Hello lovely peeps,
I'm glad to say I am safely home again. So apart from catching up on my sleep (I traveled through the night) I also did a few washing machine cycles and I went to the post office to collect my mail. There were many postcards and one of them is this one:
It was sent to me by my friend Keren who has spent a week on Skye after driving over this very bridge.
They had stopped off in the Lake District on the way up. She says they took out a boat to Rum and Canna and they saw hundreds of puffins and seals, two porposes and a mink whale.
This is what I found on the Internet:
Canna, Rum, Eigg and Muck are known collectively as “The Small Isles” and are within easy reach of Oban. Lying between Mull and Skye, they are a virtually guaranteed stopover point. Canna, especially, is a beautiful island on which to spend a whole day and practically guarantees sea eagle sightings.
Canna Known as “The Jewel of the Hebrides”.
Canna is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is a very wild and remote island with an amazing diversity of wildlife both on its beaches and in woodland. The island hosts a puffin colony and rare butterflies, corncrakes and wild flowers such as orchids.
Rum: A dramatic island owned by Nature Conservancy. Nestled in Loch Scresort you are surrounded by splendid mountain scenery and can visit Kinloch Castle, an eccentric folly, completed for Sir George Bullough in 1901. Rum was the island where sea eagles were re-introduced to the Western Isles in 1975 after being wiped out in 1916 and is also home to red deer, seals, otters and birds such as Manx Shearwaters.
The stamp is a Scottish stamp with their blue and white flag as well as a picture of a seal:
A very beautiful stamp.
Talking about Skye, During the journey from Italy to Spain I read a book set on the isle of Skye called The Talisker Dead by JM Dalgliesh:
There's a whole series of these D.I. Duncan McAdam mysteries and this is the first I have read. I am going to read them all as I loved the protagonist and the descriptions of the island. I have never been to Skye but reading the book I could imagine I was there.
In my Tuesday blog I told you about Italy. Then on Tuesday morning I got the 5 o'clock train from Finale Ligure to Ventimiglia (the border with France). There I got a train to Nice, where I only had 10 minutes to find my train to Marseille. I couldn't get reservations on the intercity trains, so I had to use crowded commuter trains that stop at every village and have hard seats. In Marseille I could relax for an hour and a half before getting the train to Narbonne at lunch time. I didn't have lunch anywhere as my DIL had packed me several goodies to eat, so I was OK. From Narbonne one last train to Perpignan, which is near the French-Spanish border. It's blisteringly hot and because of my problems with internet access, I hadn't booked a hotel. Luckily when I walked out of the station,
there was a delightful hotel just opposite!
Inside was very modern and clean, with a coffee machine in the lobby next to an ice machine and a faucet for drinking water, carbonated or still. I was very pleased.
I then went for a walk into Perpignan. Perpignan is very colourful and has
Lots of tall palm trees.
Lovely old buildings.
Then a large square (Place de Catalogne) with the FNAC department store.
I enjoyed the statue of the Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, Dalí en Levitation, outside FNAC on the place de Catalogne and facing towards the city’s train station, la Gare de Perpignan.
The statue, which was put in place in 2017, was originally created in 2000 by the two artists, Sabine et Eric, known as ‘Les Pritchards.’ It was inspired by Dali’s 1965 painting, Le mystique de la gare de Perpignan, and was originally placed on the roof of the station.
The statue, which was put in place in 2017, was originally created in 2000 by the two artists, Sabine et Eric, known as ‘Les Pritchards.’ It was inspired by Dali’s 1965 painting, Le mystique de la gare de Perpignan, and was originally placed on the roof of the station.
I found a restaurant on that square:
An Italian restaurant (Le Napoli) where I had my evening meal. I had sea bass:
With a glass of white wine, and for dessert I had stracciatelli ice cream drowned in creme de Menthe liquor. Yummy or what!
More of my trip on my Tuesday blog.
Of course it wouldn't be Friday Smiles if I didn't put some funnies out at the end.
In the meantime: Keep smiling!
Lisca
This last one is not a joke, just thought it was beautiful....
6 comments:
The chair is ma fav! Very "cool".
Thank you for the funnies, too, and ow. Holiday over already? Hope you share more. Happy Friday.
I know next to nothing about Scotland, except that Elle/eotc lives there. Thanks for a bit of geography and information.
Perpignan is a beautiful city with wonderful architecture. And of course, PALM trees!!! Love the Dali sculpture.
I'll take the olives and the salad and you can have the fish with its head still on.
Some of your funnies were really clever. I loved the note that has a longer life and the Disney sweater. But the turtle was the best!!
Have a great rest of Friday, catch up on rest, and have a super weekend, dear.
I believe Skye is where Cairn teriers originate from...they were bred for chasing small rodents [and Milly has been know to catch a mouse!!]. We have a lot to thank Skye for :-) Love the funnies.
Hugs,
Annie x
Pleased you are home safely, I can well imagine you are ready for a rest. I have noticed that when you go away the postman brings loads of stuff! Enjoyed the funnies but that stair case is wonderful. Have a good weekend. Hugs Angela xXx
Dear Lisca, your descriptions really make me want to go on a trip to the Hebrides. Above all, the chance to see puffins again (unfortunately they were very far away in Iceland) and maybe also various whales make these islands very tempting for me, even if the weather there is probably not the friendliest... It seems to be completely different in Perpignan ;-). The Dalí en Levitation statue is really funny! I'm glad you got home safely!
I really like your funnies too, I found the thing about the taste in music particularly accurate (I think that's my way of looking when it comes to the Eurovision theme ;-)) and the description of politicians. Oh yes, and the Disney sweater
;-DDD
All the best, Traude
https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2024/06/weltreise-2024-immer-noch-neuseeland.html
One of my sons is in the Hebridies now, recording with his heavy metal band. But I am pleased to say he has taken time out to appreciate his beautiful surroundings too.
It's good to know you are safely home again. You are a brave-hearted traveller on your own these days.
I loved the prolonged note in your funnies and the divorced snail, and the staircase is excellent.
My op went well but today I had an allergic reaction to the dressing they put on the site they took skin from for the graft, so I had to have it changed and now keep adding more cream when it itches too bad . But hopefully all the discomfort will pass soon, and it will be worth it. Kate x
I loved the prolonged note in your funnies
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