Downtown Victoria

I've just popped over to Malta for a day &amp; 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).<br><br>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).<br><br>Anyway, I'll keep this blog short so ciao for now!<br><br>Anita x

... Loved this city, and we all commented on how nice and polite the Spanish are (we are travelling with about 2000 Italians who have no concept of queuing or personal space). The Sagtrada Familia (neo-gothic style cathedral which is still being built) spectacular. Hopped on the underground, to visit a park with building designs inspired again by Gaudi, while the doors of the train were beeping, but only Olivia and Ryan managed to alight. Robyn ...

... duped by the online descriptions that make the walk into the city sound rough.<br><br> Our tour guide is a dowdy English woman who is wearing a flower print dress and speaks with a breathlessly nasal English accent. &#8220;Thish ish a shtashtue of Shaint Jamesh, and-a&#8230;.&#8221; she speaks like this as we follow her along the cobblestone streets lined with stone buildings. Our first stop is the Upper Baracca Gardens, a ...

... br><br>The beaches are small and rocky. Rocky is not such a problem but small is. Every tourist (including many Maltese on holidays) wants to visit the spot. Tour boats bring in large numbers of people and the beaches are shoulder to shoulder. There were also jelly fish in the water and this causes people to be cautious about going into the water.<br><br>In the afternoon we returned to Gozo to go another beach called ...

On our first full day on Gozo we visited the major ancient temple site on the island (Ggantija temple). This is said to be the oldest site on the islands and consists of two temples built side by side. The early legends about the temples were that they were built by a race of giants. The culture that built the temples suddenly stopped doing a couple of thousand of years ago. The temples ...

... It was fantastic to see her again although I don't really remember the last time! She was a lot of fun! I started to wonder whether our minds have buried memories of us spending time together all those years ago or it is simply the fact when meeting now we know we are related and have met before but I felt instantly comfortable with Denise like I had known her for a long time. In fact I got that feeling with all my relatives here, even though I had not seen them for so long. Sitting ...

... than the Mosta Dome. The Mediterranean could be seen to the north and south, as well as the fishing village of Marsalforn. I took my time wandering around the walls, and later enjoying the tranquility of the place before it was all ruined by the bus loads of daytrippers from Malta. One moment I was sitting on the cathedral steps all alone, and the next there were as many as a hundred people looking for a spot to get a photo. I decided it was a good time to ...

I woke with a slight headache and queasiness from one too many cocktails that Christina and I enjoyed last night. The perfect remedy for that was to go for a short walk to what has become my favourite swimming spot and have an early morning swim. I planned to go to Vittoriosa today, one of the famous "3 cities" of Malta. Vittoriosa is a walled city perched on a peninsula on the other side of Valletta from where I was staying in Sliema. Like Valletta, Vittoriosa is an ...

... oli viimein huolenaiheeni, silla isoin on noin 100 000 euron arvoinen ja vaaralla kasittelylla ne on suht helppo rikkoa + mahdollisesti repia masto ja puoli kantta pois. Mutta nyt on viimeinenkin purjehtimiseen liittyva pelko kohdattu ja hauska huomata miten on oppinut kaikenlaista. Tosiaan luulin etta kauteni loppuisi syyskuun lopulla, mutta se jatkuukin lokakuun loppuun. Ja omistaja on tosi tyytyvainen meihin ja tarjosi minulle toita talven ajaksi heidan perheen ...

... tonight! The crowd loved her. They told Jeff he "came close" (riiiiight)... But we are all rooting for Caroline tonight, and we just know she's gonna win! Yesterday we toured Malta. What a beautiful place! We saw the cities of Vallarta and Mdina. The architecture is pale yellow, limestone-based with a lot of Moorish influence, colorful banners everywhere, quite striking. The churches are overflowing with Baroque detail. Our guide told us of a lot of the incredible ...