On the eve of the 22nd Ann and I made our way to Gatwick airport. We had a flight to Malta the next morning at 7.15 AM and didn’t want to count on public transport getting us out there in the morning as London was having severe traffic issues due to snow and ice. Lucky for us the the flight was almost and time and we made it to Malta without any problems.

While England and the rest of northern Europe was struggling/celebrating snow and ice we ended up in Malta’s warmest Christmas in more than 20 years with temperatures up to 24 degrees – nice!

On December 24th, while Ann was busy, I walked around the village she is from taking pictures of the Christmas decorated houses.

The last photo is a hand-painted picture on the back entrance to a bar that really have an aura of Christmas. As I walked by Christmas music was blasting out in the streets. Check out the front and side photos.

In the evening of the 24th we went to the village’s Christmas Procession where kids dressed as angels and shepherds walk the baby Jesus through the streets as they sing carols.

In the evening we went out with Ann’s siblings and partners to a nice restaurant on Vittoriosa Waterfront.

After that it was on to the university church where we went for midnight mass. The church was packed with people sitting outside watching the service on a big screen. We got a seat inside and watched the Maltese service which started with this kid retelling the Christmas story. Very cute.

Well I’m used to celebrating Christmas on the eve of the 24th but here it’s different so we had to let the gifts stay under the crib for another night before we could release the excitement.

The next morning we got stockings, opened gifts, played games, Wii and watched films.

An extra bonus is that Ann’s mum has orange trees in her garden so we could all start the day with a glass of fresh juice – delicious.

Merry Christmas!

Photo by pnoid00

Tuesday afternoon I arrived in London in the pouring rain and it was raining a lot. Ann has been saying that London weather is not as bad as people make it out be to but this day she was a bit off. I’m not complaining tho. Ann had cooked me a nice English meal of Shepard’s Pie and showed me around our new home. Mmm, our new home. It’s been almost exactly two years since we went on our first date in Prague and now we are finally living in the same country

The next day the weather was a lot nicer so while Ann went to university I could get out and explore the neighborhood. The picture above is of the house we live in. We are in the house on the left with the red door on the first floor where we share a two bedroom flat with an Aussie/Brit couple.

Our neighborhood is covered with streets of terraced houses – all looking the same but also very different. It’s an interesting place to walk around and see how these maybe 80 year old houses have evolved differently depending of different styles and owners. Some are very nice and others are falling apart.

London is a very multiethnic city which also shows in our neighborhood with all sorts of exotic shops and restaurants. Compared to Prague which is very homogeneous (if you don’t count in the tourists) it’s a quite different atmosphere with all these cultures mixed amongst each other. On my trip I remember seeing Polish, Jamaican, Brazilian, Pakistani, Indian and South African and I’m sure I forgot a few. Also I’ve seen one synagogue, two mosques and a couple of churches and this place:

There is plenty to explore still and I’m looking forward to tasting the different foods and seeing what else there is to explore in this area.

Before I made it home I came across this piece in a school yard, “Share My World” – what a nice welcome

I started out in Odder where I spend a day with Magnus, my nephew. First I went with him to preschool (it’s called 0th grade and the kids are 6-7 years old) and had a good time with Magnus and his classmates. During his school day we had morning singing (or whatever it is called) followed by roll call, and me telling his class a bit about what i do and about some of my travels. I didn’t really know how to approach kids at this age but they had a map of the world and Europe that we used to talk about different places and how they were different than Denmark. They seemed interested and had their own stories of trips they had made so the time went quick. Then it was time for a library visit with a fairytale reading by the librarian, followed by the class showing off what letters in the alphabet they had learned.
After school Magnus and I went home to play for the rest of the day untill Majbrit and Mogens got home. Here is a video of a slide with a “bomb” we tried to make from his bed to the living room – can you ever get too old to play with Lego?

It was really great to spend some time in Odder with family and catch up with the little guy – who is not that little any more.

Friday Ann arrived and stayed for the weekend. For once she wasn’t visiting in the winter time so I was happy to see that the weather was fairly good to us.

Saturday we packed a lunch and took off to the southwestern corner of the kingdom. First stop was the sight of where the Golden Horns were found. Apart from two stones marking the locations of the finds there wasn’t anything to see here. Apart from the tiny, cute house pictured above right next to it. The gold horns are two very unique finds in Denmark and their history is quite remarkable.

We continued to the village of Møgeltønder (pictured above) where Schackenborg Castle is situated. Schakenborg is the home of Prince Joachim, the younger of the queen’s two sons. He just had to his first child (Prince NN ) with his second wife (his third in total – officially) so there were crowned storks in the garden to mark the expansion of the royal family.

We stopped at Hojer Mill to have our lunch and went to the coast to see dike and the vastness of the marsh landscape out west by the Wadden Sea.

At night we went to Ribe to walk around with the watchman as he told about the oldest city of Denmark.

Sunday we went to the area around Tørning and had a barbecue there with my folks.

[Picture of BBQ from dads camera - coming soon]

Ann was flying home on Monday so we spend the day making our way slowly towards the airport. We stopped in Jelling to see the rune stones and mounts marking the christening of the Danes and the burial place of Harald Bluetooth. Before Ann took off we had dinner at my aunt’s and uncles farm which is just next to the airport.

My cousin Anders graduated high school on Tuesday so there was a big party in his parents garden and the weather was perfect. Congrats to him!

Now I’m back in rainy Prague. Hopefully it doesnt stay that way because Mikkel, my thesis buddy is visiting me.

My dad has been going to Tuscany to bike each spring for the last 4-5 years and my mother has been there a couple of times as well and they have always talked very fondly of the region so I was looking forward to finally seeing it myself. And let me just say that I was really taken with Tuscany – I really have to get back there some day and see more.

I arrived in Pisa Thursday where Ann finished up at the university and we saw a bit of Pisa. Friday we headed to Cinque Terra (which is actually not in Tuscany but Liguria).

Cinque Terra means Five Lands and consists of five small villages clinging to the edge of the rocks next to the Mediterranean. Pictured above is the village Manarola. To get between the villages you can either walk on a trail, take the train that runs in a tunnel beneath the villages or take a boat.

See a bigger version of the panorama here.

We took it easy and walked part of the way and took the train for the rest. The weather was just right and the scenery between the villages as well as the atmosphere in the villages was excellent.
After we had spent most of the day taking in the sights we found a small rock beach where we could cool down before heading back to Pisa.

Saturday we headed inland for the city of Siena and this was as Tuscan as it gets. Set in a landscape of lush, green, rolling hills the train ride there was nice.

With all the houses made from a red-brown stone this place is really like something out of a movie. We brought a picnic lunch with us and ate it at the huge Piazza del Campo in the center of town.

It is easy to get a little lost in the small winding streets. But that doesn’t matter. For every corner you turn there is another interesting view.

On our way back to Pisa we made a stop in quaint town of Certaldo where we could take a cable car up to the old town on top of the hill. It was quite small but we also had it more or less to ourselves and the locals.

Sunday I was already heading back home again. So short time with Ann and so short time in Tuscany. I will have to see them both again soon

After Easter and all it’s celebrations were over Ann and I took a 3 day mini vacation to the neighboring island of Gozo. The weather when we went up there was pretty bad as you can see in the film above.

Gozo is more slow paced, greener and more rural than the main island of Malta. Life in Malta can be pretty hectic and for the week of Easter we did a lot of things so it was nice to spend some time alone with Ann before my parents came.

We also went to Gozo when I was in Malta last year. One of her aunt’s have an apartment in the fishing village turned resort of Marsalforn which was really quiet while we were there because it is still out of season. Here’s a view of the village as we walked back to the apartment after having had dinner.

On our second day there we went for a long walk. All along the northwest coast of Gozo you see these types of salt pans. The salt pans are filled with sea water over winter by the waves hitting the coast. Then over the summer the water evaporates and the salt can be collected. Some of the salt pans has been in use since the Roman times and is still used today.

We left the coast and turned uphill towards the village of Zebbug where we came across a street mirror where you can sort of see the road going down the hill from where we came.

There was a great view of the green island from Zebbug. However what I found most interesting was that on the spot in the village with the best view over the Mediterranean you were met by this truck with the ironic “I ♥ my truck” written on the back-end.

We continued on and was met with a great view of the UNESCO protected Cittadella fort at the center of Gozo. We followed the road and caught a bus back to the apartment from Victoria.

The day we left Gozo we had great weather so we shot a bit more film as we were leaving.

The image above is the last statue to be carried through the streets of Haz-Zebbug in the Good Friday procession but more about that later.

I came back to Prague last Tuesday after spending two weeks around Easter in Malta with Ann and her family. And for the last 5 days my parents joined us as well. It was again a really nice trip and great to see Ann and her family.

I’ve just finished uploading all my pictures and this time round Ann and I shot a lot of video that I hope to turn into 3-4 different videos. All that takes time but the videos will eventually come up over the next couple of weeks.

I’m used to celebrate Easter with bunnies, colored eggs, “gækkebreve” and with an Easter egg hunt as the highlight of the Easter dinner. Most of these Danish traditions have little if any religious content. This is in contrast to Malta where Easter, as the most important feast in the Roman Catholic Church’s calendar, is celebrated in many unique and colorful ways.

On Maundy Thursday we eat Qaghaq ta’ l-Appostli (the apostles ring bread) a sweet white ring of bread. I think it’s to represent the last supper (correct me if I’m wrong). For Easter these breads are sold everywhere from the back of cars and in the shops.

There are also some sweets called Figolli which I will spend a whole blog post on some other day and Kwareżimal which are one of the few sweets that is suppose to be eaten during lent.

The night of Maundy Thursday a lot of Maltese people go out and visit seven different churches or go in of seven different doors of the same church saying seven different payers. So there is a lot of people in the streets as the towns are buzzing from people strolling around. In the churches the main cross and alter is covered or removed and instead the attention is directed to a side-alter where a display with a halo/sun as the centerpiece is made for this event.

We went to Rabat/Mdina in the middle of the island and visited churches there. If you click on the pictures above you can see the special decorations made in churches we went to.

Good Friday was the day of Christ’s long suffering and this is commemorated with processions in Malta. We went to the processions in Haz-Zebbug. This is a parade of groups of people dressed up in various costumes from the times of Christ. Everybody looking sad or solemnly as they parade in front of us in very impressive costumes. Between the groups were life-size statues depicting the different stages of the Passion of Christ on big wooden boards carried by 8 men in white robes.

The costumes where very detailed and it was fascinating to see them. For some reason I thought it would be over quick but because the statues they carry through the processions were so heavy they would walk some 20 meters and then take a break, so it took some hours for the whole procession to walk through the town.

On Easter Sunday there was another procession. This time to celebrate the Risen Christ so gone were the solemn face and now there was a band with the procession. The procession we went to had one statue and it was one of Jesus rising from his grave.

The statue itself was very impressive but the most impressive by this event was when they ran with it, several times. This video shows them running with the statue and lifting it up at the end as paper confetti is thrown from the surrounding houses, the band playing in the background and people cheering:

I’m not a particular religious person and I find these displays a bit overwhelming in their expression compared to how private religion is practiced in Denmark. But the Easter celebrations in Malta are really impressive shows of devotion and I’m glad I finally got around to see it for myself. I had some great guides into the Maltese traditions by Bernard, Cecelia and Ann

Look out for the next blog post about our trip to Malta.

Tuesday I arrived in Malta for the first time in nearly a year. It’s great to see Ann again, good to be back and everything looks so familiar yet still different from what I am used to. Wednesday we started out at Paula, a friend of Ann, who gave us both snazzy haircuts

Since I met Ann I’ve been following a couple of Maltese bloggers. Two of them we met last night for dinner and had a great time. Meeting other bloggers is always fun as it feels like you know a person even if you have never met. We had a nice evening at with La Delirante and Red a Salvadorian/Maltese couple. It was great to meet them and time flew as we had dinner.

While central Europe is still struggling to shed the winter I went to Cambridge to meet Ann. Cambridge is a 50 minutes busride from Stansted airport so we had decided on Cambridge for our weekend together instead of London. It was really great to spend time with Ann again, last time we saw each other was in Denmark for the Christmas holiday. It is the first time we are vacationing together in a place which none of us knew beforehand so we had a good time exploring together.

The atmosphere of Cambridge reminded me a lot about that of Ann Arbor, Michigan where I lived back in 2005/2006. They are about the same size and the university has a very prominent role in the cities. Both places are very green, there is many university students and interesting cafes, restaurants and museums. Both have a size big enough for life but small enough that a bike ride will take you anywhere in less than 20 minutes or less.

Cambridge University includes a number of old and distinguished colleges which in the Oxford and Cambridge meaning of the word is independent institutions within the university where students live, eat and socialize. Below is the Chapel of Kings College where we went to Evensong Saturday night.

Another thing I really liked about Cambridge was that it was so bike infested. Every now and then we would experience a near miss when a student, biking as if his life depended on it, would flash by. But I loved it and it added to the cozy atmosphere of the city.

We stayed two nights at a cozy Bed & Breakfast a bit of a walk from the center. The last day we couch surfed with a British/Kiwi couple. We had a great time talking with Lou and Alex, went to a concert, had dinner and got introduced to Natures home Elucian Islands in Second Life that Lou had just launched the previous week.

It was a very nice weekend I must say but of course the time went by too fast. Next time I see Ann will be for Easter in Malta If you are interested in reading more check out her first and second post from the weekend.

PS. For some nice pictures from the Cambridge area in spring check out what Tina omme i London did this weekend.

At the end of December Kathleen invited a bunch of Prague friends over for a Christmas party with food, gifts and ugly hats. That kicked off my Christmas spirit and we had a great evening with lots of laughter and good times. Here is Antone, Sascha and Julie with big smiles:

The day after there was a flash mob event on Old Town Square in the center of Prague. The idea was that everybody should show up with a pillow hidden. At exactly 18.55 someone would whistle and a pillow fight should start.
I was at the square a few minutes before it started standing next to some tourists that didnt know what was about to happen. And then the pillow fight started. Several hundred people brought out their pillow and started whacking each other. Soon the air was full of white feathers and it looked as if it had started to snow with the fluffiest snow. Below is a video I shot 30 seconds after the started.

This is what the square looked like afterwards.

December flew by and I went home to my parents in Toftlund. Ann flew to Denmark and spent almost two weeks with me over Christmas and New Years. Needless to say I enjoyed it immensely to share our Danish traditions with her.

Christmas in Denmark is celebrated on Christmas Eve with a nice dinner, rice pudding game for dessert, dancing around the Christmas tree and opening gifts. This year we were my parents, my sister Majbrit, her boyfriend Mogens, my nephew Magnus, Ann and me.

On Christmas Day we didnt have any plans but to work some of all the good food off we took a trip to The Dear Park by Haderslev. Afterwards we went to meet my grand parents in Styding and some of the family that lived close by. Here is Ann and I in front of the view over the lake.

A few days later we had a dinner with my high school class mates. Every year we try to gather the class and this year we were 8 (with Ann).

For New Years we made a little trip where we first went a day to Aalborg where I used to study. We stayed over night with Peter my old neighbor and his family and had a great time with them. It was a year since I visited them last so I hadnt met the cute Oscar before.

The next day we went for brunch with Tomas, a buddy from university and then met some of the girls I worked with in ESN for a coffee.

Then we headed back south and ended in Skjoldelev where we celebrated New Years with my good friend Christian and his wife Louise. The live by the village square so we could see all the fireworks just outside. A really cozy night.

My parents gave me an early birthday gift and threw a party for me inviting the extended family. So January the 3rd we had the house full of people many of them I hadnt seen in a long time so it was really nice to see them before I took off again.

On the last day we had coffee with the neighbors and then it started to snow. We took a walk in the first snow of this trip and went to feed the ducks in a nearby pond. It was hilarious to see ducks try to walk on the ice

The next day Ann went back to London and I went back to Prague.

This was probably the best Christmas Ive had as an adult thanks to all the friends and family and, of course, Ann.

My name is Ann Fenech and I am a PhD student at University College London (UCL) within the Centre for Sustainable Heritage, where my work will involve a study of the lifetime of colour photographs.

Colour photos have been around for almost 100 years but we still dont know much about the ongoing degradation processes. This is what I aim to study. However, for this study to be possible, I need as many different colour photographs as I can find on which I can run the required tests.

This is where you can be of help: I would be very grateful if you could look through your photographs and see if you have any that you do not want to keep. My focus is on the chemical composition so the image in the photo is not important to me.

If you happen to have any pictures please contact me and I will figure out a way to get them to me. I will be happy to reimburse you for the costs of posting the photographs.

Kindest Regards

Ann Fenech
Centre for Sustainable Heritage
The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, UCL
1-19 Torrington Place, Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT

Im sure good karma will go to those who help