Empire Studios Saint Julian's

... self rule now, but it means nothing, as the European Union calls the shots.
We made many stops to enjoy the view and learn about the various forts. At one point we boarded little boats that looked rather like gondolas, six to a boat, and toured the harbor. Our guide was great. We discussed politics, health care and taxes. He is not happy with the EU. Qaddafi offered Malta oil at $10/barrel, forever ...

I've just popped over to Malta for a day & a bit (as you do!) to say a quick hello / goodbye to my parents (and bring them lots of goodies over for the last time in a while).

The weather is a little warmer than the UK, but not as warm as it's going to be in a week's time (ha ha ha).

Anyway, I'll keep this blog short so ciao for now!

Anita x

... places we visited:

Savona

As it was raining and cold here, decided to spend the day aboard and relax and enjoy the fabulous view of the city from the 12th floor of the ship and teach the children how to play 500.

Barcelona

Walked from the ship into town, needed the exercise and didn’t want to pay the exorbitant cost of cruise transport. Hit the Paseo de Gracia (Main Street), so interesting and buzzing with ...

... wake-up call, I carefully slouch as I sit up so I don’t bump my head against the ceiling. I climb down the ladder to go to the bathroom and this time I remember to lock the door before I start taking a shower. Still, Dad fidgets with the latch outside. "It’s urgent!!" he shouts.

By 8:00am the ship arrives in Malta while we are eating breakfast at the Garden Buffet. When I look through the window I see the sun ...

... night. We all got dressed up and ate hamburgers and got frilly pink drinks and just enjoyed our time together.

Yesterday (Friday) we got up early and went to Comino. It was stunningly gorgeous. The water was so clear, and so many shades of blue, it was unreal. Jenna, Roya, and I started out swimming in the Blue Lagoon for a bit, then walked over to another lagoon to meet up with the others. When we got there we decided to do some cliff jumping ...

... to be a carnival and the main square is now filled with dancers and singers, we linger a while to watch the goings on, then decide to stay, find ourselves a couple of seats - again in the lovely sunshine - and end up watching for a couple of hours. Finally hunger gets the better of us and we go in search of a somewhere that serves fresh fish for John and something else for me as I'm not a great fish lover. Rabbit is the national dish of Malta and we come to a place ...

... Malta is great. We got into Malta and someone from our hotel picked us up. It turns out that they are taking after England; they drive on the wrong side of the road and everything. The city we are staying at is St. Julian's, so we headed there. Our hotel was great. It was only 12.50 a night and we got free breakfast. Our toilet didn't work that well but whatever. We walked around for a while and headed towards a beach. The beach sucked ...

... of wine, good conversations, some new residence being thrown into the pool and some good music. Everyone around is amazingly open, free and excited about the semester ahead. I met a greaaaat Swedish guy that went to the Gambia last year and gave me some good bits for march. It makes me smile when I think about ive only been here one week(not even). Since most of us don't have formal classes yet, we're all a little more open to partying later, im sure in a week or so when classes settle ...

... which was a very apt name given the colour of the water. After my all too short boat trip finished, I began to make my way 3km up the coast to my next destination, the megalithic temples of Hagar Qim and Mnajdra. As I left the parking lot at Wied iz-Zurrieq a taxi driver stopped me and asked if I was getting a bus. I informed him that I was walking to the temples, to which he replied I must go with him, as the temples closed at 12.30pm and they were 4 miles ...

... pretty religious except the expats. All I was interested in by then was the beer o'clock, so I struck the bell when we got back. It was a quick stop in Gozo as the dive shops were closed Sunday and the weather wasn't forecast to change for a number of days. Comino was possible but the weather wouldn't have helped an expedition there either. So a ...