I had the pleasure to visit Croatia and the sky seemed familiar to me somehow... and I realized I was on the opposite coast of the Adriatic Sea. What I remembered was how it was rendered in Porco Rosso, which I had seen years before visiting IRL.

Watching the movie again, I am amazed at how precisely Miyazaki captures the exact feeling of the sky and sea of the Adriatic in summer.

There's something about the way Ghibli does aircraft (and clouds!) that is simply magical. One can almost taste the freedom of flight every time a ship or craft is on screen.

I'm very rarely moved by art and movie magic, but whatever Ghibli does with flight just really gets me every time.