elba Archives - Permanent Tourist

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The rocky coastline in the north west of Elba is unique in the world; granite magma, deposited by a volcano seven million years ago, is impregnated with orthoclase crystals and forms a peculiar, smoothed surface. On first seeing the rocks, they appeared to have been concreted-over, but on closer inspection, it was obvious that it’s […]

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The rocky coastline in the north west of Elba is unique in the world; granite magma, deposited by a volcano seven million years ago, is impregnated with orthoclase crystals and forms a peculiar, smoothed surface. On first seeing the rocks, they appeared to have been concreted-over, but on closer inspection, it was obvious that it’s […]

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The rocky coastline in the north west of Elba is unique in the world; granite magma, deposited by a volcano seven million years ago, is impregnated with orthoclase crystals and forms a peculiar, smoothed surface. On first seeing the rocks, they appeared to have been concreted-over, but on closer inspection, it was obvious that it’s […]

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About 700km from home.

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A very spooky entrance to an even spookier ruined cavern, set of tunnels and hilltop military outpost, which we came across during a hike on the Italian island of Elba. The cavern contained little but low walls on either side, running its full length, and a large red-bricked doorway at the far end. I didn’t […]

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The tiny, narrow headland where we spent time sunbathing and snorkelling. In the distance on the left of the photo, Napoleon’s hill fort "Villa Dei Mulini" sits atop the hill next to the main port, Portoferraio. Photographed during a hot and sweaty walk to the top of the hill at the far end of the […]

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During dinner in a hidden local restaurant, very popular with locals and probably hardly known by tourists, we had a grandstand view of the sun as it set gloriously over the Mediterranean. On the horizon, a huge cloudbank obscured the French island of Corsica and added a little drama to the scene.

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We’re usually a little unsettled until we find "our places" when staying somewhere on holiday; quiet, picturesque spots where we don’t get over-run by tourists and where we can feel comfortable. This was the little beach we found which matched what we were looking for. After spending time on all of the other coasts, "our […]

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Photographed from our table for lunch.

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We had company on the little terrace at our hotel in Elba: four fledgling swallows (although only three are visible here, the fourth having already fledged), being fed at very regular intervals by their parents. We were quite sad when they left a couple of days before we did, after we’d spent a little time […]

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