A Piano Player Even Makes an Airport Seem Sophisticated

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As it was our last morning in Malta, we decided that we would get up and go for an early morning swim in the sea before breakfast. There's a little marked-off section of the inlet for hotel guests to swim in. I think the markers is to stop the guests from swimming too far out, rather than to stop sharks or other sea monsters coming to get us.

According to my wife, the sea was a lot cooler than it was when she had previously gone for a swim, but it was still warm enough for me to get in - I'm a bit of a lightweight when it comes to cold water.

After the sea, we also went for a swim in the pool. It was reassuring to see that only a few people had gone out to put their towels down on some sunbeds before heading back in for breakfast. That behaviour really is one of the best measures of the kind of people that a hotel attracts.

We picked-up our towels, got showed and went for breakfast. We felt very ashamed and guilty, as we took a bit extra to make some sandwiches to take with us to the airport to eat later. That really is unacceptable behaviour, but we reassured ourselves that we were not the only ones. The cakes are particularly popular to take away for later. Sadly, the low cost airlines do seem to have created a race-to-the-bottom on service, so even with British Airways there's no longer a meal on short-haul flights. Just a small bag of pretzels and a cup of water.

Once we'd checked out of the hotel, we ordered another Bolt taxi, which only took a few minutes to arrive, as the others had previously. The driver was actually British and had been living in Malta for two and a half years.

The airport has a huge and impressive duty-free area. I picked-up a bottle as Limoncello, but then I was promptly told off by a lady managing the area of local Maltese produce as the bottle I had picked-up was Italian. I was a bit annoyed, as you don't expect to be told off in the duty-free area of an airport, but I have to admit that I agreed with her. I'm in Malta and I've had a fantastic holiday in Malta, so of course I should buy the local produce. I changed my purchase accordingly.

The departure area was absolutely rammed with people and there was no where to sit. Despite all the noise and the bustle, a lady playing the piano did give the place an air of sophistication.

There was a bit of drama when we arrived at Gatwick. The aircrew asked every male passenger the have their passports checked as we left the plane by five armed policemen waiting in the gangway. Presumably, they suspected someone they wanted was on the plane. At least I think the worst I've done is to have taken away a bit of breakfast, used a torch in the catacombs (see Mazes Above and Below Ground) and got a return bus on one ticket (see Our Last Taste of The Malta Experience), so five armed policemen intercepting a plane is clearly overkill for those kinds of offences.

We really appreciated the how cool the temperature is now we were back in the UK. Normally we would be moaning about the rubbish British weather, but it was such a relief after the heat of Malta. We then had a nightmare drive into Central London, as we had planned to meet our son who lives in London now and was about to go on holiday himself. We had never driven into London from the south before and we certainly will not be doing it again. At least from the north, we've got the M1 and M11, which go all the way to the North Circular.

We met at Leadenhall Market, which is a fanatically impressive location, although it was just at that time that everyone in the city had finished work, so it was extremely loud and boisterous. There was no piano player there to try and bring any air of sophistication.

Afterwards, I had been wanting to go to the Garden at 120, which is a roof garden on the 15th floor of a building near Fenchurch Street Station. It has fantastic views in all directions amongst all the skyscraper office buildings that have sprung up in the last view years. And the garden itself is a peaceful escape from all the hustle and bustle below. There was quite a long queue to get up though.

Whilst walking back to our car, we spotted a couple of decorated sculptures of an old TV character called Morph. There are apparently 70 scatted around London until mid August. Now when the kids were younger that would have been a potential day or two out, but they would consider that to be (quote) "lame" now.

Lame behaviour or not, and despite the nightmare drive in, the little excursion into London was a nice finish to a fantastic holiday.

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Photos

Sea Swimming
The little bit of beach by the hotel.

Hotel Room View
The last of the view from our hotel room before we leave.

Local Produce
Fair enough, I shouldn't really get Italian.

Piano
A recital for everyone in the terminal.

Leadenhall Market
The impressive roof of the market - during our little excursion into London after our holiday.

The Garden at 120
The garden and view of The Shard.

Morph Sculptures
Two of the 70 that are scattered around London.

Comments

[Debra]

I love reading your blog! Xx