Greetings From Malta II

Well it’s a funny old world indeed, not to mention a small one! Our last day in Malta, we fly back at the crack of sparrow fart tomorrow, so BW and I decide to treat ourselves to a luxurious lunch, none of the “light snacks” of previous days, and delicious it is; anyway we are sitting enjoying our lunch accompanied by some cold beer when up walks a fellow blogger, whom we have now met at two blogmeets. I am not giving any details as it would be all to easy to work out the true identity of the person, and I do not think that would be fair. Like I say small, funny old world indeed!

A couple of nights back (Monday to be precise) we went down to the port area of Valetta, which is under redevelopment, to eat and were privileged to witness the departure of a fantastic cruise ship Le Ponant a three masted sailing ship of immense elegance; which cannot be said about the big mother, ugly cruise ship (see left) which was in exactly the same berth this morning when we went back for a walk around the area. I mean “ugly” doesn’t really fit the bill as a description, as this is just such an understatement; it was one of these bloody big floating cities which, in all honesty, should be sunk on sight!

As I say, our last day on this magical island; will I miss the sunshine, the heat, the food, the beer, the ease with which one can chill out in the extreme? You had better believe it, this is the sort of life that I could easily get used to!

So Farewell Then Peter Cook

So Farewell Then Peter Cook: The Untold Life of Peter Cook by Wendy E Cook has to be one of the most engaging books that I have read in recent years. This book is not only extremely illuminating, but also very thought provoking. Whilst it provides an insight into the trials and tribulations of the life of a genius it also provokes the reader into taking a long, hard look at themselves. By the end of this gripping read, one finds oneself not only asking questions about the subject under the microscope, but one also finds oneself questioning oneself and one’s own relationships with one’s own identity and with those whom whom one interacts.

For example, I have found myself questioning my relationship with my parents and with women; but more than this it has raised all sorts of questions about how I deal with emotions, both emotions within myself, and how I show emotion towards others. Also I have found myself questioning how I deal with issues of personal privacy, and that just maybe this borders on a sort of paranoid secrecy. Not only are such questions raised in the readers mind, but it highlights just how difficult the answers to such questions are to find.

This is a book which works on several levels: firstly it is an extremely good read, secondly it is a very entertaining read and beautifully written, and finally it is something of a therapeutic read in that it makes one question oneself and one’s relationships. In fact, I would go as far as to say, “if you read no other books in the coming months, read this one!”

Greetings From Malta I

BW and I are slumming it at the Radisson SAS hotel in Pembroke on Malta, enjoying the luxury of brilliant sunshine and temperatures well in excess of 30 degrees C; oh, the sacrifices we sometimes have to make. This is something of a “busman’s holiday” for BW, as a few days of the trip are work oriented; she has been on the balcony of our room working away this morning to earn herself a break.

This trip could not be more different from my first visit to this magical place (Feb 2005), which although not colds was indeed punctuated by some extremely windy weather. Pictures of this first trip can be found here.

Yesterday (Sat.) was consumed with a trip to Gozo, another beautiful, and second biggest, island of the Maltese archipelago; visits to the Citadel in Victoria (Rabat), Ggantija and the Inland Sea being the highlights of the day. Temperature were so high that vast quantities of water were consumed (a very rare occurrence for BB whose preference is for alcohol) along with a delicious lunch, which was supposed to be a light snack (a chicken and bacon salad) which upon arrival turned out to be more in the nature of a three course meal! BW even managed to get BB to take a small (the emphasis being on “small” here) boat trip; now given that I am easily seasick - to the point where I would not even consider getting into a boat on a swimming pool - this was indeed something of an achievement.

The really interesting thing about this trip is that BW has been surgically detached from all of her normal support mechanisms, i.e. her watch, mobile, laptop and her addiction to the Grauniad complete with the SuDoku and Kakuro therein. This is actually quite a frightening scenario as I am not sure just when the withdrawal symptoms are going to kick in.

The astute will by now have gathered that today is being spent around the hotel complex just “chillin’ out”; BW has just been skinny dipping in the Med (and NO I am not allowed - on pain of death - to publish the evidence), and we have enjoyed yet another “light snack”!

I have to admit that this is an absolutely wonderful place to indulge in my favourite activity - people watching; and believe me there are quite a lot of people to watch, even from our balcony with all ages, genders, sizes, colours (white, pink and brown shades) and shapes gathering around the pool to fry themselves in the Maltese sunshine

There will be more to come over the next few days, but nothing quite as scary as BW “skinny dipping” (see left); I will try to stick to much more mundane topics from here on in.