Archive for May, 2010



At Last…Malta!

I’ll try to be brief.  We arrived in Malta last night and had a smooth trip.  Though I will say I doubt that I’ll opt for RyanAir again.  While it’s seemingly cheap, you pay through the nose for baggage so it seems a realistic option only if you are based in Europe and don’t have to bring a lot of stuff.  I knew this, but didn’t know that the one bag we had paid to check had to be no more than 15kg.  That’s about 35 lbs.  Ours was significantly more than that becasue we had complied with the US rules, having the bagcome in at just under 50 lbs.  This meant we had three choices: (1) throw things out, which I wasn’t excatly against; (2) pay 120£ to check the 50lb-er; and (3)  repack so that bag was under 15kg and check another bag with all of the extra crap for 35£ or $50.  We opted to repack, but have already been strategizing for our return.  We are obviously RyanAir amateurs: a guy in the airport with us looked like he was dressed relatively normally but at the gate, while in line – right before our eyes – he stripped about 5 layers off and stuffed them in his carry-on (which had been measured for size before the gate).  I overheard him say, “I know how to play their games.”  Yikes.  Anyway, the flight was nice and we got into Malta around 8:30 pm local time.  That’s an hour ahead of Britain, 6 hours ahead of NYC, 7 hours ahead of Madison and 9 hours ahead of LA.  Thank you.  We were able to jump on the transfer we (I) booked and took off for the hotel: the Hilton Malta, a generous gift from our beloved Terry.  The hotel is beautiful.  I wish you could see it.  But, alas, you will have to wait until our return as the internet is too expensive…How am I writing this, you ask?  Well, given Terry’s diamond status, we have access to the Executive Lounge, which has free internet.  Supposedly.  We can’t get it to work on our phones, though, so I am using the free computer provided in the lounge.  Our room has a spectacular view of the Mediterranean, though, so I’m not complaining.  I did call the front desk last night, however, when we arrived in our room.  It was supposed to be a king, but it was two twins.  I didn’t care too much but could hear Terry’s voice in my head, so I called and said, “Um…”  The guy said, “Oh, we’ll fix that.”  While we were out having a drink and a snack someone came into our room and pushed the two twins together.  Hmm.  I could have done that.  Of course, now the headboards are all weird and there’s only one bedside table, but we are in…Malta!

So, unless our phones shape up, no more pictures until we’re stateside!

I Spoke Too Soon

Oops. After writing about our derth of restaurant outings, we did a 180 degree turn. Last night we went out and tried to get a spot at Notting Hill’s oldest pub, but couldn’t. Instead we walked to a spot a few blocks from our flat recommended by none other than Her Highness Gwyneth: Taqueria. As you may imagine, the cuisine was Mexican. It was quite tasty, but overpriced.

Today we ventured out to Hampstead, a beautiful borough known for its large Heath. After trying for miles (it felt like) to locate some super old pub we’d read about – up the hill, down the hill – we landed upon it! But it was closed for ‘refurbishing.’ So, up the hill, down the hill we went and turned onto a side street where we stopped to have a pint outside. Lovely. Down the hill and then up the hill we went, until we stopped for some completely delicious pizza at the omnipresent London chain Pizza Express. Seriously, it was yumsville. Now we are having a pause. Tonight we have a late reservation at St. John’s, a place recommended by all of the guidebooks and Andrea. Additionally, it’s some restaurant Aaron has long wanted to try, famous for things like bone marrow & parsley salad. At least the pizza was good.

Gastrotour, This Is Not

Although it didn’t seem like we did much today, my barking dogs are telling me otherwise. First, though, a word on cuisine. The English, of course, are not known as the greatest food minds in the world. That said, I have seen – if not necessarily partaken of – some great looking food. While we have been out, really, for only one proper meal (Chinese in Bayswater, which was delicious), we had a total yumsville pasty in Bath, tasty tea and finger sandwiches yesterday and absolutely fantastic Indian take-away on Sunday night. So fantastic, in fact, that we have been nibbling at the leftovers since and I was informed this morning that they are no more. But that’s really about it. We’ve been here six days now and have largely subsided on Brie, bread and crisps. Sometimes we throw in some tomato or a Clementine for good measure. After a long day of doing, I find I often just want to come back to the flat, put my pajamas on and my feet up, sip a Pimm’s and snack on cheese and crackers. Oh, and of course watch the telly to learn whether this country has a government or not.

Second, I have been having camera problems here. If it’s not one thing it’s another. I frequently forget to take my iPhone with me for the day, which means the photo du jour will have to come from inside the flat (I can’t sync up my camera to the blog here). Then, in Bath, the regular lens for my DSLR camera completely broke so now I have only zoom lens capabilities. Also, I brought only one memory card – mistakenly – so I have to switch them back and forth between the cameras. And then today – a great sightseeing day – I forgot to put the battery I was charging back in the camera I had brought with us for the day. ARGH! I did, though, remember the iPhone so please pretend to appreciate the blurry iPhone pic of British schoolkids doing their schoolwork in front of the Rosetta Stone.

Today was a trip to the British Museum, the Tate Modern, a walk across the Thames on the Millenium Bridge, a stroll over to St. Paul’s and a stop at a pub for a pint before continuing down Fleet Street before we caught the Tube for home. Home.

Harrods and High Tea

Having slept extra late today, we scratched our museum itinerary in favor of a trip to Harrods, a walk through Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens and high tea at The Orangery where I discovered my love of cucumber sandwiches. The Orangery was built at the beginning of the 18th century for Queen Anne and acted as a sort of greenhouse for Kensington Palace. Because I again forgot to bring my iPhone on today’s adventures, today’s picture isn’t of the store, the parks or the palace.

Long Day, Short Post