Posts Tagged ‘pictures’

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Beautiful Malta

In Trips in Malta on February 23, 2010 by Michael Tagged: ,

While London is cold, grey and dreary these days Malta is pretty warm so I decide to post a few pictures.

Malta is very photogenic and very different from my usual habitats so there is lots to “shoot” at. Especially for the Christmas trip where I had a new camera and was spending 16 days. Here is a couple of my favorite pictures and themes from this trip and others to Malta.

Red cat and wallMalta has many cats – some are pets others just roam around.

Balconies in VallettaTypical Maltese balconies can be seen everywhere.

Classical Maltese door and balconyThe decorative doors and windows begs to be admired whether they are falling apart or had a new lick of paint.

Beautiful wall statue in VallettaOld, rustic street decorations as niches, statues and signs can be found on a lot of buildings.

Big panorama from Hastings Garden, VallettaMtahleb Valley panorama2009-04-12 Risen Christ 028Beautiful panoramic views of the sun, sea and the sandstone of Malta.

And a couple of the quirky and cute ones;

Shepherd walking with his sheepShepherd and his sheep

Green Toes - garden shop in ZurrieqGreen toes!!

Japanese truckJapanese truck

Privte PropeirtyPrivte Propeirty

Last but not least I need to mention that I won two nights stay and the luxury hotel Kempinski in Gozo! They had a competition where you should write a blog post about Gozo and then the winner was found in a draw. If you are interested you can go read my piece here: Going to Gozo – A vacation within a vacation.

Cruising on the Mediterranean

…and now it started to snow – again – in London [sigh].

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Weekend in Lisbon

In Trips in Europe on June 10, 2008 by Michael Tagged: , , , , , ,

A week ago (before the Euro08) Femi, Mehmet and me took an extended weekend in Lisbon. We didnt really know much about the city before we arrived but we were very pleasantly surprised.

The atmosphere was really nice and everybody seemed like they took it very laid back. We followed suit and took it easy the days we were there. The picture at the top is from Praa do Comrcio (Commerce Square) where they had put up a maybe a hundred plastic trees decorated by school classes. On the picture Mehmet is taking a nap in the forest. Behind him you can see the Arch linking the Commerce Square and Augusta Street. After the nap Mehmet was up again.

Mehmet's jump

All over the city they had these violet trees which we thought were lavender (but please correct us if you can). Here its in Alfama the area with winding roads leading up to the citys castle.

Violet tree in Alfama

Many of the houses had tiles on the facades and it was impressive to see all the different colors and patterns they have come up with. A lot of the tiles even seemed quite old and hand made.

Tiles on the facade

We stayed at a hostel in the part of the city called Bairro Alto which a quite, sleepy neighbourhood during the day and turn into a block party at night with hordes of people at night.

Walking around Baixa
Crowds in Baixa

It was a quick trip but Lisbon is definitely worth the recommendation. After I got back I found this pretty cool pieces:

Lisbon has no idea how cool it is. The city lives in the shadow of Europes superstar capitals, unaware of its own modern charms.
New York Times

Us at the castle

A bunch more Lisbon pictures at Flickr

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Spring Sensation

In Trips in Malta on April 23, 2008 by Michael Tagged: , , , , , ,


I left Prague in snow and flew the next morning from Bremen on a freezing, misty morning.

Misty take-off

And arrived at Malta a few hours later. Heres the tiny Maltese island of Comino as it looked on the approach. Wikipedia claims there are only four permanent residents but there is also a 100 room hotel and the Blue Lagoon so in summer time its a bit more crowded.

Comino from the air

The weather was cloudy and we had some scattered rain – but I didnt care, Ann was there to greet me :)

Us

Last time I was in Malta I only had 4 days there and everything was new and different. This time around I knew what to expect and I was there for a week which gave me a better chance to take it all in.

In the meantime I also had a chance to learn more on Malta, the history and follow a few of the local bloggers to get a grasp of what Malta is all about. A couple of my favorites are the politician and economist who tracks everything Malta online, the Salvadorian who married a Maltese, the Peruvian, the newlywed, the German in Gozo and the pregnant Danish couple.

Here is a map of some of the places we covered this time round. (click on the blue pins)


View Malta March 2008 in a larger map

Off to Gozo

Malta is really seven islands were only the three biggest, Malta Island, Gozo and Comino are inhabited. Comino is the small island I flew over in the beginning. Malta Island is the big, main island and Gozo is the little brother to the northwest – this was where we were heading.

Mellieha Church

Before we crossed over we made a stop in Mellieha where one set of Anns grandparents is from. Next to the parish church on the picture was a small sanctuary with lots of letters, photos, crutches, casts and other items sent from people who thanked Our Lady for all sorts of miracles.

I later realized that Mellieha also is the place of The Danish Village a resort own by the Danish Folkeferie.dk.



As we were crossing over the strait to get to Gozo the weather had turned for the worse so the sea was a bit rough. Here we are approaching Marr the only habour on Gozo. One of Anns aunts have an apartment on the island and was kind enough to lend it to us.

Rough sea on the way to Gozo

The next day the weather was great and we went out to explore the beautiful island of Gozo. The first picture below is the view from Gozos Citadella in the middle of the island.

Gozo view from the citadel
Podarcis Filfolensis Lizard
Ramla Bay

Gozo is greener, more rural and calmer than the main island of Malta,
its the place where people from Malta go for a weekend breaks and I
can understand why;

Imagine yourself on the most tranquil, isolated, sunshine-filled island. You have no worries. You feel at peace with your
surroundings and time seems to slow down. Well, this isnt an imaginary
place, this island is Gozo, also known as the island of Calypso. A calm, clear, deep blue water surrounds the island. This relatively unknown island may be small but it is rich in culture, history and beauty.