dan 🪩

i love this!! i hope you'll be giving them a thorough explanation of bluesky and all your bluesky friends

a beach, looking out to sea. the water is quite a dark blue, the sky is a lighter blue. the only thing on the beach is my blanket. a few heads are visible bobbing in the water

¡y he llegado! now i get the rest of the day to recover. i kind of hoped i'd wander down to the beach and lie there now, but it's raining, so here's a picture from last time i was here. stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow - beginning with the first metro of the day at 5am sharp and ending around 11pm 😖

that would have been lovely!! though another thing to stress about missing 😭 next time bestie 💖

a barcelona metro train zooming out of the station. it is white with red doors and a black front. a sign says the next train will be in 4 minutes

🚂 train 6: barcelona sants-my father-in-law's house

warmth, at last! but also some serious humidity, wow 🥵

oh i LOVE a train with a restaurant. and you're right, the czech ones are widely regarded as some of the best!

damn, it's not working 😔 i was going to listen to all of the channels and document what they were just for you (and science). from recollection it's usually a weird mix of latin-heavy pop and dance music, old spanish ballads, classical music, and like one station playing cheesy britpop from the 90s

a train carriage which is empty save for some standing tables in the middle and two sets of windows along the sides. behind the camera is a bar serving food and drinks

un bocadillo con jamon iberico/a baguette with iberico ham, on a paper plate alongside an adorable little bottle of olive oil and a little tin of tomatoes

a better shot of the table in the middle without people in the way. the sides of the train have nice soft lighting

but one of the real treats of a spanish train: the cafe-bar. which has a bit of a space age vibe on this train! it's always standing only, but their fresh toasted baguettes - with complimentary mini bottles of olive oil and tomato paste, ¡porque es españa! - are always on point 😌

a view from the window of the train. the pyrenees mountains can be seen in the distance. closer, old buildings are scattered among trees. the train is on a viaduct travelling over the top of the valley

a view from the other side of the train. in between leather seats, a view of mountains can be seen

a radio built into the seat armrest. it has buttons to change the channel and change the volume. it is currently set to channel 8

sadly this train blasts underneath the mountains rather than winding through them, but it gives the odd nice view. mostly old churches and olive trees 🏞️

and remember onboard radio stations? the spanish are quite insistent that they're still a thing. they even hand out earphones 📻

a white single-deck train arriving at a station. on the front it says "renfe AVE" (alta velocidad españa; spanish high speed)

inside the train in first class. leather seats either side of the aisle with white paper headrests. some tv screens are on the ceiling

🚂 train 5: perpignan 🇫🇷 to barcelona 🇪🇸

one of only four proper high speed trains that cross this border each day, despite it having a new billion-euro high speed line: two french double deckers, and two old spanish trains like this. such is the demand, my last minute ticket had to be in first class!

ilysm 💞✨

💞 we're a weird and wonderful bunch. you'd better be including yourself in this!!

at this rate i may have to give up swiftposting and become a travel influencer! so glad you're enjoying it 💖

thank you, i'm glad you're enjoying it!!

that would make sense! apparently it's a lovely city, sadly i've never ventured beyond the train station. and on this occasion the weather isn't inclining me too 😔

a picture of my laptop, showing a leeds university-branded powerpoint presentation titled "Timescales and investment dynamics in the economy: modelling inertia and the risks of climate inaction", in a train station waiting room which has wooden benches and a lot of plants

i would usually relish the chance to do all of those things but sadly it's not very interesting this time: i'm using every productive minute i have of this journey preparing the seminar i'm giving when i get to lisbon 😔 on the way home i will get to relax more, mostly with lots of reading!

Black text on white background reading: I once believed love would be burning red, but it’s golden.

if caring about animals isn't normal i don't want to be normal!!

the inside of perpignan station. my train from last night is sat at a platform, and all other platforms are obscured by the train. a big green canopy roof extends over the top of the platforms. the skies are grey

the immediate surroundings of the station. the skies are grey and the pavements are wet. the road is lined with palm trees, which hints at warmer climes, but those climes are not in the room with us now

a table containing a cafe au lait, a pain au chocolat, and a paris-brest for ultimate indulgence

a train departure board showing many trains, but none to barcelona...

📍 perpignan 🇫🇷

i'm making the most of my extended stay in france and treating myself to some pastries!

should i be concerned that my 11h22 train to barcelona isn't showing? probably. but sometimes the french like to pretend that spanish trains don't exist. i'll try and figure that out post-coffee

holy fuuuuck that last pic is insaneeeee omg the impact of some little lights on glasses HAS SHE BEEN DOING THE LITTLE LIGHTS ON THE GLASSES? i haven't seen these before

you can just about see the mountains from here, albeit heavily obscured by clouds ☁️

today i'm relaxed about all this - i just need to get to barcelona. but barcelona-lisbon tomorrow will be a long, long day and there is no scope for anything to go wrong. so tune in tomorrow for a lot more drama!

including today, it seems, this bit (they're running a rail replacement bus but it won't go the extra few km to cross into france, as if to prove my point). so i've bailed early and i'll sample the delights of perpignan, before getting a high speed train down to barcelona later. modernity has won 🙄

rely on multiple trains to get across the border, but the spanish rail system has conspired against me. if you've seen the news recently you'll have seen that their network...isn't in a great place. after the horrific crash a few months ago they're rapidly fixing a lot of the network at short notice

bonjour à tous! change of plan. i was very much looking forward to showing you the pure heaven of waking up on the slow train among the mountains, and the little cafe by the sea where i'd have my breakfast and wait for the next train, and explaining the political border oddities that mean i have to

💞 well you do make them so well! 🥖

yessss i remember as a kid my mum being DEVASTATED when i told her it wasn't boobies

🤎

sapphire tears on my face
sadness became my whole sky
but some guy said my aura's moonstone
just 'cause he was high
and we're dancin' all night
And you can try to change my mind
but you might have to wait in line
what's a girl gonna do?
A diamond's gotta SHIIIIIINNNEEE!!! 💅🏻 💎 ✨

thank you bestie 💞 so far so good!

a man is screaming while wearing headphones and holding a sword in his hand . Alt: a man is screaming while wearing headphones and holding a sword in his hand .

WE DONT TALK ENOUGH
WE SHOULD OPEN UP
BEFORE ITS ALL TOO MUCH

WILL WE EVER LEARN
WE’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE
ITS JUST WHAT WE KNOW

🥺