Sunshine & The Captain in Malta

Two weeks in Malta has now turned into 24 days and counting - the sun is shining most days - no such thing as snow here - why would I leave? I cancelled my plane ticket and have yet to book one out of here.

Malta, Gozo and Comino are three islands that sit in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea and is the farthest point south in Europe so the weather has been beautiful! A few cloudy days, hit by rain a couple times and apparently a cyclone which I was completely oblivious to - a nap will do that - but.....no snow....did I mention that?

The first two weeks here I stayed in the Bahar Ic-Caghaq area (prounced Bahar itch-ciak.....say it! I know you can); it was like stepping back to ancient times! Horses clopping down the street, Church bells ringing; the fruit and bread trucks honking their horns, letting the neighborhood know they are here for business; rumor is a donut truck comes by but I didn't see it - which is a good thing I'm sure.

Malta is a giant lump of Limestone so almost everything built here is made of limestone, hence most buildings are the same color. This little country has a lot of history, a Church on every corner and many prehistoric and megalithic temples, not to mention a cave or two.

  

I've spent many hours sitting by the sea, walking by the sea, staring at the sea....ahhhhhhh. It's a very short walk to enjoy this new found hobby.

The second day here I took a boat ride around the harbor - a 'Captain Morgan Cruise' to be exact, I figured they HAD to have Captain Morgan on board the Captain Morgan boat......they did in fact have it, unfortunately it was darker rum, but I'm a trooper and I'm on a Captain Morgan boat so I AM going to have a Captain Morgan - it was a little strong for me ;) but I drank most of it anyways, I'm quite certain I was the only one drinking on the boat - it was good for a laugh even if I was the only one laughing about it.....I'm spending far too much time alone.

There are a lot of cats here, I mean a LOT of cats, to the point it has freaked me out. I'm in a different neighborhood now but the first two weeks walking home at the end of the day was almost more than I could bear with the cat world. They don't belong to any one person in particular, people look after them, feed them and such but they just hang about wherever - like on the shoulder-height ledges by the sidewalks. At night you know they're there......you.know.they.are.there......you can sense them, feel them watching you and for their sheer entertainment I'm certain, they leap out in front of you and wander off giving you heart failure - because walking alone in the dark in a strange neighborhood is not unnerving enough. I saw a lady leaving the market - walking her dog, carrying a large bag of cat food. Not sure how I feel about cats anymore.

Riding the bus - well now, that's an adventure - the bus drivers and locals do NOT know the names of the majority of bus stops (with names like Rabat, Naxxar, Mosta Rotunda, Qieghed Hawn is it any wonder?) so it's a fun little game to play of "Where am I?"
If you know a landmark they'll know where to stop and I have had a couple great drivers help me out as well as a few locals. Some of the buses become so crowded, even the locals will give the driver a hard time for picking more people up!
Every once in awhile a stern looking bus supervisor will randomly hop a bus and ask to see your ticket - one of them confiscated a fellows ticket and berated him because his young children paid too low of a price and was going to file a report on whoever sold him the ticket. Adult tickets are €1.50, it's not a lot of money but apparently it's serious business.

A little over a week ago I moved to the San Gwan area, the family I'm living with is great and the location is much easier to get around on foot and there are more buses to catch to different areas here.

My new hosts are Balazs and Karin Heller and they both teach an array of courses, dance, yoga, zumba, pilates, etc. Pilates and Yoga is included with the booking so I am trying my hand with that and I think my body is a little angry at me. I've never taken classes for either before and it's proven to be very challenging it's "Fit Yoga" - Balazs's own creation - not just regular Yoga (that'd be too easy). Balazs was the National Gymnastic Champion of Hungary for many years and European Yoga Champion in 2009. So, that's Challenging with a capital 'C' - but I'm determined to rid myself of this fabulous muffin top that enjoys my waistline.

Stay tuned for more on Malta and their narrow sidewalks, no space will be wasted gas stations, a dark cave and a temple or two!

MIND THE GAP!

First Destination - LONDON

After an 11 hour journey on a plane, a train, the tube (subway) and yet another train I arrived at my destination and awaited patiently for my host Vivien to pick me up.

I'm still amazed I managed to maneuver from Heathrow airport to the South East end of London without getting lost.......believe me, you can get lost in London and for the record, I never did get lost - misplaced once or twice, trapped in a subway station (trapped as in where for the love of god is the actual exit out of this underground hell because every "way out" sign is a lie)........but never truly lost.

At any rate I survived and nobody got hurt. My first evening, although exhausted had an enjoyable visit with Vivien and her Apple Bacardi and another guest staying at the house - Rebecca also from Canada.

Considering I had not put together any sort of itinerary for London I accomplished quite a bit. A trait I'm aiming to improve.........

Here's a few off the list........

Chistlehurt Caves

Ventured to this dark, dank, spooky dungeon with Rebecca and her friend Cassandra. Chistlehurst Caves are made up of a 22 mile long series of tunnels, they were dug by hand and used originally as chalk and flint mines.

In WW1 it was used as an ammunition depot and WW2 an air raid shelter; eventually becoming an underground city of 15,000 people complete with electrical lighting, a chapel and a hospital. So many people in a small space stacked on bunk beds and narrow halls. Cozy.

In the 70's & 80's the caves held concerts - David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, to name a few played here. Weddings, parties and such carried on in the caves and a couple episodes on Most Haunted. (A couple episodes because it's scary as hell to be down there in the dark by yourself and someone ended up in the hospital)

The tour guide, who thinks he is quite comical with his ghost stories and such, takes you through about a mile of the tunnels while you carry a teeny tiny oil lamp and he gets the giant flashlight - which he does not keep on all the time, unnerving for the one in the back of the group (that would be me).

Interesting place. 

St. James Park and Buckingham Palace 

First destination on the list into London this day was a tourist info centre, which I think is lost in London somewhere because I never found it, so, I wandered around and found Trafalgar Square and the entrance to the park. It is truly beautiful here! The mix of amazing fall colors, greenery and flowers still in bloom was breathtaking.

Eventually I made it to Palace, it's something you need to see, pictures don't do it it justice. Took pics for a nice American couple who apologized to me for thinking I was American......too funny.

When I go somewhere I generally never come back the same way, why start........why indeed.....I'll tell you why, because you'll end up back where you started and you'll know where you are and where the same train station is you came in on.

  

Greenwich

Love Greenwich, went twice and will go back again, there is so much to do here, markets, restaurants, pubs, museums, the Painted Hall - amazing, the 02......the list goes on. Both times took a boat cruise down the Thames River to get there, it's a nice view to see the miles of sidewalk you trekked.

The Royal Observatory is a must see, I was stupidly happy standing in line to
stand on either side of The Prime Meridian Line - it's the line in Greenwich that represents the Prime Meridian of the world - Longitude 0. Every place on Earth is measured in terms of its distance east or west from this line. The line itself divides the eastern and western hemispheres of the Earth - just as the Equator divides the northern and southern hemisphere.

A red "Time Ball" was installed on the roof of the Royal Observatory Greenwich in 1833 and drops daily still at 1 p.m. on the observatory, it was the first public time signal.

Mottingham Woods

This was my favorite place and 2 minutes away from where I was staying - it is so peaceful and beautiful here.

London Tower

When I headed to London this day, walking across London Bridge was first on my list, I decided I'd just keep walking and see what I could see and I stumbled upon London Tower - which was also on the list but I didn't know exactly where it was. One would think after a week I'd have an actual map in my hand, but nope, not me (when they find the tourist booth I'll get one).

The photos I took do not do this place justice - google it - it's amazing, I do, however appreciate the pics I managed to snap as there was an insane amount of people down there and I had to make some ninja like moves to get close to the fence to get any pictures. The line-ups were long to get tickets for a close up view, this is as good as it was going to get for me!

The London Eye & The Iconic Red Phone Booths

The last day in London I hit as many places as I could before it was time to meet up with Rebecca to do The London Eye.......I was over an hour late, this is where I was trapped in Subway Hell.......their cute little "way out" signs were all a lie. A Lie. I could not escape.

When I finally did surface and made my way to the "meeting place" I was of course at the wrong meeting place and I knew it - is it necessary to have a Starbucks on every corner? In my frustration I thought where the hell is that Princess of Wales Pub? (I was going for the wifi).....I don't drink coffee, but a pub, well, then I remembered where to go, and lo and behold we found each other. Bless you Rebecca for waiting it out for me.

On the walk over to the Eye, we stopped to snap pics with one of London's famous Red Phone Booth's; upon arrival I wanted to turn and run as the lines were not just long........but lonnnnngggg and I had no intention waiting for hours to get on this thing.

Despite how I felt (and who am I kidding, no running was going to happen), we went in line to get tickets and came back out empty handed, too long of line ups.....But......we ended up getting 2 tickets for 5£ each........yeahhh.....they start at 18£. 

An hour later we were entering one of the 32 capsules of a giant Ferris Wheel - you get on and off while it's moving......pretty sure this is a safety hazard.

It holds 800-900 people at any given time and every 28 minutes one group comes off and a new group goes in. The views are amazing and we got the best of both worlds as we saw it in the daylight and with the sun setting in the 30 minute ride.

Well worth the wait.

Things I learned in London:

- Cars may or may not stop for pedestrians, apparently they need a stop light.

- Having a cane to cross the street would be helpful.

- Pubs do not have table service, so if you want to eat or have a drink (it is a Pub after all), get up off your ass and go to the bar, order, pay and please know your table number.

- Stay to the right on the escalator, any escalator, always.

- Buses, trains and the subway do not take cash - you must have a ticket purchased or buy an oyster card (I'm the proud owner of an Oyster card).

- "Mind The Gap" is serious business - when you are getting off the subway, some of the gaps between the train and the platform are wide - wide enough for a body to fall through, pay attention.

- As a Canadian - you will be recognized as such when you talk and say "eh" and you will be laughed at and made fun of because they've heard about foreigners spewing this word and it's quite comical to the Europeans.

- As a Canadian you have no idea that you said "eh".

That's it for now, this girl is off to Malta!

To my host Vivien and daughter Gena - thank you for your kindess, bacardi and laughter xo

Hope you all enjoy the blog - Thanks for stopping by!
- The Gypsy Traveller