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Published: November 29th 2008
Hey faithful readers! It's your unfaithful blogger here. Sorry... I've been busy, although I know that's not an excuse! Really, I don't think I'm cut out for this whole blogging thing. I'll give it a go again.
Although it's not an excuse, it's the truth. I have been SOOO busy! I really don't get more than 4-5 hours of sleep a night, because I'm always out late doing something, then up early for either work or class. I've been going to the theater a lot. I've seen Spamalot, Avenue Q., Chicago, Wicked, and various other smaller performances. I love love love the theater. Wicked is by far my favorite, and I hope to see it again at least one more time before I leave.
I've also been doing a lot of traveling. Basically, within the last 3 weeks I have been in 4 different countries, including England. I went to Wales (although that is more of an independent territory of the UK) where I joined up with a 3-day tour of the beautiful region, with about 11 Australians. That was an amazing time, what a beautiful region. I also went to Ireland last weekend with 4 of my friends. We definitely had a good time! We went on a "3-day South" tour, where we went in an entire circle of the whole southern half of the country. Stops included the Cliffs of Moher (where parts of The Princess Bride were filmed) and Blarney castle where I kissed the Blarney stone. No joke, you have to hang halfway off of the castle (about 5 stories up) upside down, in order to kiss the darn stone. It was terrifying, almost more so than skydiving! Really! Some old guy holds onto us to make sure we don't fall off of the castle, but really... he was old, and gravity is going to do its thing if you slip. All in all, I'm glad I did it because apparently it gives you the "gift of gab" and you can talk yourself out of or into anything. We'll see. (I somehow have to talk mommy and daddy dearest into giving my their blessings to leave this fall for a sailing trip around the world. =) .... more about that later.)
And now I am sitting in a gorgeous hotel (yes hotel, I splurged and decided crappy hostels weren't going to fly on this trip... although it cost about the same) in the middle of the Mediterranean sea on the island of Malta. This country has made it into my top 3 favorites list. It is amazing... I can't believe how picturesque and ancient and exotic this country is! They claim to be the hidden gem of Europe, and that is %110 true. I can't believe hardly anyone knows anything about this tiny country. It really, truly is a hidden gem. I am SO happy about that too, because there are hardly any tourists at all. I really feel as if I am literally throwing myself into a new culture without much help from tourist signs and guides every 10 feet. I am also completely on my own. I decided to go on a solitary adventure, and I am enjoying the heck out of every second of it. I can't help but remember how insanely shy and timid I used to be. I was thinking of this earlier, and I flash-backed to my freshman year in HS when, for example, at lunch I was terrified to get up BY MYSELF and walk to the trash can, or the bathroom. I had to have someone go with me every single time. Now here I am, figuring out a wonderful but bizarre little island in the middle of a sea very far from London, and Wisconsin at that, all by myself. Wow, I'm a big girl now!
I flew into Malta International Airport in the middle of the island last night around 7pm, found a taxi and was on the Eastern coast of the island in about 10 minutes flat. That is how SMALL this country is. It would take me (and it did take me because I tried it today) 20 minutes to get from one side of the island to the other, going East-West. I would say it would take about 30-40 minutes going North to South. I love that the island is so small because I can see the entire thing. I booked a Historical Malta tour for the very next day (today) that was going to take me all over the island for 8 hours. I was to meet a tour guide in my hotel lobby at 9:45am. I was there at 9:45. Okay, no one yet... cup of coffee. 9:45 comes by and I'm really excited to get on the bus. No one. 10am comes... still no one. 10:15.... no one. I finally give up and ask the very kind front desk worker to phone my room if a tour guide came looking for me. He asked for which tour, and I ended up explaining what happened. He phoned the company and after speaking in rapid Maltese (it sounds like a mix between Italian and Arabic, and looks like it too) he hands the phone to me. The lady on the other end says, "the tour was canceled, someone should have contacted you." Ummmmm NOPE! Thanks a lot! Long story short, the weather was bad yesterday (today was sunny and 70) so they canceled it. I get my money back. 2 wasted hours later...
Okay it wasn't wasted, I stood outside to wait and got to see the beautiful sunrise overlooking the Grand Harbor (pictures to come later) which I thoroughly enjoyed. I booked it upstairs to get my computer and figure out new plans for the day. I ended up finding a beach, and took the local bus to the other side of the island. The beach was gorgeous! I didn't go swimming, although I really wanted to because it was windy, making the water a lot colder than it was. Ah well, I enjoyed the view. The water was the most beautiful blue/green I've ever seen. Apparently Malta has the clearest, bluest water in the entire Mediterranean, and I don't doubt that.
I made my way back on the bus and decided to do some exploring around my hotel. I love the area, because we're right on the sea, overlooking the awesome harbor and all of it's ancient, fortified walls and battle stations and there are NO tourists around. Local people live all around the hotel (which is very small) so I get to see everyday life, and everyday people. This is what I truly love about traveling; I've come to almost really dislike touristy areas... it completely spoils the authenticity. Now I have more authenticity than I know what to do with! I walked up and down and around the cobblestone streets and stairs, trying to find a place facing west so I could see the sunset. I eventually found a little park and say on a bench for an hour or so and witnessed a very pretty light pink and purple sunset over the harbor. Afterward, around 4:30 (yeah, the sun set that early) I decided I should probably eat, since I hadn't eaten all day, I was too in awe of my surroundings to divert from my wanderings to sit in a restaurant. Also there aren't many quick little food places around, so that wasn't an option. I eventually found a little restaurant and had a nice dinner. After that I decided to go see a movie, since I'm alone and the only thing to do at night is go to a bar or club, and I definitely wasn't going to do that. I saw Body of Lies, with Leonardo di Caprio, or however you spell it, and Russell Crowe. It was pretty darn good. I love seeing movies in different countries, because there are always odd little differences. For instance, they give you assigned seating and they have an intermission. Intermission is actually a decent idea. The movie let out at 11:30, and I was a little worried about the walk home. As the area I am staying in is NOT touristy ... nor is the whole city of Valletta for the most part, it isn't very busy that late at night, since the locals are sleeping. Except for some 12-year old girls looking like hookers walking around (really, I think they looked 12) and drunk teenagers, it was pretty deserted and I had to go through some crazy little alleyways to get to my hotel. I decided to take important cards and money out of my wallet and into my sock, just in case I got mugged. You can never be too safe I suppose. Well anyway I made it back safe and sound, and I'm sure I was just overreacting... the movie got my pretty worked up.
Well it is 12:30am and I have a wake-up call for 6am, so that I can see the sunrise over the sea. After that I am going to head out on a 4-5 hour scuba diving lesson! For 70 euros I am getting all transportation, training, equipment, certified instructor and 2 dives in the sea (along with 1 dive in a practice pool) covered. Not bad. I am BEYOND excited for this. I am in love with the water, whether it be ocean, sea, lake, pool, puddle, bathtub... I'm lovin' it. Apparently we get to dive around shipwrecks, caves and reefs and see all kinds of fish and stuff, including sea horses... which I am definitely excited for. I really hope I can find an underwater disposable camera!
Okay, more later, including pictures! I promise!!
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dawn
non-member comment
ohhh
sooo jealous!! you go with your bad self girl!!