TravelStream™ news feed for member vickersontour on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/vickersontour en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 14 May 2009 12:27:16 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vickersontour/1/1242318300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vickersontour/1/1242318300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vickersontour/1/1242318300/tpod.html Thu, 14 May 2009 12:27:16 -0400 Booked it, Packed it, F**ked Off! Hello World.

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Mansfield, United Kingdom

Rainworth
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Birkirkara, Malta

Flying Home Today
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Birkirkara, Malta

Had a lie in this morning before having lunch on the terrace.I then headed down to my new favourite pub, left Lorna sunbathing on the terrace.I got my seat at the bar and the arranged for the footy to be on the TV's and I felt at home.The pub was not very busy today but apparently there's a big one going off tonight!All the tables were reserved for tonight for the Milan v Juventus game! Italian football is followed a lot here. Should be a good party atmosphere. I will probably be well leathered by then (7 hours away) and so will probably head back to the apartment before insulting all the Italian War dodgers!! Ooops...sorry again.As I was sat at bar, the food started coming again!! This time nuts, Maltese bread, pizza slices, mini cheddars and dips, chicken wings, mini roast potatoes....all in portions just for me!! Other people got their own portions as well - all for free!!Who needs restaurants when you've got bars like this! I want to live here....not just in Malta....right here...in this seat.....at this bar....right here!!! (Maybe an additional lap dancing feature to complete the dream)!Lorna arrived after the Manchester derby match and they brought out more food for her!!! They must know her reputation! Ended up leaving around 7pm - slightly beveraged up to say the least!We headed back to the apartment for a curry and a relax. Oh life is hard!
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Birkirkara, Malta

Nothing today except a visit to the supermarket and then a chill out on the terrace - brilliant!!
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Birkirkara, Malta

We had a fantastic full day out today. First off, we jumped on one of the clapped out old local buses to Valetta. This was an entertaining journey to be sure - I am sure I saw the bright white light on three or four occasions!!Once in Valetta, and feet safely back on terra firma, we had a walk up to Bakkarra Gardens. This is a small garden area near the fort at the entrance to Valetta. The gardens are very beautiful and this is also where they do the firing of the cannon at 12 noon every day.There are many jokes to be had here about shooting loads and lethal weapons, but for a change I will be more sophisticated than that.....for now anyway!The cannon firing is extremely loud and deafening but I feel more sorry for the poor island area across the water that the cannon is aimed at every day!! They must be getting really annoyed at being fired at every day that's for sure. One day I can see something getting fired back.....and, to be honest, they are that slow at loading the cannon at this end, that they could probably have Valetta destroyed before the 2nd shot is fired!! What they ought to do is aim it at Gozo because that's usually full of Germans!!.....oooops, must stay politically correct....sorry.....honest!After the smoking gun had quietened down, we went for a walk round the streets of Valetta. It was just as lovely as I remembered it. I must admit that, although it's not classed as the finest city in Europe, it still has something about it that gives you that feel good factor.Eventually we took a break at the Primavera café down one of the side streets of Valetta. We went inside and enjoyed a small baguette snack for lunch and, would you believe.....a non-alcoholic beverage as well!!! Yes, that's right....alcohol free! This will need to be remedied later no doubt.After lunch, we took a steady walk back up the main Republic Street to the bus station and caught the bus back to Birkirkarra.In the late afternoon we were back on the suicide bus again, this time to the far end of Sliema. From here we walked around the bay to St Julians. This is a lovely walk to do at this time of day as we also walked through the marinas - well, not through them s we would have got a little damp, but you know what I mean.This area has all been done up since I was last here and it's all a bit posh and trendy for me I think!! Mind you, Shirebrook's probably posh and trendy for me!!After walking around the marina we stopped at a restaurant on the harbour side called 'Rafael's'. This was a grand setting overlooking the harbour and the food was fantastic - including my calzone pizza that gave me the big smiley face (see photo below). Also caught up for this afternoons alcohol free debacle by consuming a few pints of the local brew - Cisk. It has always made me laugh that the word Cisk is actually an anagram of Sick!! After a dozen or so pints of the stuff, I suppose it will be quite apt!After a further walk along the harbour we stopped at the Portomasso Café for ice creams and beers. This was a place that many people will definitely overload their arteries at, but the desserts are just to lovely to decline - washed down with Cisk of course! Finally, we jumped on the bus back to Birkirkarra.Me and Lorna decided to go for a few late ones at a local bar that we had sported yesterday. It's a great bar. Firstly, it's covered in football scarves and flags and has large LCD screens all over the place for showing the footy! Secondly, the place was pumping, music blaring and the place full to the rafters. Finally there was the food. Yes, more food. We hadn't intended on more food, but this was free stuff that kept coming out. We were sat at the bar and first we were brought some Maltese bread and dips. We said we hadn't ordered anything, but were told it's free. Then came mini pizza slices and chicken wings and more!!! Obviously, not to be rude, Lorna indulged in a few tastes. It was a really good night - maybe because it was a Saturday night - but the atmosphere just felt good as well.We ended up leaving in the early hours and the party was still going strong.I expect to be here again tomorrow afternoon to watch the footy and drink more Cisk!
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Birkirkara, Malta

Happy Birthday to rockymoutn!Had a nice big English fry up this morning which pleased Claire no end as she is a vegetarian! After stinking the apartment out with the smell of freshly charred animal flesh, Claire, Lorna and myself took a walk to San Anton Gardens. (The other Simon had to go in to work today). These gardens are very nice and well kept and are quite rare for Malta to be fair. They were actually setting up for some sort of weekend show and had loads of chickens in cages on display. Not only did this seem kind of cruel, they were left out in the baking sun as well! (The roast chicken jokes didn't go down to well I'm afraid)!The gardens are also home to the Presidential Palace and this has recently opened its doors to the public. The flags were indicating that the Maltese PM was in residence, but we were still allowed in the grounds.....well, we think we were! We just walked in anyway and did get some very suspicious looks from some of the armed guards! Mind you, with the way us vagabonds looked, we would have got suspicious looks in Mansfield for that matter!After creating our own security risk, we headed back to the apartment to relax on the terrace. We don't really have any plans to do anything whilst we are here in Malta. This is my 6th visit to the country and I have done ALL the sightseeing that is possible here. It's a lovely country though and I would come back anytime. It does help having a sister and brother-in-law here to put you up, but it's still worth the visit anyway.I am not sure if we will get invited again after they have fumigated the place following my farts and used socks aroma hitting their nasal passages!! But, we will see.We will go to Valetta tomorrow, as that is a beautiful city, and then maybe one of the beaches after the weekend, but that's about the limits of our exercise for this week!
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Birkirkara, Malta

It's just such a hard life sometimes. Just when you get yourself settled back at home....you have to go off on holiday again!! I don't know how we cope.We got a lift off the Outlaws....sorry, I mean In-Laws, to Luton airport today. Really good of them to drop us off - personally, I just think they wanted rid of us for a few days!! We arrived at the airport well in time for our flight, so it was necessary to visit the local alcoholic beverage establishment that resided in the departure lounge.As we had already checked in online and printed off our boarding pass - to avoid more Ryanair charges - it was really easy to cruise straight through to the departure lounge as we had no bags to check in either. This was another ploy to avoid more Ryanair charges. It won't be long before they start saying "If engines are required on this flight, that will be an extra £10 per person", "If you would like a life jacket under your seat...an extra fiver please" and ultimately, "If a pilot is required on this flight, please note there will be an additional £15 charge per person"!!Mock as you will, they are going to try and charge for everything soon. If they do go ahead with the toilet charge, I am going to make sure I need a banging sh*t before I board the plane, that's for sure!! Mind you, I wonder if it's a different price for a number one or a number two....and how will they know what you've done?!!!OK, enough of Ryanair bashing. The flight was a pretty easy three hours and we did arrive 20 minutes early to be fair - the pilot must have known a short cut I suppose.When we arrived at Malta airport, the bus services had ceased for the evening so we had to grab a taxi. It was a bit expensive but as Claire had given us detailed instructions to the apartment, it was all pretty straight forward. Also, it was a nice change to give directions to the taxi driver in English and him understand us. We still got out the taxi and thanked him in Portuguese though!!! Just can't do all this multi-lingual stuff!We then spent the evening catching up with Claire & Simon. They have a lovely apartment - it is actually the penthouse of the block they are in, but they don't like to call it that for some reason. Inside it has two bedrooms and is very spacious. There is a long balcony down one side of the apartment and then a large terrace out to the front with sun lounges and table & chairs out there. As we have planned to do nothing for 6 days, this will be a perfect base.
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Birkirkara, Malta

Golden Bay
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Mansfield, England, United Kingdom

Well, today didn't turn out too bad.Lorna went to Nottingham to go and catch up with her work mates in the afternoon. She starts back to work on the 1st June.And, talking of work, the place I went for the interview yesterday rang me today and offered me the job!!!! They must be desperate I suppose!!Anyway, this is great news before going away on holiday to Malta.This evening I will celbrate with more Champions League football and a few beverages.
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Dudley, England, United Kingdom

Had to drive all the way to Dudley today for my interview. I'm not sure it went to well. I have been out the game for a year and have also got Malta on my mind. And, I said OUT the game not ON the game!! Perverts!Bit of a nightmare as well as they closed the M6 as well on the way back (not the people I went to the interview with, the transport department did it). Thing was, they didn't give you any diversions so I spent over 3 hors trying to get home!! Bugger. Still, it was still 21 hours less than a bus journey from Foz du Iguazu to Rio!!This evening we went over to my parents to watch the Champions League and have dinner.
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