Malta - Bus Tour

We hopped aboard a Citysightseeing tour bus, this was a bit of an adventure for me, as I have never had the opportunity to travel much, this was a chance for a bit of time with my husband to do the "touristy" bit in between his many conference obligations.  The offer of a Harbour Cruise on the Captain Morgan boat was enough of a temptation to overcome his initial reluctance. So we booked up to go on a 90 minute bus tour called the Violet Tour with an immediately following hour long boat ride.  What fun!

I must point out that this was a close as we got to going on the Harbour Cruise as you will find out, I took this photo before we left on the bus tour whilst we were waiting for our bus to arrive.   We hopped on the Hop On Hop Off Bus and we set off, the sun was gorgeous and the open topped bus was just the perfect vehicle to let you take photos as you pootled about the main towns of Malta.

However, things went wrong about half way round our tour when the sound system of the bus was reported to the driver as not being working, so we were very quickly transferred onto another bus, except the bus we were transferred to wasn't doing the Violet Tour but the much much Blue Tour so instead of 90 minutes on the bus it was 3 hours on the bus!  Not what was intended but on the bright side we saw a lot more of Malta and got lots of great photos.  No Harbour Tour though, so when and yes I did say when we come back to Malta that's got to be on the list along with the Craft Village which was unfortunately shut it being a Sunday. 

These are some of the photos (only some, I took hundreds) from the tour.

Love the mix of old and modern architecture in Malta

Ultra Modern Conference Venue

As an island Malta is actually really small with only a small population of 400,000 (ish), but the history of the island is fascinating as it has been of strategic importance to so many difference conquering nations and each conqueror has left a piece of their culture behind especially in the impressive churches and fortifications.

A lot of central Malta is dedicated to farmland and growing the fruits and vegetables that we have enjoyed during our trip.  In particular the peaches and strawberries here are just divine.

Love the amazing scaffolding

Angry Birds in real life

Welcome to Malta

I'm not a great traveller, never really had the funds or the time to go anywhere really, so getting the chance to tag along with my husband on the odd work trip is always a treat.  This trip is to Malta, never been here before and I genuinely can't say what I was expecting. So the island and its people has been a really pleasant surprise.

The first thing I have noticed about Malta is the level of construction going on, it's everywhere, right around the airport complex and along the coastline is just a forest of cranes and half made buildings.  Malta is obviously undergoing some major investment.

We are staying at the Hilton Malta, it's a gorgeous building, very new and fresh, with wonderful architectural lines build along a natural harbour. 

Each room or suite features its own terrace. ours is big enough to hold a party on... although not planning that.  Considering this is a techie geek conference I have tagged along to I can't see any of them going for it.   Anyone know what a collection of Geeks is referred to as?  Is it a Byte?  A boredom of Geeks.  Oh I like that one... a boredom of geeks. Wonder how I can get that coined and turned into a proper verbal reference.

Anyway back to the bits I am loving about this trip, obviously the boredom of geeks isn't a big player in the list. 

This chap is one of a pair that sit outside the entrance of the Hilton Malta,  I love them, I think they have real character and I have named them Laurel and Hardy... this one is Laurel.

Hilton Malta Entrance

Not had a single bed since I was about 9 so this has been different and definitely haven't been in a single bed since I got married.  But having said that there is something to be said to not being stuck to someone else all night long.   The room is lovely, clean, bright, airy and pretty much everything you could want with a fabulous en-suite bathroom, but really what you expect from a Hilton.  But not entirely sure why we have duvets, it's 78 degrees here and even at night it hasn't gotten cold.  

And finally for this post... the view from the balcony,  this was after 6pm when we arrived... can it get any better than looking out at that!

Beloved - Chapter One

I watch him pass by my window every day. In the mornings the light bounces off his blonde curls and they gleam in the light.  From my window I watch him pass, holding his briefcase in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. Sometimes he is talking on the phone.  I wonder what colour his eyes are? I suspect they are blue but the angle of my view is wrong and he really is too far away for me to see properly.  I would like his eyes  to be green, I dream that his eyes will be green, with flecks of gold, but that is a dream and I don't really know but I want to, I want to know so badly.   

In the evenings, when he passes by, his pace is slower and I can see the tired droop of his shoulders and the long slow stride of his walk. So different to first thing in the morning. I long to speak to him, to ask him his name, to ask him what he has been doing that has made him so tired.  But I don't have the courage to go out and speak to him,  I am afraid that he will not see me, he will look through me as though through a pane of glass, just like everyone else does.

I have been here for such a long time, in this house, it feels like forever, the passage of time has lost its meaning for me somewhere.  I was born in this house, I grew up here, it's always been my home, I've always loved it here.  I remember playing in the attic rooms and running up and down the stairs.  I remember bouncing my ball against the wall in the vestibule and running races in the garden with my sisters. My parents are gone, Elizabeth and Alice, my sisters, are gone. They have been gone a long time.  I was alone for a long time but now the house is full of people again, full of noise and colour but still, I feel invisible, I can't seem to communicate with them, they pass me on the stairs, I smile and hope they will stop and speak to me but I don't have the courage to break the silence. I open my mouth to speak, to introduce myself but they are already gone, rushing off to carry on with their lives.  For the longest time there has been no one in my world to talk to.

But now there is him, the blonde man, I wish I knew his name,  I want it to be James, in my dreams his name is James but I don't know.  I need to know who he is. If he was in my world I wouldn't be alone anymore, I could talk to him, I have so much to tell him and so much I want to share with him, but I have to meet him first. I have to find a way to meet him.

I resolve to go out and to say hello the next time he passes but when that time comes I cannot seem to leave the house to do it. My chance passes me by and I resolve to do it next time and again when the moment arrives I cannot seem to do it.  What is stopping me?  Am I afraid he will reject my attempt at contact or shyness or the fear that he will look through me and not see me or worse, he will see me and still walk on uninterested  in my attempts. Which is worse to be seen and ignored or not to be seen at all? 

I spend the evening in the garden beneath the cherry tree, it's my favourite place, I come here to think.  It's cool and peaceful here, the breeze whispers through the pink cherry blossom, it's almost musical. I remember when my father built the stone bench that I am sitting on, he carved it himself as a gift for my mother, I remember sitting on the counter in his workshop watching him as he chiseled carefully at the segments of marble, thinking how wonderful it was that my father, a man who usually was so formal, seemed perfectly at ease getting messy and covered with stone dust making something for my mother.  The bench forms two semi circles that fit around the the trunk of the tree, of course when my father first put it in place the tree was only slender, a slip of a thing, just as I was. Now the tree fills the circle and I marvel at how clever my father was to know how much space to leave to let the tree grow. 

The garden is quiet, the people that share the house with me now rarely seem to come into the garden.  The children do sometimes but now it is evening and the children will be getting ready for bed, so it is just me and the birds sharing the space. 

How I wish that I was sharing this quiet with James, my blonde man, how wonderful it would be to share this marble symbol dedicated to my father's love to my mother with him. For a moment I feel my loneliness wash over me like a cold wave and a moment suddenly feels like an eternity.

Time to Build an Ark Perchance?

It's raining.... bet you didn't know that... it's like totally unheard of isn't it... rain in England! OMG!

I keep hearing people saying things like "How can we be in a drought when it hasn't stopped raining for a month?"  or "How can there be a a hosepipe ban when it's raining?"

I guess the truth is a lot of people don't understand things like water tables and saturation points.  OMG!!! Something actually did soak into my brain during those endlessly tedious geography lessons, my old teacher would be so proud. 

Anyway the lovely hubby and myself went out for a drive around our town "flood watching" in between downpours, it was obviously quite late and getting dark by the time we got out but I thought you never know so I took my camera and am I ever glad I did.  I snapped this picture of a mill (pure fluke and a good camera can do wonders). 

I love the way it almost looks as though it is floating on the water.  My hubby would be terrified living in that house, he as a mortal fear of flooding. 

I can see further trips flood watching... it was good fun, strangely!

Book Review: My Sisters Keeper

I read this book some time ago, can't remember why I didn't do a review on it,  actually I think I do remember... this book really affected me, it made me very sad when I read it,  it also made me question myself, by the time I read this I already had two sons and so a lot of the issues raised by the book were ones that I really had to think about, what would I do? Would I sacrifice the happiness of one child to save another?  Would I go and have a baby with the sole purpose of trying to save the other?  For me, given the difficulty I actually have getting and staying pregnant its a bit of a non starter question, but ethically it's a conundrum, one I am glad to say I haven't had to face, but I would hope that the answer would be no... I wouldn't devalue one of my children's lives to save the other.  I wouldn't make that child do things he or she didn't want to do without their consent or even over their objections to save the other.   I wouldn't put that child in the position where he or she had to say "no" and get a lawyer to try and get me to realise that their needs were being ignored and made them feel like a spare parts factory.

I do enjoy Jodi Picoult books, although saying the word "enjoy" about these books feels so wrong.  She tackles subjects that are so difficult, asks questions that no one wants to ask and does it in a way that doesnt turn it into a farce, she does it with sensitivity and a depth of thought and feeling that you can't help but disappear into what is an amazing read.  

This story reduced me to tears at several points, pathetic... but true. 

Book Review: Dreaming The Eagle

I've always been fascinated by strong female characters, specially historical ones, obviously all we can ever do is look back, extrapolate from whatever historical evidence is available and conjure up a story from that, unfortunately time travel isn't an option... how cool it would be if it was!  In modern times women's role in society is back up on the rise after several centuries of being denied a role, being held back by the male dominated elite... it's almost hard to believe that once upon a time women were warriors, seers, religious leaders and played important parts in the history of humankind. 

Boudica or Boadicea as she is often known as is a character that has been of great interest to me, so Manda Scott's series of books on Boudica were a definite "must read" for me and I wasn't disappointed. Although this is historical fiction, it is believable historical fiction.  

Manda Scott managed to bring to life a largely unknown portion of English history, there is very little written evidence from this time, just at the point that England is invaded by the Romans and the turning point in history from the British Isles, if the Romans hadn't come how different a country could this have been. Boudica is the Queen of the Iceni, one of the many tribes that occupied England and leads a revolt against the Romans. 

This book is one of a series and I would highly recommend the whole series. If you like series style stories in the vein of "Clan of the Cave Bear" or "Lord of the Rings" then this series will have you enthralled. 

 

Musings on a Feline

We have three cats in our house, Specs, Sooty and Ebony. There are no prizes for guessing what colour Sooty and Ebony are! All three are related, Specs and Sooty are siblings and Ebony is Specs daughter, father unknown as is often the way with cats, specially the slutty kind. All three cats have very different personalities, which leads to a definate pecking order. 

Specs thinks she is human and definitely looks down the other two, she bullies Sooty and absolutely hates Ebony hissing and spitting at her every chance she gets but she absolutely adores Daniel, my oldest son, he is HER human, his room is her domain and she constantly presents him with her trophy kills. I come a lowly second with Specs but that is only if Daniel is away or if she wants to get in his room and the door is shut.... See I know my place in this relationship, the affection she shows me is entirely a bribe to make me do what she wants. 

Sooty, or fatboy, as he is more usually known, is a laid back sort of chap, constantly on the mooch for food, loving human company, but usually from a distance, tolerating the odd cuddle, but only because he understands there has to be a payback for titbits and treats. He is the one with the loudest most persistant voice but the gentlest nature and is utterly thick, bullied by both the female cats, you give him a treat and he will sit there looking at it whilst one of the other two steals it...and then looks up at you as if to say "what happened there?" And then there is Ebony, the most angry, frightened cat on the planet and we have no idea why... Could be Specs constant abuse has made her skittish but she takes her anger out on Pie and myself, we can't even pass her in the hallway without her hissing and running for cover. 

You can see the hate...

The only person she seems to relax around is Conor. You can tell when the weather is bad because Ebony is indoors, she only comes in if the weather is bad or for food. Having said that, if you can calm her down she quite enjoys a stroke but you kind of don't bother as she is just hard work and even after stroking her for 10 minutes and even getting her to purr she will turn around and hiss at you if you twitch the wrong way. 

Whilst I can't imagine the house without them...actually thinking about it, no one using the furniture as a scratching post, no endless carpet of fur from Sooty yanking his out (weirdo) and no one hissing and spitting at me... hmmmm I may have to re-evaluate that statement... Nope even with all that, can't really imagine the house without them but I am grateful that none of them loves me enough to leave a headless mouse on my pillow.