Man, sit down because I found out something that'll make you cross yourself! On June 21, at exactly 11:24 AM Romanian time, the summer solstice occurs - meaning the longest day and shortest night of the year. 15 hours and 32 minutes of sunshine, bro! After that, the day starts getting shorter, 'cause it couldn't stay like that forever. That's what the guys at the "Amiral Vasile Urseanu" Observatory say.

Now, "solstice" comes from Latin - "sol" and "sistere", meaning the sun stands still. It seems to stop, but actually it's because of Earth's 23.5-degree tilt. Here in the northern hemisphere it's summer, for those in Australia it's winter. And up north of the Arctic Circle, the sun doesn't even set - they call it the "midnight sun." I've only seen that on TV, but I'd love to go there once with Mioara. She says it's too cold, that we'd better go to Turkey for all-inclusive.

Traditions, bro! The ancients celebrated the solstice like it was their New Year's Eve. In the British Isles, there are Neolithic stones - Bryn Celli Ddu, Townleyhall - aligned with the sunrise. At Fajada Butte in New Mexico, a sunbeam crosses a carved spiral exactly at noon. In China, the emperor made offerings at the Temple of Earth. And in Northern Europe, they lit bonfires, which later got mixed into the feast of Saint John. Stonehenge, that one in England, is the most famous - they'd gather there for ceremonies. I've never been, but if I were to go, I'd bring a grill too, 'cause I'm not gonna stand around like an idiot among rocks.

The history is even cooler. Around 250 BC, a Greek guy, Eratosthenes, measured the length of the Earth's meridian by looking at the sun at the solstice in Siena and Alexandria. The first geodetic operation, they say. I mean, the man, without GPS, without anything, calculated how big the Earth is. We can barely handle Waze, but he was doing real science.

For us Romanians, the solstice is full of traditions and superstitions - purification rituals, folk celebrations. Astronomical summer starts on June 21, but meteorological summer on June 1, 'cause that's how the number crunchers decided. After the solstice, days get shorter, nights get longer, until the winter solstice on December 21. Then we'll be complaining again about the cold and the bills. Until then, let's enjoy the sun, 'cause with prices going up, next year we might not even afford a vacation in Mamaia.