Hallo all!
Happy Birthday, Heather, on the 18th!
Great Gray OwlYellowstone National Park, U.S.A.U.S. National Park Service, NPS/Eric JohnstonPhoto Labeled Public Domain (Copyright Free)
Happy Birthday, Clare, on the 18th!
RavenGlacier National Park, U.S.A.U.S. National Park Service, NPS/Jacob W. FrankPhoto Labeled Public Domain (Copyright Free)
Good Morning. Awoke early so was agog to see how the Election had gone. Hope you can breathe a bit easier now, Annette and Diane!
AQ - Farewell for now! -hope we all meet again on the other side.....
Diane, love the birthday cards, and yes I hope that both Heather and Clare enjoy their birthdays, although hopefully we'll be back together in some form or another before the 18th.
Hello!
I arrived home from Denmark last evening. Now must feed the washing machine!
I met the newest addition to their family, their eight week old granddaughter, Elvira. It was nice to see the island again and walk around the nearest town across the causeway - Svendborg. Other than that, it was a very quiet few days, perhaps too quiet.
I have been popping in and reading all your news.
ROSY- Sorry to hear about your kitchen worktop and the continuing disruption. I hope it will stop, soon! Good that your OH has recovered.
OG- J must be worried about his health and I understand your frustration at not being with him when he goes to the Christie. Thinking of you three xxx
ANNETTE/LINDY - Yes, that looks like a cordelyne. My OH sustained a nasty scratch to his eyeball as a result of a close encounter with one in our garden. Strangely enough, we no longer have it here....
The World Service radio had an all night election special last night, and I heard about the latest tweet. He certainly has a massively great opinion of himself.
DIANE- thank you for the lovely card!
To everyone who reads and posts here - see you after the great upgrade!
Unknown said: Happy Birthday, Clare, on the 18th! RavenGlacier National Park, U.S.A.U.S. National Park Service, NPS/Jacob W. FrankPhoto Labeled Public Domain (Copyright Free)
Incidentally we had the first pair of ravens breeding in Suffolk for the first time in nearly 150 years, this year - absolutely wonderful.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
Wow, Clare! The first pair of ravens in 150 years. That must be a sign from the universe! Nice to see you!
Great news about the Ravens, Clare. :-)
I've had one of those mornings where you go into another room and find a job you've half done, plus a cold mug of tea which you forgot! Now trying to retrace my steps and tidy up. I was distracted by opening the cupboard where I keep all the gifts I squirrel away for Ch...as and birthdays, and began to sort them out. One hour gone! My hoard has got much bigger since we had grandchildren, of course, and I often buy things which are too old for them but then each year you have to get them out and check them, so that they're given at the appropriate age.
Heather - Glad you're home safe. Hope you enjoyed yourself.
Next Instalment of our cruise adventure.
The following day, we had sailed to Italy, and were in the Tuscany region. Lots of people went ashore to explore Florence, but we opted for a shorter visit, and were booked onto a coach trip to see Pisa and the famous leaning tower. We had docked in Livorno, more about that later.
First impressions were not good as the ship had to dock in a very industrial area, so I took no photos at all. We then passed through this area for several miles, with all the infrastructure of various industries, before we reached the beautiful Italian countryside.
This was a building we passed on our journey, described as "very old indeed" by our guide, who was an Italian and very good. Whoops! I must have pressed the button for 'Polaroid' on that one!
It certainly looked old!
A major river which had been the main route once, to Livorno, and at first, had caused it to become a main city for trade. It had then been silted up and blocked, and was too difficult for modern vessels to use, so had been by passed and a lot of trade was lost.
I was keen for my OH to see the lovely Italian countryside, so was relieved when it all began to get much greener as we went inland.
A view out of the coach window.
Our guide was very informative, and herded us like a school childrens' crocodile once we reached the coach park in Pisa and began on foot. We went two by two across a road and along until we got to the area where the Cathedral and famous spire were. But we didn't see it right away!
First we spied this grand building: this is the Baptistry. On the right is an extremely old part of the original city wall, much older than all of the buildings there now, as this had always been a sacred site long before these were built.
Closer up.
Walking beyond it, you find the cathedral itself, the Duomo.
Next to that, an imposing Library building, and I was intrigued by this intricate extra above the door. There are some figures looking out from inside this structure. In the library they were selling tickets to get inside the Tower, the Cathedral and the Baptistry, but the queues were already long.
The Baptistry from another angle, showing the large door (with a more practical, smaller door inside it).
The Cathedral was undergoing some renovations but I still thought this was worth a picture, as the roof is so intricate.
Finally, a first glimpse of the Leaning Tower, which was built to house the bells but stands quite alone alongside the other buildings. The red flag flying from the top is the flag of Tuscany.
A clearer picture. Note the huge numbers of people. Around the tower, you are not allowed on the grass, so everyone is restricted to the walkways and paths. There were literally hundreds of people, a lot of them teenagers on educational trips, and from all over the world. Never heard so many languages being spoken together in one place!