Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Malta photos
The first set of Malta photos are now on Flickr - please click through to see the set! More photos to come next week.
Monday, June 27, 2005
free katie!
We're all fascinated by the creepy relationship between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. This website has some interesting comments on their relationship and the role that Scientology seems to be playing. Apparently Katie, once a strong Catholic, has now been assigned her own Scientology 'minder' who is sheltering her from conversations with family and friends.
The Factnet website, although a bit out of date, has some interesting comments on celebrities and Scientology. Check out point 2 for another view on the Michael Jackson / Lisa Marie Presley marriage!
The Factnet website, although a bit out of date, has some interesting comments on celebrities and Scientology. Check out point 2 for another view on the Michael Jackson / Lisa Marie Presley marriage!
Malta Day Nine
Travelling day today - I caught a couple of buses to Mgarr, then the ferry between Mgarr and Cirkewwa, then a bus back to Valletta and finally the airport bus. Of course I arrived far too early for my plane, but I was a little unsure of the time it would take me and didn't want to be late!
Flight back on Air Malta was fine and made it home in time for Big Brother!
Flight back on Air Malta was fine and made it home in time for Big Brother!
Malta Day Eight
I got friendly with a couple of Italian men, Mauro and Patrizio, who are from Perugia and were staying at the same guest house as me. They had seen most of the island by motor bike, but they decided to come with me to do a tour of the island by boat on the Gozo Princess.
The trip started and ended at Mgarr harbour and we travelled all around the island, making a couple of swimming stops along the way. Spectacular cliffs especially on the south side of the island, and quite a few caves.
The tour took all afternoon, and then I had a final swim in Marsalforn Bay, before dinner. Did my only souvenir shopping of the holiday when I bought myself a model of one of the Malta buses. Didn't really see much else I was interested in!
The trip started and ended at Mgarr harbour and we travelled all around the island, making a couple of swimming stops along the way. Spectacular cliffs especially on the south side of the island, and quite a few caves.
The tour took all afternoon, and then I had a final swim in Marsalforn Bay, before dinner. Did my only souvenir shopping of the holiday when I bought myself a model of one of the Malta buses. Didn't really see much else I was interested in!
Malta Day Seven
After breakfast, I caught the bus from Marsalforn back to Victoria and had a brief look around the Citadella. It was really too hot to do much walking around so I wandered back down to the bus terminus and caught the bus to Dwejra.
Dwejra has a few notable sites, the main one of which is the Azure Window, an arch rock formation. Along the cliffs is also a hidden bay, the 'inland sea' where fishermen shelter to this day. I took a boat trip out from the inland sea though a crack in the cliff and out to the sea proper. The Azure Window is very striking and the diving in this area is meant to be fantastic. Further along the coast is the Fungus Rock, which used to be covered in fungus and mushrooms that were picked by the Knights of St John and used for medicine.
The scenery was quite spectacular but I didn't do any swimming as I couldn't be bothered changing and clambering across the rocks into the water.
Caught the bus back to Victoria and attempted to do some blogging in an internet cafe, but the connections were pretty bad, and I lost a bit of what i was trying to do. Met an Australian woman who was on her first holiday abroad on her own and very keen to talk to people! Her family was originally from Malta so she was interested to see what it was like - surprisingly she didn't have any family left on Malta, they had all immigrated to Australia.
Went back to Marsalforn and had a lovely swim in the bay - the sun was out until about 7.30 so it was wonderful to relax.
Dwejra has a few notable sites, the main one of which is the Azure Window, an arch rock formation. Along the cliffs is also a hidden bay, the 'inland sea' where fishermen shelter to this day. I took a boat trip out from the inland sea though a crack in the cliff and out to the sea proper. The Azure Window is very striking and the diving in this area is meant to be fantastic. Further along the coast is the Fungus Rock, which used to be covered in fungus and mushrooms that were picked by the Knights of St John and used for medicine.
The scenery was quite spectacular but I didn't do any swimming as I couldn't be bothered changing and clambering across the rocks into the water.
Caught the bus back to Victoria and attempted to do some blogging in an internet cafe, but the connections were pretty bad, and I lost a bit of what i was trying to do. Met an Australian woman who was on her first holiday abroad on her own and very keen to talk to people! Her family was originally from Malta so she was interested to see what it was like - surprisingly she didn't have any family left on Malta, they had all immigrated to Australia.
Went back to Marsalforn and had a lovely swim in the bay - the sun was out until about 7.30 so it was wonderful to relax.
Malta Day Six
Decided to do a last swim at the Blue Lagoon this morning but was thwarted by the arrival of hundreds of jellyfish. There had been a couple of jellyfish around at the hotel, and I'd had mild stings from a couple, but they were nowhere near as intense as this morning. So sadly I had to abandon that idea.
After sitting by the pool for a couple of hours, I caught the hotel boat to Mgarr, the harbour town in Gozo. Caught a bus from Mgarr to Victoria / Rabat, the main town on Gozo, and then after waiting for an hour for a connection at a small cafe in the gardens, I caught another bus to Marsalforn. The buses on Gozo are old as well, but grey and red in colour scheme.
Marsalforn is one of the main seaside resorts in Gozo, but is far quieter and low-key than its counterparts on Malta itself. I stayed at a lovely guesthouse right in the centre of town which was beautifully decorated and very comfortable.
After the sub-standard meals on Comino, I was delighted to have a delicious meal of mussels and ravioli filled with Gozo cheese at Il-Kastell restaurant by the sea front. Beautiful!
After sitting by the pool for a couple of hours, I caught the hotel boat to Mgarr, the harbour town in Gozo. Caught a bus from Mgarr to Victoria / Rabat, the main town on Gozo, and then after waiting for an hour for a connection at a small cafe in the gardens, I caught another bus to Marsalforn. The buses on Gozo are old as well, but grey and red in colour scheme.
Marsalforn is one of the main seaside resorts in Gozo, but is far quieter and low-key than its counterparts on Malta itself. I stayed at a lovely guesthouse right in the centre of town which was beautifully decorated and very comfortable.
After the sub-standard meals on Comino, I was delighted to have a delicious meal of mussels and ravioli filled with Gozo cheese at Il-Kastell restaurant by the sea front. Beautiful!
Malta Days Four and Five
Had a lovely few relaxing days on the island of Comino.
Most people in the hotel (a surprising number of Russian children amongst them) were staying on an all-inclusive basis, and I had to stay half-board, which meant breakfast and dinner were included. The food was pretty terrible and the entertainment every night pretty cheesy, but the surroundings were lovely. The hotel had its own pool and a couple of private beaches. There were also water sports you could do - hiring yachts, wind surfers etc.
But the highlight was the ten minute walk around to the famous Blue Lagoon which was one of the most beautiful places I've seen - especially after 4pm when the day-trippers had gone and the residents had the place mostly to ourselves! The water in the lagoon is absolutely turquoise and just stunning - a few fish swimming around and I even saw an octopus one day!
The other benefit of only going to the lagoon in the early morning and late afternoon was that it was much cooler. The heat was intense and at the lagoon especially there was no shade from the sun, apart from hiring a sun umbrella.
Spent quite a bit of time on Comino reading and catching up on new music on my iPod. Really enjoyed the new books by Nick Hornby (A Long Way Down) and Ian McEwan (Saturday), both of which gave different views of London life. Saturday is set on the day of the big Anti War march in February 2003, a day which many people, myself included, remember vividly. So this was quite an interesting concept, showing what happened to one man on that day.
Most people in the hotel (a surprising number of Russian children amongst them) were staying on an all-inclusive basis, and I had to stay half-board, which meant breakfast and dinner were included. The food was pretty terrible and the entertainment every night pretty cheesy, but the surroundings were lovely. The hotel had its own pool and a couple of private beaches. There were also water sports you could do - hiring yachts, wind surfers etc.
But the highlight was the ten minute walk around to the famous Blue Lagoon which was one of the most beautiful places I've seen - especially after 4pm when the day-trippers had gone and the residents had the place mostly to ourselves! The water in the lagoon is absolutely turquoise and just stunning - a few fish swimming around and I even saw an octopus one day!
The other benefit of only going to the lagoon in the early morning and late afternoon was that it was much cooler. The heat was intense and at the lagoon especially there was no shade from the sun, apart from hiring a sun umbrella.
Spent quite a bit of time on Comino reading and catching up on new music on my iPod. Really enjoyed the new books by Nick Hornby (A Long Way Down) and Ian McEwan (Saturday), both of which gave different views of London life. Saturday is set on the day of the big Anti War march in February 2003, a day which many people, myself included, remember vividly. So this was quite an interesting concept, showing what happened to one man on that day.
Malta Day Three
Made a quick visit to St John's Co-Cathedral this morning. Although I've seen enough churches in my travels to last a lifetime, I was glad I made the effort as the interior is truly spectacular. Lots of carved wooden walls and a floor which looked like playing cards all laid out. In a side room there were a couple of Caravaggios, including one of the beheading of St John the Baptist. It's pretty gory, but this guy sidled up to me when I was looking at it and asked whether I'd like to buy a copy of it. I said (in a polite way of course) that I thought it would be a terrible painting to have on your wall!
Caught the bus to the ferry at Cirkewwa next - it's a journey of about 90 minutes and was very hot! But it was really interesting to see the different towns. The buses are really only for local people and tourists doing day trips so it was a bit awkward carting luggage around. Independent travellers are not very common I guess!
At Cirkewwa, I took the Comino Hotel's boat over to the island. I'd booked into the Comino Hotel for three nights - the hotel is virtually the only building on the island so it promised to be nice and relaxing!
Caught the bus to the ferry at Cirkewwa next - it's a journey of about 90 minutes and was very hot! But it was really interesting to see the different towns. The buses are really only for local people and tourists doing day trips so it was a bit awkward carting luggage around. Independent travellers are not very common I guess!
At Cirkewwa, I took the Comino Hotel's boat over to the island. I'd booked into the Comino Hotel for three nights - the hotel is virtually the only building on the island so it promised to be nice and relaxing!
Malta Day Two
Was woken quite early this morning by fireworks - there was a Festa (Maltese festival day) at a town a couple of miles away) that had fireworks going when I arrived in Valletta about 6pm and went on until 11. The fireworks started this morning at about 8 and in fact were still going when I left Valletta on the Monday morning. I can only conclude that the Maltese love fireworks. They were very loud and not particularly spectacular.
After breakfast at the hotel, and looking at the area where the filming had gone on the night before, which was now a normal street, I walked around to the Malta Experience, an audio visual presentation of Maltese history. It was quite cheesey ("10,000 years ago Malta was formed...") and the English voiceover was done by Derek Jacobi, but it gave a good overview of the history of the country. This history consists mainly of getting invaded or attacked every couple of hundred years!
After sitting in the cool of the theatre for an hour, I spend a while walking around the city, vaguely following the Lonely Planet walking tour. Valletta is actually one of the world's first planned cities, overseen by Jean de la Valette, one of the Knights of St John who had settled on the island in the 15th century. He decided that the streets should funnel the sea breezes, that the streets should be relatively wide, and that each building should have a statue on the corner. Most of the buildings today still fit this pattern.
Wandered around for a few hours until I was overcome with the heat, had to sit down and have a couple of drinks and a sandwich, and later a nap!
Decided to go out to Mdina in the late afternoon - although I had told the driver where I wanted to go, the bus seemed to overshoot the town and I ended up a couple of miles down the road, the only passenger on the bus. Thankfully the bus turned around and deposited me at the gates to the city.
Mdina is also a fortified city, although quite a bit smaller than Valletta. It was much nicer in the cool (er) air of the late afternoon and most of the tourists had gone. I wandered around for a bit and took in the view out to Valletta, Sliema and Buggiba - half the island in fact! Had a drink and a cake at the Fontanella Tea Rooms which has the fabulous view, and later some dinner at the Xara Palace Hotel (somewhere I'd have liked to stay...). Caught one of the buses back to Valletta - thankfully it got me to where I needed to go easily!
After breakfast at the hotel, and looking at the area where the filming had gone on the night before, which was now a normal street, I walked around to the Malta Experience, an audio visual presentation of Maltese history. It was quite cheesey ("10,000 years ago Malta was formed...") and the English voiceover was done by Derek Jacobi, but it gave a good overview of the history of the country. This history consists mainly of getting invaded or attacked every couple of hundred years!
After sitting in the cool of the theatre for an hour, I spend a while walking around the city, vaguely following the Lonely Planet walking tour. Valletta is actually one of the world's first planned cities, overseen by Jean de la Valette, one of the Knights of St John who had settled on the island in the 15th century. He decided that the streets should funnel the sea breezes, that the streets should be relatively wide, and that each building should have a statue on the corner. Most of the buildings today still fit this pattern.
Wandered around for a few hours until I was overcome with the heat, had to sit down and have a couple of drinks and a sandwich, and later a nap!
Decided to go out to Mdina in the late afternoon - although I had told the driver where I wanted to go, the bus seemed to overshoot the town and I ended up a couple of miles down the road, the only passenger on the bus. Thankfully the bus turned around and deposited me at the gates to the city.
Mdina is also a fortified city, although quite a bit smaller than Valletta. It was much nicer in the cool (er) air of the late afternoon and most of the tourists had gone. I wandered around for a bit and took in the view out to Valletta, Sliema and Buggiba - half the island in fact! Had a drink and a cake at the Fontanella Tea Rooms which has the fabulous view, and later some dinner at the Xara Palace Hotel (somewhere I'd have liked to stay...). Caught one of the buses back to Valletta - thankfully it got me to where I needed to go easily!
working bee!
Want to see some photos of John and his friends laying a new path and building a deck? Click here for John's photo album on Flickr.
Friday, June 24, 2005
Malta day one
A bit delayed flying into Valletta today, but made it through ok. There's a regular bus service that runs from the airport into the city but it's in no way a shuttle! Many of the buses on Malta and Gozo are old British Leyland buses, yellow on Malta and grey on Gozo. Some are very old and rattly but great characters! Bus into the Valletta terminus took about 40 minutes.
Managed to find my hotel, the British Hotel, without too much trouble - I hadn't realised that Valletta is quite hilly and there are lots of steps! Found out later that it was one of the world's first planned cities - it's specially designed to withstand attack, but also the streets funnel the wind so there's a bit of a cooling breeze! There were meant to be statues on every corner when the city was built, and you can still see some of these today.
Great excitement at the hotel as the new Steven Spielberg film, Vengeance, about the 1972 Munich Olympics and the terrorists, was filming outside. From my perch (about four floors up - jeez I was glad there was a nice man to carry my bags up as there was no lift!) I watched for about an hour. Couldn't recognise anyone from that height, but allegedly Eric Bana and Daniel Craig are in the film. There was just one scene that they were shooting. I got a bit bored after an hour or so. Didn't see Speilberg himself - i guess he must delegate quite a bit of the scenes!
Went and had some pizza and a beer at the Cafe Deux Baronnes which has a fabulous view over the Grand Harbour and to the Three Cities. After dinner had a bit of a wander around, but Valletta gets quite quiet after dark (most people stay in Sliema etc.) so thought I'd be sensible and go back to the hotel.
Managed to find my hotel, the British Hotel, without too much trouble - I hadn't realised that Valletta is quite hilly and there are lots of steps! Found out later that it was one of the world's first planned cities - it's specially designed to withstand attack, but also the streets funnel the wind so there's a bit of a cooling breeze! There were meant to be statues on every corner when the city was built, and you can still see some of these today.
Great excitement at the hotel as the new Steven Spielberg film, Vengeance, about the 1972 Munich Olympics and the terrorists, was filming outside. From my perch (about four floors up - jeez I was glad there was a nice man to carry my bags up as there was no lift!) I watched for about an hour. Couldn't recognise anyone from that height, but allegedly Eric Bana and Daniel Craig are in the film. There was just one scene that they were shooting. I got a bit bored after an hour or so. Didn't see Speilberg himself - i guess he must delegate quite a bit of the scenes!
Went and had some pizza and a beer at the Cafe Deux Baronnes which has a fabulous view over the Grand Harbour and to the Three Cities. After dinner had a bit of a wander around, but Valletta gets quite quiet after dark (most people stay in Sliema etc.) so thought I'd be sensible and go back to the hotel.
Friday, June 17, 2005
sensible!
Bought myself a new hat and a long-sleeved shirt last night from M&S to protect myself from the heat of the Maltese sun. I fly out tomorrow morning from Gatwick on Air Malta and I'm staying for a couple of nights at the British Hotel in Valletta, the capital.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
uploaded!
At Simon's at the moment, uploading some new CDs onto my iPod. Birthday CDs include Fat Freddy's Drop, Belle & Sebastian, Arcade Fire, Tegan & Sarah and Hone Tuwhare. Also am adding on new Coldplay, Kathryn Williams and White Stripes.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
technical!
Today I've had a couple of blog-related successes. One of my colleagues, Megan, is part of a team of people (Nola's Strollers, named after the newborn daughter of one of the walkers) doing the TrailWalker challenge next month. TrailWalker is a 100km (63 mile) walk near Brighton - teams of four people have to walk together round the clock. It's a huge physical challenge and Megan wanted some help setting up the blog. I was happy to help and share my knowledge, which also included Flickr.
I also was able to work out how to set up a Links section (see the permanent section to your left) which involved inputting some HTML code - very technical and I'm delighted it works!
I also was able to work out how to set up a Links section (see the permanent section to your left) which involved inputting some HTML code - very technical and I'm delighted it works!
Friday, June 10, 2005
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Monday, June 06, 2005
te reo!
We have our 'CBK Academy' (basically a corporate-sounding Away Day) at the Four Seasons Hotel in Hampshire on Wednesday and, as part of the multi-cultural nature of our business and our people, I've volunteered to do my introduction on Maori. Had a bit of a hunt around on the net today and as I don't feel comfortable with translating a whole phrase that I've made up into Maori, I thought I'd just read out one nice sounding one to say to everyone. The bulletin board on Maori.org.nz has thrown up some good phrases so I'll be practising these tonight!
cute!
Recommended site from Fiona is Kitten War - not as horrible as it sounds, it pitches kittens against each other to which is the cutest.
spotted!
Helped Rupert Graves and his little boy through the turnstiles at Caledonian Rd tube station on Saturday. Sigh...
Friday, June 03, 2005
arty!
Visited a couple of exhibitions on Sunday. First of all I went to the National Portait Gallery which had an exhibition of the photos of Lee Miller, who seemed to know everyone and had a really interesting life. She was American, but lived in Paris, Egypt and London, becoming an accredited war photographer during WWII. She travelled to Paris and Germany after liberation, taking some chilling photos of Belsen and other concentration camps. After the war, she was friendly with Picasso and took many photos of him.
There was also an exhibition of photos of Frida Kahlo at the NPG, prior to the major exhibition of her work at Tate Modern later this year.
I also visited the Royal Academy and saw the Matisse, His Art and His Textiles exhibition which was very interesting, but very crowded! I think I've been spoilt with all the time I spend at Tate Britain during the Turner Whistler Monet exhibition, having the rooms to myself! But it was fascinating to read about Matisse collecting fabrics throughout his life and having a real knowledge and desire to use different patterns in his work.
There was also an exhibition of photos of Frida Kahlo at the NPG, prior to the major exhibition of her work at Tate Modern later this year.
I also visited the Royal Academy and saw the Matisse, His Art and His Textiles exhibition which was very interesting, but very crowded! I think I've been spoilt with all the time I spend at Tate Britain during the Turner Whistler Monet exhibition, having the rooms to myself! But it was fascinating to read about Matisse collecting fabrics throughout his life and having a real knowledge and desire to use different patterns in his work.
harmonic!
Saw the always great Ben Folds in concert at the Barbican last night. It was a rescheduled concert from last November when Ben had pneumonia and had to cancel the tour. This time he was only suffering from a cracked rib, caused by a freak luggage accident, and the ever-present fragile fingernails which have to be held on by bandaids, due to frenetic piano key pounding.
Here's a review of Tuesday's concert at the Hammersmith Apollo. It was very similar at the Barbican, including the musical version of Dr Dre's Bitches Ain't Shit which was simultaneously amusing and quite chilling as well, when we could hear all the vitriolic lyrics so clearly. The audience also all took part in some very enjoyable three part harmony singing, conducted by Ben.
Here's a review of Tuesday's concert at the Hammersmith Apollo. It was very similar at the Barbican, including the musical version of Dr Dre's Bitches Ain't Shit which was simultaneously amusing and quite chilling as well, when we could hear all the vitriolic lyrics so clearly. The audience also all took part in some very enjoyable three part harmony singing, conducted by Ben.
smouldering!
Kt and I went to see 'Blood Wedding' last night at the Almeida Theatre in Islington. The main attraction was not the Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, but Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal who played the smouldering lover, Leonardo. It was very interesting, quite poetic and symbolic. Here's what Michael Billington thought in the Guardian.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
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