where one of the seven wonders of the ancient world stood. It was a large statue of the Sun God Helios and it stood over the entrance of the harbor of Rhodes. It was made of bronze and was over 100 feet tall.  It was destroyed by an earthquake.

This is a NASA photo of the island of Rhodes.

March 28, 2006 (Antalya, Turkey)

Antalya was founded in the second century B.C.  It was ruled by the Romans and then the Ottoman (Turkish).  The most famous structure in the city is a mosque built in the 16th century called the Murat Pasa Mosque. There is also a large tower called  Hidirlik Kulesi standing near the coast and was probably used as a lighthouse.

March 29, 2006 (Eclipse Day)

Today the sun will be eclipsed by the moon.  I was up on the deck of the ship early in the morning to get my telescope and cameras ready for the eclipse.  Soon the ship's deck was covered with telescopes and excited passengers all eager to see the eclipse.  However, the clouds began to cover the sky and for a short time it began to rain.  The eclipse was still several hours away and all hoped for clear skies.  Soon the sky turned blue and the clouds seemed to disappear.  The eclipse started just before noon and we could see the moon appearing to take a small bite out of the sun's image.

Totality lasted almost four minutes and the sight was FANTASTIC!  View some of the photos on the photo page of this web site.

March 30, 2006 (At Sea)

Today was a day to share photos and talk about the eclipse.  I made a DVD of the eclipse and a time lapse movie of the people moving around on the ship.  We had a "show and tell" session to share all our photographs.  I think I took almost 300 pictures during the four minutes of totality.

March 31, 2006 (Naples, Italy)

Today I had the chance to visit Naples (Napol) and the city of Pompeii.  Naples is the port city located near the lower western coast of Italy. It was founded by the Greeks in the eighth century B.C.  It was near the city of Naples that the volcano named Vesuvius erupted on the 24th of August in 79 A.D. and buried the city of Pompeii.  The city of Pompeii remained buried until it was rediscovered in 1748.  Today, Pompeii is a 66 acre archeological park where you can walk among the ruins of a lost city.  You can see the volcano Vesuvius in the photo below.

NASA photo of Naples and Mt Vesuvius.

April 1, 2006 (Return Home)

The flight home took around nine hours.