Travel Archives - Georgia Rose Books

The post #Gozo 2017 – Day 9 – Fish and Final Days appeared first on Georgia Rose Books.

#Gozo 2017 – Day 8 – Disappearing window and charcoaled remains…

Georgia Rose — Sun, 20 Aug 2017 14:32:07 +0000

We headed over to the other side of the island today, to visit two of our favourite places.

Xslendi: where I snorkelled, bought dresses and ate ice cream. Xslendi is a lovely small town in a bay, we feel very much at home there. It has great places to eat and shops selling summery dresses and loads of knitwear. I just need to come at the right time of year to try some of that on as I really can’t face it in the heat. Knitting is obviously a big thing on the island as I’ve seen it in several places.

Dwejra: where the Azure Window (what the Gozitans call Tieqa Zerqa) once was. Sadly, earlier this year it collapsed into the sea after a storm. The natural arch, eroded over millennia by wind and water had supposedly got firm and solid sides but the top was an increasingly thin and fragile layer of fossilized sea creatures and was best not walked on. The authorities thought it would last another six years or so. Unfortunately, not.

How it once was…

As it was, it was the pillar that collapsed, taking the rest of it down too. However, whenever we have visited before there have always been people standing on the top of it, despite warning signs up telling them not too, and it is a miracle that it collapsed early in the day before any sightseers had clambered up that far. I picked up a couple of postcards this year that show just how rough the seas could be around there – difficult to believe in the summer.

Nearby is a 20m high outcrop called Fungus Rock. This acquired its name because of the rock’s fungus like vegetation. The plant is known as the Maltese sponge and was believed to be a natural blood clotting medicine as well as a supposed remedy for dysentery. The Knights of Malta outlawed its collection except for their own use. A guard tower was built and they devised a primitive rope and pulley system to access the rock. Subsequent research showed this to be a futile endeavour when it proved the fungus possessed no medicinal qualities.

An Inland Sea has also been created here. A land-locked sea-water pool with a natural tunnel in the rock through which short boat trips can be taken.

In light of the disappearance of the Azure Window we wondered what we’d find when we visited this year as a small gathering of market stalls would set up each day to capture the attention of the increased density of tourists.

Where the Window no longer is…

We need not have worried – the place was still busy with many people apparently coming to see where the Window wasn’t…

We had lunch at the lovely restaurant, overlooking the Inland Sea and got back to our villa late afternoon.

We ate in this evening, which has begun to suit me more as I don’t have to get dressed up. Which makes it sound like I normally do – ha! But you know what I mean – going out means having to put a bra on, and possibly something less comfortable than I’d prefer, particularly when I might have put on an additional pound or three over the last week…ahem… it also might mean to some, make up, but to be honest I’ve given up on anything more than a lick of mascara.

This was the evening I cremated the ribs. I don’t just mean they were a little singed, no, no, no – one side had actually become charcoal. However, never to be deterred by a cooking setback I chipped away at the blacked section and attempted to pass off the rest as something yummy for dinner – haha!

I finished the second book in The Eyre Hall Trilogy, Twelfth Night at Eyre Hall by Luccia Gray and you can read my review by clicking on the title or book cover.

List of goals for the week:

Blurb and back matter to write – totally my most important task!

No. of books to read – 12 (okay so I am being ridiculously ambitious here but these are what I have on my seriously-I-have-to-get-to-these-right-now list!)

No. of book reviews to write – 12 (hahaha! Although it does stand to reason)

No of blog posts to write up for lead up to publishing – 14 (based on the list of ideas I’ve had, though not all may make the final cut!)

Keep a diary each day so I can do a series of posts on my return.

Interviews to plan questions for – 5

Clearing emails out of Inbox – no. at start of holiday – 4967!

Day 1 – Day 2 – Day 3 – Day 4 – Day 5 – Day 6 – Day 7

Thanks for reading

Georgia x

My posts from 2015!

The post #Gozo 2017 – Day 8 – Disappearing window and charcoaled remains… appeared first on Georgia Rose Books.

#Gozo 2017 – Day 7 – Flowers and Favourites! :-D

Georgia Rose — Sun, 13 Aug 2017 13:46:24 +0000

Usually we would be getting ready to go home right about now so I am really appreciating the extra couple of days.

It’s hot and sunny again today although a strong wind started up around lunchtime. We went to one of my favourite bays this morning, Dahlet Qorrot, which we get to via Nadur. Usually we call this the City of Flags as huge flags fly from every other roof top but this year there are many empty flagpoles which might be due to the high winds.

Dahlet Qorrot is accessed down probably the most verdant valley on the island.

It is a quiet bay with a small area of beach.

I was just getting in to have a snorkel when I was unnerved by a woman telling me there was a jelly fish a little way out. Concerned, because I rarely find they travel alone, I kept a good look out but went in anyway. After all I don’t believe chubby middle aged women are their food goal, though I don’t exactly know what is – small plankton and the like I would imagine. However, I still don’t fancy getting stung by one, I mean, you don’t do you? So I kept peering around for it them (as best as I could with my compromised eyesight) which rather hampered my usual relaxed fish watching but I never saw a thing. In fact, this year I didn’t see one jelly fish during the whole holiday – yay! 😀

The flowers here are beautiful – stunning, vibrant colours that bake in the sun.. I don’t know the names of the plants (other than the bougainvillea) but here are a selection of those around our villa.

I didn’t manage to finish another book today but I’m reading Twelfth Night at Eyre Hall by Luccia Gray and the review will be following on for that one.

List of goals for the week:

Blurb and back matter to write – totally my most important task!

No. of books to read – 12 (okay so I am being ridiculously ambitious here but these are what I have on my seriously-I-have-to-get-to-these-right-now list!)

No. of book reviews to write – 12 (hahaha! Although it does stand to reason)

No of blog posts to write up for lead up to publishing – 14 (based on the list of ideas I’ve had, though not all may make the final cut!)

Keep a diary each day so I can do a series of posts on my return.

Interviews to plan questions for – 5

Clearing emails out of Inbox – no. at start of holiday – 4967!

Day 1 – Day 2 – Day 3 – Day 4 – Day 5 – Day 6

Thanks for reading

Georgia x

My posts from 2015!

The post #Gozo 2017 – Day 7 – Flowers and Favourites! :-D appeared first on Georgia Rose Books.

#Gozo 2017 – Day 6 – Really? Already! Snorkelling and Salt Pans

Georgia Rose — Sun, 06 Aug 2017 11:09:53 +0000

My favourite arable crop is barley. In a breeze it ripples and undulates like the sea, changing colour and texture as it does so. Random? Perhaps, but bear with me.

We travelled to the Marsalforn coast today wanting to go to Obajjar Bay where last time, even though the seas were a little lumpy it was calm enough for a snorkel. We’d woken to an unbroken blue sky so were hopeful the weather had calmed down.

Sure enough it was safe enough for a snorkel and in Obajjar more than anywhere else I swim there are huge swathes of some sort of sea grass – I don’t know it’s official name but each strand is about a foot long and roughly the width of a pencil. I love watching it as in the current it swishes and sways, just like the barley crop up on dry land.

I saw masses of fish and one particularly big shoal of about forty blue and yellow stripped large fish feeding from the sea grass as they hovered over it.

We moved onto Xwejni Bay and I went in again following three scuba divers this time. I really should try that out at some point. I’d love to see something more exciting than fish one of these days, not that they aren’t lovely, of course. I’m keeping my eyes peeled for an octopus but I am a little hampered by my poor eyesight. I’m long sighted so losing my glasses when I put my mask on means deficiencies in what I can see. I never really notice it under water and to be honest at least it does help me not spot potential UST’s!

UST = Unidentified Scary Thing!

In my ideal world I’d like to see something really big, though I’d prefer one of these…

To one of these…

Eek!! I know turtles are in the Mediterranean (as are sharks – 47 species of them, I’ve just found out! Yikes!) so perhaps one day.

There are salt pans in Xwejni and today a man is filling them with sea water. Families still farm the salt from these pans and sell it locally.

The afternoon was spent reading, swimming and writing, though not all at the same time. I have brought many things along with me that I intended on keeping on top of this break, particularly with a new release on the way, but so far not much progress has been made on any of it.

The blurb is the most important thing to do and Simon Emery, my wonderful cover designer is waiting for it so I do intend on making a start on that, just as soon as I’ve freshened up for the evening, eaten, and had a glass, or two. Only to relax the writing muscles you understand 😉

I read another book today, Brenda Perlin’s Burnt Promises, and you can read my review by clicking on the title 🙂

List of goals for the week:

Blurb and back matter to write – totally my most important task!

No. of books to read – 12 (okay so I am being ridiculously ambitious here but these are what I have on my seriously-I-have-to-get-to-these-right-now list!)

No. of book reviews to write – 12 (hahaha! Although it does stand to reason)

No of blog posts to write up for lead up to publishing – 14 (based on the list of ideas I’ve had, though not all may make the final cut!)

Keep a diary each day so I can do a series of posts on my return.

Interviews to plan questions for – 5

Clearing emails out of Inbox – no. at start of holiday – 4967!

Day 1 – Day 2 – Day 3 – Day 4 – Day 5

Thanks for reading

Georgia x

My posts from 2015!

The post #Gozo 2017 – Day 6 – Really? Already! Snorkelling and Salt Pans appeared first on Georgia Rose Books.

#Gozo 2017 – Day 5 – Beaches and Books

Georgia Rose — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 11:22:07 +0000

We headed out to San Blas beach today. We first went there two years ago but gave it a miss last year as it is challenging to get to, or more importantly, back from.

We left the car at the top of the hill although there is a small car park part of the way down the hill. But the walk between those two points is the easy bit.

There is however an incredibly steep road to get down from thereon – I doubt our car would have had enough grunt to make it back up after our visit anyway!

The views are wonderful and on the walk down you can see across the valley to where the land has been stepped to provide growing areas.

The last time we made the trip we were greeted at the bottom by a small bay of dark golden sand and there was a fair stretch of it until you got to the sea. This time the waves were crashing right over where the sand had been. I don’t know if that was purely due to the weather conditions or if the sand at that part really has been washed away. There was a larger expanse a bit further along but we stuck to the rocks and as there was no chance of a snorkel I made do with just standing in the waves for a bit.

I was glad I hadn’t gone fully in after seeing one poor woman who, when trying to get out, lost all her dignity when she was picked up by the next wave and unceremoniously hurled up the beach. There were far too many rocks around where I was standing from that not to have hurt.

It was very peaceful and quiet and we spent a bit of time there then had to tackle the return journey. Lifts are offered, at a price, and while tempted we thought a bit of exercise wouldn’t do us any harm. So we set off. It was just gone midday, it was hot and it was bloody steep. I mean seriously steep. I do exercise in the form of a workout at home but that was no preparation for this and my Cambridgeshire legs struggled. My iron calves screamed with the strain while my heart and lungs had a full work out as I gasped for air and I’ve never been more thankful to reach the air conditioned interior of the car before.

After a little recovery time lunch was the usual large rolls filled with ham and cheese, onion, peppers and tomato, with crisps, fruit and, of course, Cisk.

After the mornings exertions I needed a lie down. I was meant to be tackling the nearly 5,000 emails I have in my inbox on this trip but I haven’t started that yet. What I did start however was my next book. First things first!

(I should clarify, by that I mean reading rather than writing, my next book)

I chose an excellent one today. It was Book 4 in the urban fantasy Null City series, Round Trip Fare by Barb Taub. You can read my review by clicking on the title 🙂

List of goals for the week:

Blurb and back matter to write – totally my most important task!

No. of books to read – 12 (okay so I am being ridiculously ambitious here but these are what I have on my seriously-I-have-to-get-to-these-right-now list!)

No. of book reviews to write – 12 (hahaha! Although it does stand to reason)

No of blog posts to write up for lead up to publishing – 14 (based on the list of ideas I’ve had, though not all may make the final cut!)

Keep a diary each day so I can do a series of posts on my return.

Interviews to plan questions for – 5

Clearing emails out of Inbox – no. at start of holiday – 4967!

Day 1 – Day 2 – Day 3 – Day 4

Thanks for reading

Georgia x

My posts from 2015!

The post #Gozo 2017 – Day 5 – Beaches and Books appeared first on Georgia Rose Books.

#Gozo 2017 – Day 4 – Winds and Waves #Comino

Georgia Rose — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 10:33:21 +0000

With both of us being self-employed we have one week’s holiday a year and as you can imagine by the time we get to that precious week we are exhausted. This is my excuse for the fact that today we didn’t do much. It took a while to get going and even then we only made it to the shop for more provisions having decided to eat in as even going out for dinner felt like too much effort.

Hondoq Bay

We did take a trip down to Hondoq Bay which as well as being one of our favourites it’s also very close to where we are staying. However, although it’s warm the sky is cloudy and the winds high. When we got down there the waves were crashing up against the rocks and although I love to snorkel here I didn’t want to be joining them so had to give that a miss.

We tend to go and sit on the rocks further along the bay rather than on the beach and from there we can look across to Comino, and the Blue Lagoon.

Blue Lagoon

Comino

As is the way of lovely things the Blue Lagoon on Comino has become very popular with the tourists and therefore commercialised. Apparently the prices are exorbitant. I wouldn’t know, I haven’t been there. I found this short video from one of its only four remaining permanent residents in which Salvu Ta’ Kemmuna speaks nostalgically of a time when he and his family could swim there totally alone. This was filmed a year ago. Sadly The Times of Malta reported in May this year that Maria Said, aged 90, had died, making the total population of Comino only three.

I spent much of the afternoon in the pool, alternating that with sunbathing and reading. Happy days!

I’m sitting writing these notes at about seven in the evening. The sun is now out, I’m on the balcony with a glass of wine and contemplating steak and salad for dinner – yum!

I read two books today – bliss – one a short story collection, And I Don’t Even Have An Uncle In Australia by Noel K Fletcher, and a wonderful murder mystery by Noelle Granger, Death in a Red Canvas Chair. You can read my reviews by clicking on the titles 🙂

List of goals for the week:

Blurb and back matter to write – totally my most important task!

No. of books to read – 12 (okay so I am being ridiculously ambitious here but these are what I have on my seriously-I-have-to-get-to-these-right-now list!)

No. of book reviews to write – 12 (hahaha! Although it does stand to reason)

No of blog posts to write up for lead up to publishing – 14 (based on the list of ideas I’ve had, though not all may make the final cut!)

Keep a diary each day so I can do a series of posts on my return.

Interviews to plan questions for – 5

Clearing emails out of Inbox – no. at start of holiday – 4967!

Day 1 – Day 2 – Day 3

Thanks for reading

Georgia x

My posts from 2015!

The post #Gozo 2017 – Day 4 – Winds and Waves #Comino appeared first on Georgia Rose Books.

#Gozo 2017 – Day 3 – Moving on and Motors

Georgia Rose — Sun, 16 Jul 2017 10:38:33 +0000

It was time to leave our cossetted life at the hotel. I fitted in fifty lengths before a breakfast that I took full advantage of. Well it would be silly not too! Our car was delivered and as we couldn’t get into our next place until early afternoon we headed off to get some supplies for the week.

With our car weighed down with alcohol refreshing beverages, crisps and snacks healthy fruit and other assorted groceries we arrived at our villa in Qala. After unloading our goodies in the full heat of the day a rejuvenating Cisk and nap took care of the afternoon.

The place we are staying in is magnificent! There is a terrific pool and the views are stunning. We can see right across to Comino and Malta and we are out in the countryside. There is a field next door with small straw bales littered across it following the harvest.

At the bottom of the garden are orange trees and one lemon tree laden with fruit and we are told we can help ourselves.

We sunbath by the pool once the heat has gone out of the day. Then later wander into the village to eat and, exhausted by having done very little, we retire early.

There is one thing that I have never managed to grasp on Gozo and that is the language. To my shame I can’t even say please and thank you and I’ve always managed at least that in any other country I’ve been in before.

Here Maltese and English are the official languages. Italian is widely spoken, German to a lesser extent. The Arab influence shows itself in the language, Maltese, 70 per cent of which is Arabic in origin.

As I was passing through the airport I picked up what I thought would be a handy little booklet of the Top 10 Maltese Phrases. Hurrah I thought! It turned out none of these were please or thank you.

I’ve put some examples below and this is the problem I have. Because of the Arabic influence I don’t really know where to start with the pronunciation.

What’s the Wifi password?

Let’s take a selfie!

Where can I charge my phone?

All efforts to ‘have a go’ at the language are dismissed here anyway as English is so common but I must do better:

Please = jekk jogħġbok (not sure how to tackle that!)

Thank you = Grazzi (okay, so that one is embarrassingly simple… I am hanging my head in shame and just need to remember it for next time)

I have now got into my holiday reading and the second book, and review, I have for you is all about cats! Feline Cognition – Scientific evidence of cat intelligence and ways to test it at home by Carla Eatherington. This is a fascinating read and I don’t even have a cat! You can read my review right here.

List of goals for the week:

Blurb and back matter to write – totally my most important task!

No. of books to read – 12 (okay so I am being ridiculously ambitious here but these are what I have on my seriously-I-have-to-get-to-these-right-now list!)

No. of book reviews to write – 12 (hahaha! Although it does stand to reason)

No of blog posts to write up for lead up to publishing – 14 (based on the list of ideas I’ve had, though not all may make the final cut!)

Keep a diary each day so I can do a series of posts on my return.

Interviews to plan questions for – 5

Clearing emails out of Inbox – no. at start of holiday – 4967!

If you missed Day 1 and want to catch up, you can by clicking on this link here! And Day 2 is right here. 😀

Thanks for reading

Georgia x

My posts from 2015!

The post #Gozo 2017 – Day 3 – Moving on and Motors appeared first on Georgia Rose Books.

#Gozo 2017 – Day 2 – Buses and Battery! @GrandHotelGozo

Georgia Rose — Sun, 09 Jul 2017 15:59:41 +0000

As we are staying at the Grand Hotel in the port town of Mgarr, don’t have to make any effort and for the time being are without a car we have decided to take a trip across to Malta and travel onto Valletta, by bus.

In hindsight, perhaps this trip wasn’t planned as well as it should have been as by the time we’d made the crossing and caught the bus to Valletta, some two hours away, it was more or less lunchtime. However I should add that the buses here are fabulous. They are clean, air-conditioned and there are loads of them. The fares are very reasonable too.

Unfortunately it also wasn’t until we were about to board the bus and my BH asked after the guidebook we’d been kindly leant for this trip that I remembered I’d left it in my suitcase. I’d also done zero research on places-you-must-see in Valletta so we were approaching this all rather blind.

Valletta is Malta’s capital city and, as I found out later from the guidebook, ‘has a visual splendour out of all proportion to its tiny size. It is just one kilometre long and a little over half that in width.’

The city has a rather forbidding fortress-like exterior and the reason is simple. Valletta was built as a fortress by the Knights of Malta to permanently minimise the threat of a Turkish attack. The Knights chose a rocky peninsula in the north of the island as the site that would fulfil this military function.

Although constrained by our lack of any planning and the fact I left the guidebook behind we did know we wanted to see the port and gun battery (see photos above – a gun is still fired every day at 4 pm) and swiftly learned that we actually needed far more time than we had available to us.

Lunch took a while but then we visited the War Rooms some 50 m underground. Fascinating stuff. It was truly amazing to see how information was gathered and disseminated back in those days.

Rather exhausted with all this activity on the first full day of our holiday we made our return journey and were very thankful when we were eventually back on the ferry and heading for quieter Gozo.

There are plans to join Malta and Gozo using a tunnel. I know I have no right to an opinion but that’s never stopped me from giving one before so I shall say right here that I don’t like the idea. Gozo is a gem that takes a little effort to get to so why would you want to spoil that with cars able to cross to it so easily? Its separation is what makes it so special, for us anyway. And sadly I can only see that should such a tunnel be built Gozo will lose all that makes it special.

On Friday evenings throughout summer the rooftop terrace restaurant is open at the Grand Hotel and we booked in for that not knowing what we would be happening up there. As it turned out, it was fabulous!

They called it a barbecue but it was far more than that. Buffet style there was an array of twelve or more salads to choose from followed by a couple of pasta dishes. Then came the meats – steak cooked to order, swordfish, spicy chicken, pork, sausages, corn on the cob, jacket potatoes. Before finally moving (or more like staggering) onto dessert – bowls of fruit, melon, strawberries and six different types of gateaux. I restrained myself by only taking the last piece of chocolate cake and…ahem… a mere slither of red velvet – yummy!

Couple all of this with wonderful views, the sounds of cannons and fireworks from a nearby festival (see Day 5 of my 2015 posts for further details) and it was a great evening – what more could you want?

We happily retired soon after to our bed like contented little (not so little!) piglets.

At some point since our arrival though I have been feasted on by mosquitos which is unusual as they don’t generally find me tasty but I am now sporting some sizeable bites which are a constant reminder to use the repellent!

I have also now got into my holiday reading and the first book, and review, I have for you is a psychological mystery, The Devil You Know by Terry Tyler. You can read my review right here.

List of goals for the week:

Blurb and back matter to write – totally my most important task!

No. of books to read – 12 (okay, so I am being ridiculously ambitious here but these are what I have on my seriously-I-have-to-get-to-these-right-now list!)

No. of book reviews to write – 12 (hahaha! Although it does stand to reason)

No of blog posts to write up for lead up to publishing – 14 (based on the list of ideas I’ve had, though not all may make the final cut!)

Keep a diary each day so I can do a series of posts on my return.

Interviews to plan questions for – 5

Clearing emails out of Inbox – no. at start of holiday – 4967!

If you missed Day 1 and want to catch up you can by clicking on this link right here!

Thanks for reading

Georgia x

My posts from 2015!

The post #Gozo 2017 – Day 2 – Buses and Battery! @GrandHotelGozo appeared first on Georgia Rose Books.

#Gozo 2017 – Day 1 – Early Starts and Upgrades! @maltachoice @GrandHotelGozo

Georgia Rose — Sun, 02 Jul 2017 10:00:51 +0000

Fully organised by the wonderful Malta Choice, yet again (they make my life so easy!), I have just returned from a perfect week (and a bit!) away in Gozo with my better half. I roughly kept a diary, admittedly it did peter out as the holiday progressed, but I thought I’d follow on from the posts I did two years ago, the links for which are at the bottom of this post for anyone who wants to look back. So here we go!

The saving grace of the two am start is that we get to our destination in perfect time for a reviving Cisk, or two.

I have returned to Gozo again and it is like coming home. As always the travelling and waiting around provided plentiful opportunity for one of my favourite things, people watching. I was particularly fascinated by all those making merry at the bar at a time of the morning when all I can stomach is tea.

Pretty laid back when travelling I always relax further and feel I’m truly on holiday when I get on the ferry from Malta to Gozo. This time that relaxation is further assisted by a Cisk lager, brewed in Malta. I don’t usually drink lager, but there’s something about the sun which suddenly makes it as appealing as nectar is to bees.

We had an entertaining transfer from the airport. Our driver being all over the politics of Britain and full of questions as to what we thought was going to happen to Theresa May as well as the sorry outcome of Brexit. The Maltese, and Gozitans, are keen supporters of all things British and have clearly found the result of the referendum baffling. They are not the only ones.

There is always plenty to see on the drive and the hills are covered with flowering purple clumps of thyme. The heat releasing the aroma from the herb until the air is pregnant with it and I inhale the scent as we drive past.

We’re extending our usual week by staying for a couple of nights at the Grand Hotel in Mgarr, which is the port town. When we arrive we go for a quick lunchtime pizza and (another) Cisk before wending our way up the, not inconsiderable, hill to the hotel where we were greeted with a very welcome chilled glass of fruit juice.

What was even better was that we had been upgraded – yay! Thank you to whoever made that decision. 🙂 This has only happened once before, when I was away celebrating a significant birthday so it’s clearly a perk of getting older – and I love it! We have a wonderfully large suite with a view over the port and it is all very swish. There are comfortable sun loungers on the balcony, a mini bar (very tempting!) and luxurious robes, all of which is delightful and I decide I shall be right at home here.

I am having a few weight issues at the moment (oh who am I kidding, it’s been particularly bad for a couple of years – definitely not a perk of age!) so while still intending on enjoying myself I don’t want to have piled yet more on by the time I return (oh how I laugh as I type this up now I’m back home!) so I take the opportunity and do fifty lengths of the pool, which is on the fourth floor. (Just imagine how bad things would be if I hadn’t done that ;-))

Strangely I haven’t had a nap yet which probably means I shall fall asleep with the first sip of wine over dinner. I’m certainly in need of a decent night’s sleep.

We wander back down the hill to eat overlooking the harbour later and I’m sure the walk back will have offset any ingested calories that may have been consumed… ahem.

As we are at the port already we are off to do something we’ve never done before tomorrow… watch this space!

My reading choices and reviews for the week will be included in further instalments.

Thanks for reading

Georgia x