Category Archives: Islands

Island getaway

Posted on 28 Sep 2015 by lornaofarabia

My new school takes time off for both Christian and Muslim holidays, creating plenty of opportunity for short trips.  The Eid celebration in the third week of school was our first 5-day weekend this year. It’s still plenty hot here in Cairo but we … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Greece, Ikaria, Islands | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Butt to Barra and beyond

Posted on 28 Jul 2015 by lornaofarabia

Walkers and cyclists on a quest to travel the 150-mile length of the Outer Hebrides use the Butt of Lewis and the little island of Barra as endpoints. Butt to Barra is the Hebridean equivalent of John O’Groats to Lands End. We … Continue reading →

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Around Lewis

Posted on 23 Jul 2015 by lornaofarabia

On Lewis we stayed in a cottage just down the road from the Standing Stones of Callanish. HebCelt took up three full days, but we had two weeks and a car to get around in. Here are some pictures from our time … Continue reading →

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My man Murdo

Posted on 21 Jul 2015 by lornaofarabia

I’ve written before about my ongoing investigations into the roots of the MacIver family tree. But despite many research hours spent in Lewis and Harris’s libraries, cemeteries, and family history center, I’d come away from previous visits unable to “cross the water.” On this trip I was … Continue reading →

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HebCelt 2015

Posted on 18 Jul 2015 by lornaofarabia

Andreas and I had a blast at the HebCelt music festival in 2013 and knew it would be a highlight of our summer in Scotland this year as well. The bands were all new to us with no repeats from two years … Continue reading →

Posted in Islands, Music, UK | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Cheeky birds

Posted on 6 Jul 2015 by lornaofarabia

There is a cafe near our B&B called Juliet’s Garden. When Alekka and I stopped in for a late lunch the waiter seated us on a big sunny deck with a view of the harbor. It was so nice there that we went back the … Continue reading →

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Scilly Isles

Posted on 5 Jul 2015 by lornaofarabia

Our friend Julia enthusiastically recommended many beautiful places for Alekka and me to visit in Cornwall this summer, but chief among them were the Isles of Scilly. Julia and her husband liked it there so much there that they named children after two … Continue reading →

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Spice island

Posted on 20 Mar 2015 by lornaofarabia

I spent the last part of my spring break week in exotic Zanzibar. Zanzibar is what put the “zan” in Tanzania when the nations of Zanzibar and Tanganyika united in 1964. Zanzibar is an archipelago of two large and several … Continue reading →

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Camo chameleon, Madagascar part 3

Posted on 25 Oct 2014 by lornaofarabia

There are about 150 species of chameleons in the world, and half of them live in Madagascar. But they are hard to see. They do that color-changing thing, and they blend in with the scenery. The camouflage trick is very … Continue reading →

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Nosy Be and beyond, Madagascar part 2

Posted on 23 Oct 2014 by lornaofarabia

In Madagascar, even the islands have islands. It’s very meta. I love islands. This is my kind of place. A small motorboat took me on the 40 minute journey from Ankify to the island of Nosy Be (it means the … Continue reading →

Posted in Around Africa, Islands | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments