In Search of Nirvana

Into 2012

2012-01-03T11:06:00.001+01:00

Into 2012 - Part1

My first post since June, I have clearly been slacking lately, so I thought a review of 2011 along with comparisons with the UK. (I know Malta is not the UK but you need a reference point for the benefit of my UK readers) Celebrate the differences.

The positives first.

I continue to meet new friends of all nationalities through work and social occasions more Brits and Maltese of course but also Canadian, French, Italian, Bulgarian, USA, Australian, Chinese. They say travel broadens the mind and this is true here on the Maltese islands. I seem to meet more new people here than I ever did in the UK.
I continue to enjoy the sunny climate, this was confirmed by our recent 10 day trip back to the UK for a great Christmas with the family and the fact that I sat outside in the sunshine for my morning coffee in Victoria on our return to Gozo..... in January! ooh that British weather, I don't miss it a bit.
My business is ticking over nicely for which I am grateful in this current depressing climate that is hitting Europe and the rest of the world at the moment. Not sure the situation would be any different in the UK.
Toastmasters Malta is as popular as ever and membership continues to grow as the word spreads, we now meet in the 5* Hilton Hotel in Malta on the second Tuesday of each month. I am still astounded that I was able to start Toastmasters here in Malta, I would not have attempted it in the UK simply because clubs already exist.
The slow pace of life here in Gozo is as attractive as ever. Even when we return to London for a short period of time you still feel the (London) stress, every one seems to be cramming more and more into there life as if somehow more is better.
I have not heard of any murders, assaults, robberies, stabbings or muggings here in Gozo at all in 2011, a few in Malta. When I switch on Sky News I hear a selection of the above on almost a daily basis in relation to the UK.

"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why". Eddie Cantor.

2011-06-12T06:15:00.000+02:00

€10,000 Cash Reward.

Find me a buyer for this fully restored Gozo Farmhouse with pool and collect your reward in cash.

Do you know anyone that may be interested in this Farmhouse? If you do you could collect €10,000 in cash for introducing me to the buyer. Money will be paid on completion of the purchase. (See terms and conditions).

"The reward for conformity was that everyone liked you except yourself".

2011-06-01T10:47:00.000+02:00

Gozo Farmhouse with swimming pool for sale.

So far I have covered the ground floor and outside areas of the house in my new blog. I will soon be adding the 1st floor details. Check it out http://oldgozofarmhouse.blogspot.com/

2011-05-08T08:18:00.000+02:00

Old Gozo Farmhouse for sale.

This new blog is for anyone interested in the old farmhouses of Gozo, of course my primary aim is to enable people that may be interested in purchasing the farmhouse to gain a great deal more detail than our local property agents are able to offer, an in depth detailed sales pitch.
The property is for sale directly from the seller - me, this is the way to gain the best price.
Understandably many foreign buyers may want the guidance of a local property agent, for those people I have provided a link to one of the best local agents. Property agents in Malta and Gozo charge the seller high rates of commission, this is always reflected in the final price.

Each post will cover in detail a different room or area of the house, over time building a full and complete description. I hope you find the blog interesting and please feel free to leave any feedback you wish. I will reply to all communications as promptly as I possibly can.
You can view Old Gozo Farmhouse blog here

"Use your imagination not to scare yourself to death but to inspire yourself to life. "
Adele Brookman

2010-08-16T16:04:00.004+02:00

The First Toastmasters Club of Malta.

The First Toastmasters Club of Malta is now underway, we have now had three meetings our membership is growing ever greater with each meeting and we have had inquiries from more than 100 people.
My fears when I created this monster was that there may not be enough interest and that trying to set it up would be a bit of a long shot, clearly I was wrong.
Our meeting place to date has been the boardroom of Sara Grech Real Estate Agents one of the largest property agents on the Maltese Islands, Sara is one of our most active members and we take advantage of her hospitality for no charge whatsoever, thank you Sara.

Our membership has now got to the stage where we are going to require a larger meeting room since we appear to have outgrown this one in only three months, so we are now in the process of looking for an alternative venue.

Let's tell you a bit more about Toastmasters,

A Toastmasters meeting is a learn-by-doing workshop in which participants hone their speaking and leadership skills in a friendly atmosphere. A typical group has 20 to 40 members Malta Toastmasters meet monthly to practice public speaking techniques. The average meeting lasts one hour.

Members learn communication skills by working in the Competent Communication manual, a series of 10 self-paced speaking assignments designed to instill a basic foundation in public speaking. Participants learn skills related to use of humor, gestures, eye contact, speech organization and overall delivery. When finished with this manual, members can choose from 15 advanced manuals to learn skills related to specific interests.

Members also learn leadership skills by taking on various meeting roles and serving as officers at the club and by working in the Competent Leadership manual and the High Performance Leadership program. In our learn-by-doing approach, we don't lecture our members about leadership skills; we give them responsibilities and ask them to lead.

There is no instructor in a Toastmasters meeting. Instead, members evaluate one another’s presentations. This feedback process is a key part of the program’s success. Meeting participants also give impromptu talks on assigned topics, conduct meetings, serve as officers in various leadership roles and learn rules related to timing, grammar and parliamentary procedure.

If you would like to join us or just come to a meeting to see how things work you can contact me as the Club President through this blog or you will find our Toastmasters Group page at LinkedIn and you can contact the club this way.

"Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don't know and I don't care." William Safire.

2010-05-05T11:37:00.004+02:00

Toastmasters International in Malta.

There is nothing like pushing the boundaries the business is progressing steadily and as if I do not have enough to do I am starting the first branch of Toastmasters International in Malta.

So what is Toastmasters International? let Toastmasters explain -
"From a humble beginning in 1924 at the YMCA in Santa Ana, California, Toastmasters International has grown to become a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The nonprofit organization now has nearly 250,000 members in more than 12,500 clubs in 106 countries, offering a proven – and enjoyable! – way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills. Most Toastmasters meetings are comprised of approximately 20 people who meet weekly for an hour or two. Participants practice and learn skills by filling a meeting role, ranging from giving a prepared speech or an impromptu one to serving as timer, evaluator or grammarian. There is no instructor; instead, each speech and meeting is critiqued by a member in a positive manner, focusing on what was done right and what could be improved".

We need 20 members to get Toastmasters Malta off the ground, it is open to all ages from students to senior citizens.

Anyone interested please contact me here or leave a comment and I will get back to you.

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." Ralph Waldo Emerson.

2010-03-18T07:28:00.003+01:00

More Work Equals Less Time to Blog.

More work equals less time to blog, having 2 blogs equals less time to spend on each blog. I am determined to keep the blogging up even though I am posting a lot less.

So what has been going on since my last post in January, my work load is steadily increasing although I still don't have a full working week my spare time is being taken up with marketing, a totally new concept for me and quite a steep learning curve. I am favoring the direct approach, personnel visits and networking, this is effective but the people that you can actually meet personally is limited, so I am now looking at targeted emails as a marketing tool and how to deliver them professionally without them appearing as spam.

Much of my work is in Malta, I would like to try to get more work in Gozo and I am sure it will come in time, must be patient. I must admit the regular commute to Malta via the Gozo ferry has taken me right back to the UK, reminding me of my commutes into London every day, still got the traffic, but the benefit of spectacular sea views.

Last night we attended the first BBQ of the year, a combined birthday Paddy's day celebration with the booze (of course), music and large quantities of over cooked dead animal.
A great night.

'Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever'. Unknown.

2010-01-31T09:18:00.005+01:00

The Story So Far

The first new post for a long time I know, well I have been busy and my mind has been on other things, more of that later.
Christmas Week was absolutely glorious here in Gozo, the sun was shinning and it was warm around 20c most of the time even 22c on one day and all this while most of Northern Europe was covered with snow and suffering freezing temperatures.

Most of my recent efforts have been focused on getting SCH Fire Safety up and running. Me being foreign and therefore not savvy in the local ways dealing with tax, VAT etc has been as slow as a turtle with no legs, that's not to say that they haven't done a good job just zzzz slow.
Marketing and networking is not something that I have had to deal with before so that is a steep learning curve but I think I am getting there with work slowly coming in and a bucket full of promises from other areas. What is surprising is work that may be coming from the Middle East interest has come from Libya, Abu Dhabi and cash strapped Dubai, let's see what the coming months bring.

Two months in the making my new website is now up and running, business cards are being printed and I am designing a brochure as a hand out, the next stage is directly approaching the various companies that I think will be happy to use my services, that should be an interesting experience.
I am looking to refresh my teaching skills, it has been a few years since I had any formal teaching tuition so next week will be taking the CIEH (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health) Professional Trainer Certificate, I am looking forward to that.
That's it for now.

'Make a decision, even if it's wrong'. Jarvis Klem

2009-12-18T11:37:00.004+01:00

UK Trip:

We spent 12 days in the UK, a quick return to catch up with family and friends and a few business contacts. It was not a particularly relaxing time as we never spent more than a couple of nights in any one location, but enjoyable trip non the less. As we left the snow had started falling in the London area. Seems we left just in time as today most of the airports in the southeast of England have been closed. We are now safe and sound in the relative warm of our little rock, Gozo.

VAT update:

I finally have a VAT number, the hold up was that I had to send a letter to the VAT department confirming that I was happy to receive all communication with them in English (this has taken 6 weeks), before I can start sending out invoices I need an official fiscal receipt book,this has to be issued to me by the VAT department. I visited the tax office and submitted my request for this important document, 'you will be contacted when it is ready for collection' I was told, by phone or email I asked, 'we will write to you' they told me. I wished them a happy Christmas and new year and left.

The Seasons Greetings to you all.

2009-11-21T07:12:00.005+01:00

Business Frustrations in Malta.

So I am starting a business called SCH Fire Safety here in Malta & Gozo, around six months ago I visited all the government websites to dig up all the information that would assist me and ensure that I was doing everything according to local laws, well I am the new kid on the block I don't want to be on the wrong side of the law before I even get started.

Now here is my problem VAT - you see the VAT threshold is very low here in Malta and even if the size of your potential business empire does not hit the VAT threshold you still need to register your business with them as VAT exempt. I was told it would take a couple of weeks for the paperwork to be rubber stamped and be issued with a VAT number, so I thought no problem I will start marketing the business, networking and generally putting myself out there.

One month later I have heard nothing, yes I have chased them but they are still processing the two pieces of paper I sent them. I know says I, I will go and open a business bank account that needs to be done, off I go to HSBC to meet with a business services manager, I am told I can not open a business bank account without a VAT number, my frustration was quickly forgotten as that same day I got two offers for work, could I carry out a fire safety audit for two companies in Malta, I will have to get back to you, says I, as I can not operate my business without a VAT number, I can not issue invoices, I can not get insurance, I can not complete my website, I can not get stationary printed, I can not work at all.

Who would benefit, well yes I would of course but so would Malta & Gozo, I would also be generating income for the country, paying income tax and VAT (lol) as well as building a business that may offer much needed local employment in the future.
When I discuss my problem with local business people they tell me 'well this is Malta' as if that was some kind of justification. More and more often I am finding that 'well this is Malta' is used by locals to justify bad service.

I thought the application process would be simplification itself, after all it's only 2 bits of paper, and those bits of paper just have to be rubber stamped.
Why is simplification such a long word?

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't the fine line between sanity and madness gotten finer?" George Price

2009-11-01T13:06:00.006+01:00

Fine Food, Fine Wine, Fine Hotel.

I achieved the landmark that is my 52nd birthday on Halloween and by way of celebration decided to stay overnight at The Palace Hotel in Sliema, Malta.

The staff were wonderful and the room and views were great and I would highly recommend it. The main reason for going was to try the TemptAsian restaurant and lounge bar situated on the 9th floor of the hotel, with fantastic Panoramic views of the Grand Harbour, all the tables offer a great view.
The restaurant offers food from China, India Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Thailand. We decided to opt for one of the set menus, this offered a selection of starters a selection of main courses and desert for the price of just €35.00 a head, given the high standard of food this offers outstanding value for money, and no we could not finish this veritable feast and believe me when I say I can put away some food.

Now the wine I decided to drink with this meal was a favorite of mine since moving to the Islands to live, Marsovin's Marnisi 2006, not an obvious choice to complement spicy food but it worked well, a more obvious choice might have been the Cassar De Malte, (methode traditionelle) that I was pleased to see on the wine list. I often feel that a good sparkling wine complements spicy food well.

The waiter that served us did not profess to be an expert on matching food and wine and when asked by me, explained what he liked to drink with the food that was being offered and I thought that this is a great way for restaurant staff to advise customers without being at all pretentious.

We had a superb meal and superb evening, a big thank you to all the staff.

"It was on my fifth birthday that Papa put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Remember, my son, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm." Sam Levinson.

2009-10-16T11:37:00.004+02:00

Setting up a Business in Malta.

One reason for not having posted here for weeks is I have been going through the process of setting up a business here in Malta, I am sure it is no harder here than any where else in the world. If I had set up my business in the UK I would probably have gone pamphlet happy, the UK system have all information available for the purpose of setting up a business either in pamphlet / brochure form or it's available on the Internet, so professional advise would not normally be required, certainly not for a small one man band such as a self employed Fire Safety Consultant.

Here in Malta it is no more complicated, it is just that some of information is available and some not, so after spending many hours trying to find the information out myself, and failing, I employed the help of a Lawyer and an Accountant, after a one hour consultation all the forms were filled in and and in the post. So in one hour I have VAT, personal tax, work permit and company registration all sorted out. Sometimes it's worth paying for advise, and I feel it was money well spent.

I have also been doing a bit of networking, finding new friends and contacts of potential clients, with lots of positive noises being made, lets see if they turn in to firm, money paying leads.
I can not start until all the paperwork has been processed, so next on the cards are stationary, and website. As of November 1st I should be up and running.

"Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you're not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were". David Rockefeller.

2009-09-24T09:02:00.004+02:00

Storms arrive in Malta & Gozo.

I spoke to a neighbour yesterday about the important things going on in the village of Munxar, things like how busy the village has been with tourists this year when the rest of the island is complaining that fewer tourist have been arriving here since the world recession. The conversation then drifted on to the weather, (it's not just the British that talk about the weather you know) and she asked me if I had heard about the storms arriving tomorrow night? no says I.

Sure enough 12 hours later force 8 gales hit our shores here, the aftermath consisted of damaged cars, fallen trees, collapsed walls, boats breaking away from the moorings and crashing on the rocks.

Fortunately for us here in the farmhouse we suffered no more inconvenience than a puddle of water on the bedroom floor, a result of the horizontal rain finding it's way past the window, and a few broken plants in the garden. And now today is a beautiful warm day again. That reminds me I must fish those leaves out of the pool.

"Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn't start a conversation." Kin Hubbard

2009-09-14T16:21:00.002+02:00

Delicata Classic Wine festival 09

I attended the wine festival in Nadur Gozo on Sunday for the first time. I purchased my glass for €10.00 picked up the festival program that told you where to find the 24 wines that Delicata were showing. Also a string of side shows were to be found, music from a variety of local artists and a wide and varied selection of food from Chinese to local rabbit.
It is not a serious wine tasting more a festival with the main theme being wine although you are at liberty to enjoy a serious wine tasting session if you should wish to.

The best wine for me was the Gran Cavalier Syrah, almost inky black in colour, with soft red fruits on the nose, medium to long spicy, vanilla finish.

I still think that an enjoyable drink from Delicata and personal summer favorite of mine, is the Rose Frizzante Gellewza (pronounced jellowza) a Maltese variety of grape. A vivid pink colour with a pleasant stream of bubbles, strawberries without being completely dry this wine is light, simple and well made and does not pretend to be anything different. A great BBQ wine for the hot summer evenings.

So what would I do if I was running this event? I would add a formal tasting (for an additional fee of course) comparing the different vintages of some of Delicata's high end wines for the wine geeks like myself.

Looking forward to the 2010 wine festival.

Strive for excellence, not perfection. H. Jackson Brown

2009-08-13T16:36:00.002+02:00

Gozo's New Premier Restuarant.

At the end of last year a great restaurant here in Gozo closed it's doors for the last time, It-Tmun Xlendi was to be no more. A restaurant that Gill and I had frequented on many occasions over the years, and one of our favorites. This small restaurant in Xlendi Bay run by the Buttigieg family, with great food, wonderful atmosphere, and service combined, for an experience found rarely in one's lifetime. We were sad.

And then a few months later the rumours started circulating, (the rumour mill here in Gozo is just incredible.) that It-Tmun Xlendi was to be reborn in a new location and was to be called Tmun Mgarr. Last night (Wednesday) 8 months later we attended the opening party night with Friday to be the first night trading as a restaurant.

First let me set the scene, Tmun Mgarr is located in the main harbour area, a large building set back from the road facing the moored boats, we parked the car, the air was fresh with the scent of the sea, the sun was setting in a cloudless sky and the heat of the day was dissipating, it was humid with just a slight breeze. The event started at 8.00pm, the time was now 8.30pm and we thought, we will be first to arrive. We were wrong, as we turned the corner to see the new restored restaurant in front of us in all it's glory, with a terrace out front there must have been 50 people their all ready, a further hour would see numbers reach, well I would guess 150, and we thought it was our little secret.

As we arrived Leli offered us his usual warm welcome and we were offered a glass of Prosecco, we could also have had a glass of red or white wine if we had preferred. I took my glass of Prosecco and went inside to check out the design and decor, I was confronted with a state of the art modern kitchen in full view of the main restaurant, this would enable diners to see the food being prepared. The ceilings have a 3d abstract image of the night sky complete with twinkling stars, on the right as you walk through the door a gentle flow of water falls from the top of the wall, down a pebble feature to be collected at the foot and again recycled. And then the state of the art, temperature controlled wine cellar offering a full view of the wine inventory for the customer to peruse at there leisure.

The spread of finger food available was the same standard we have come to expect from this well run establishment. The evening from where I was standing appeared to be a great success and if the turn out this evening was anything to go by Tmun Mgarr is sure to be a success. The first day of business is this Friday. I look forward to trying the new menu and studying the new wine list in the very near future.

I'm quite a chauvinistic person. Gordon Ramsey.

2009-08-02T10:04:00.004+02:00

Bambinelli Are In Season.

We get to try all sorts of wonderful delights here in Gozo, they do like there food here on the Maltese Islands which is a godsend to Gill and I.
So we went shopping for meat and veg on Saturday morning as we normally do, I go and pick up the meat while Gill is next door getting the veg, team work you know.

She often comments on the strange fruit and veg that are available in the shops at various times of the year, stuff that we have never come across before, even in cosmopolitan London. What are these strange looking things asks Gill and before the shop owner can comment a customer standing behind her starts a long and detailed dialog about the short time that Bambinelli are available and what a wonderful delicacy they are and how the locals all look forward to them every year. We had better try some then.

So what are or is Bambinelli, they are very small pears about the size of a walnut, when you bite into them you kind of expect them to be as hard as bullets but no, a crunch, and then sweetness not too sweet just nice, the flavour lingers, very satisfying.
So that is Bambinelli.

Food is an important part of a balanced diet. Fran Lebowitz.

2009-07-22T07:20:00.006+02:00

The Art of Procrastination.

When we left the UK (over a year ago now) to come and live here in Gozo, my plan was to take some time out, change our house here from a holiday home into a house for living in full time and generally get involved in a bit of self indulgence.
It is amazing how not having to go to work in the morning changes the way you organise your day, for example I could get out of bed any time of the day I wanted, so I am normally up between 6.00am and 6.30am every morning. Having plenty of time on your hands to get things done does not actually get them done any quicker, in fact, as there is no pressure it takes longer than it would if you had a full time job. Instead I would maybe, go to the gym or go for a swim or go to the bar for a spot of lunch and a chat.

When I retired from the London Fire Brigade I brought with me an array of skills accumulated over my 30 years service, here to Malta and Gozo. It has always been my aim to try to utilise these skills on the islands. I talked about it a lot, and then procrastinated a bit, I even had business cards printed, and procrastinated a bit more, I even put the word out on the street, (the grape vine is wonderful here) and then a bit more procrastination. The one thing I did not do was get up off my fat arse and do something about putting myself out there. Well I have done it, I contacted Malta Enterprise and asked them what I have to do, and if they know whom might be interested in my skills, they sent me a list of businesses and told me what I need to do to comply with local business law here.

Now I should point out that I am not looking for a job as such, I am setting myself up as an independent, self employed Fire Safety Consultant. I have contacted all of the businesses on the list, written them a letter and attached my CV. All have read my letter and CV and every single one has requested an interview with me. So many trips to Malta coming up.

Watch this space for updates.

'Procrastination is the theif of time' Edward Young.

2009-06-30T10:02:00.004+02:00

Opportunity for Trades People in Gozo.

A great opportunity for a trades person in Gozo, I am talking about builders, plumbers, electrician, carpenters etc. I have come here from the UK because I like the people and the slow way of life, and there is no way that I would want to upset the natural balance of things here, the Gozitan's do things their way and that should not change.

Now here is the opportunity, the trades person from any of these trades would obviously need to be competent to carry out the task, as indeed most of them are, to this they would need to add the following -

Turn up to carry out the requested job when they say they will.
If they can't turn up, call the client, explain and arrange another appointment.
Do not disappear half way through the task and arrive again the following day with no explanation to the client.
When the task is complete clear up all the debris that the job has created and take it with you.
Take any empty boxes and packaging with you.

I have been here for one year now and used many trades people from all of the trades and I have only managed to find one, that can meet all of these requirements, and as you would expect he is a very very busy person, even though he is not the cheapest around. The products he sells are not the cheapest but are very good quality, his rate for the job is not the cheapest (nor the most expensive), he pays attention to detail and he complies to the list above. The result is he has a thriving business and earns a very good living.

If any trades people can match these requirements please let me know and you will be showered with praise and maybe even work.

"Gain a modest reputation for being unreliable and you will never be asked to do a thing". Paul Theroux

2009-06-12T07:44:00.008+02:00

Ten ways I have had to Adapt in Gozo as an Expat.

If you move to another country to live, (in my case it was the Maltese Island of Gozo) all the books and articles tell you to make sure you spend as much time as possible in the community you intend to reside in before relocating. This is exactly what we did and we thought we were well prepared for the culture shock that was to follow, well take it from me however well prepared you think you are it will be a bigger shock to the system than you thought.

All that said here is my top ten ways I have had to adapt, as an expat on Gozo compared to busy old London in the UK.

I am far more open minded now than I used to be, you quickly learn that because something is done a certain way in the UK, does not mean it is the best way or the only way.
Grocery shopping here on Gozo takes place 3 or 4 times a week, this way you get the very freshest local produce. In the UK we used to shop once a week or once every 2 weeks if we could get away with it.
The art of patience, I had to learn quickly to adapt from the not a spare minute, rush rush, horn blasting attitude of London life, to the van driver that stops his motor in the street to chat to a mate coming in the other direction while the cars patiently Que up behind until he has finished. (This one applies to Gozo, not so much Malta.)
Talking to complete strangers, they just come up for a chat, you have never seen nor met them before, they simply want to pass the time of day.
Humour, you have to learn to laugh especially when things go wrong, laughter is good there is a humorous situation to be found even when things get serious.
In the UK if you get 2 weeks of non stop clear hot weather you probably love it and revel in it but it is not long before the gloom and misery return. Here in Malta and Gozo around this time we start moving into extreme temperatures and I am talking 35 - 40c + and overnight temperatures in the high 20s with no prospect of rain until September. Such prolonged spells of heat can become oppressive after several months with no relief. The things I have to put up with!
Learning a new language, they all speak English here so we are not under any pressure to learn the local language but you miss out on so much if you don't make the effort, we understand no more than a few words and phrases, simply because it is one of the most difficult to learn, being a dialect of Arabic mixed with Italian. It is a long slow road but we are getting there.
Courage - going to a new country is not for the “weak at heart”. You can be challenged daily with opposing views, and even isolation and loneliness. Knowing up front that you are courageous for choosing to go abroad can be a powerful reminder if your feeling down. How many of your friends and family would ever consider “up and moving” to another country, not many and lets face it, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.
As a gadget and computer geek in the UK I had got used to buying electrical goods at rock bottom prices, not so here, they simply can't shift the volumes of product that is possible in the UK so the mark ups are higher, much higher sometimes. Example a fridge freezer American style, here €1600.00 same model in the UK £850.00. weak sterling at the moment make matters a lot worse than they otherwise would be.
Any physical work that needs to be done around the house like cleaning or repairs have to be completed by 11.00am in the summer months, after this time it is just too hot. So early starts to the day are a must.

Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative. H. G. Wells.

2009-06-03T13:31:00.008+02:00

Cats or Kittens.

A very dear Maltese friend of ours (actually that should be Gozitan, she would be outraged that I have labeled her Maltese) well her Persian cat has just had kittens. You know where this story is going don't you. We went to her house recently to see the kittens, of course we already have a 7 month old Persian called Chilly, so we don't need two cats again do we?

To cut a very long story short and after much discussion we were given the first pick of the kittens and..... Meet Misty, she is just 7 weeks old, and will stand in the palm of my hand at the moment, she must think that I am filthy as she seems to think I need grooming all the time.
We thought that Chilly still being very young would not mind too much us bringing a kitten into the house, well how wrong was I he was not amused at all and when he is not hissing at her he is seriously grumpy. Twenty four hours later he is a little less hostile, I think he is slowly coming around.

Cats regard people as warm blooded furniture. Jacquelyn Mitchard.

2009-06-01T06:37:00.004+02:00

Thank You To The Government of Malta, From The People Of The UK.

The worldwide credit crunch, as it has been named by the media has been brought about by the greed of the banks of some of the worlds richest economies. The pressure laid on managers to obtain ever bigger bonuses meant taking bigger and bigger risks to maintain those profits.
As we all know the deck of cards collapsed and one of victims have been the UK car industry.

The UK car economy has gradually been built up over the last century with the encouragement and assistance of the British government to turn it into the economy building machine it is today. This time last year the UK car industry was responsible for more than 2% of GDP (gross domestic product) that's 2% of one of the richest nations on the planet this is not as I am sure you will agree a small money earner for the economy. Today the UK car industry finds itself fighting for survival, again working together with the Brittish Government it is very slowly turning around.

In January of this year the Maltese government introduced it's revised car registration tax, I won't bore you with the details but it turns out that this tax has given to the Maltese what appear to be the most expensive cars in Europe. I am talking about up to 80% more expensive than the same car can be purchased for in the UK. The people of Malta are not at all stupid so they are travelling to the UK to buy cars in droves and either driving them or having them shipped here to Malta, result is a bargain for the Maltese, even with the high tax imposed on the vehicles when they are registered here in Malta they are still much cheaper.

As for the UK car industry, well they are just lapping up those Euros being brought to the UK from Malta, we are not talking small sums, we are talking may be millions of Euros each month that are flowing out of Malta and into the UK playing it's small part in assisting the British economy. You would think that they might want to encourage there own car industry to grow and keep the euros in Malta, help the industry grow and increase the GDP of Malta, instead the government pursues short term tax gains through the registration tax whilst at the same time destroying the Maltese car trade, but they are the government, they know what they are doing, don't they?

A big thank you to Malta and it's forward thinking government for your Euros, the UK is very grateful for the small part you are playing in helping the UK economy in it's time of need.

I don't make jokes, I just watch the government and report the facts. Will Rogers.

2009-05-26T12:55:00.006+02:00

Wines of Malta and Gozo.

Thank you all for your encouragement with the new wine blog (you know who you are).
Just to let you know it is now up and running, with a few bugs, but we will hopefully iron those out over the coming weeks. You can find it at Wines of Malta and Gozo .
This blog 'in search of nirvana' will continue while I still get people happy to read it, close to 600 a month now.

Meanwhile subscribe to my monthly newsletter on the new wine blog.

'The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand'. Frank Herbert.

2009-05-21T06:57:00.009+02:00

Just Imagine..

Just imagine an evening tasting wine where the atmosphere is friendly, relaxed, informal. Where the measures being served from each of the wines being shown, are more than just a tasting measure, to give you the best opportunity to relish each glass, and if you were not sure, you could go back and try another glass. And all this served with high quality food from Patrick and his crew.

This was what I had to suffer last night at the award wining restaurant It-Tmun here in Gozo. The show case wines available to try were from the ozzy wine maker Peter Lehmann's Barossa range presented by Julia Schregel, export manager for the Hess Group, also on hand to answer questions were Mr Abraham of Abrahams Supplies Ltd and Marco Vella import export manager for Attard & Co.

We were greeted on arrival by Patrick and were served an aperitif of very Italian pink Prosecco, most welcome considering the very hot day we had just endured. Prosecco is a fresh light, simply made sparkling wine that is not at all like champagne (other than the bubbles) nor does it try to be champagne, and is made from the prosecco grape, the producer I can not remember. Normally at these events I take a pen and paper and take notes, which I failed to do last night that is why I am sat here at 6.00am in the morning writing just in case my ageing brain forgets where I had been last night, let alone remember what I tasted.

The first of the Lehmann wines was the Chardonnay, light and fresh not over full as some Ozzy chardonnays can be, with some oak, once again not over oaked as some Aussie chardonnay can be. If you like Chardonnay but are fed up with the fat over oaked, over alcoholic style this would be a good choice.

Next to try, the Riesling this grape better perhaps known in Germany has found a new home here in South Australia, made to drink young, hence screw cap closure (Maltese winemakers note) with hints of peach and citrus fruit, clean and refreshing, went very well with the Paella that was being served freshly cooked at the table by Patrick's brother.

Then we had Barossa's own adopted grape of Shiraz, deep red with lots of red fruit favours and enough tannin to balance nicely with the 14.5% alcohol . The Shiraz paired very well with the cheese selection that was on offer.

A wine called Clancy's (not sure where the name came from) a blend of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot a big wine that is straining at leash to get out but has been tamed by the addition of Merlot, noticeable tannins. This is certainly a different wine to the usual ozzy reds, so for something a little different try it.

To finish the evening we were served a port style wine called 'The King' made from a blend of Shiraz and Touriga Nacional (the traditional port grape) and I thought that the quality was very good indeed, and would be happy to drink it in place of a traditional vintage port, I am sure there are a few purists out there that might cringe at this statement.

Patrick tells me that he had an enjoyable evening, I know I did, I also added further to my wine knowledge. Note to self 'when wine tasting remember to take notebook and pen'.

Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory. Albert Schweitzer.

2009-05-19T12:26:00.005+02:00

Yet Another Wine Blog.

This blog In Search of Nirvana is all about my move from the UK as an expat to the sunny Maltese Island of Gozo. I have enjoyed writing it very much, I sometimes have a problem trying to think of something worthwhile to write about. I normally manage one or two posts a week. The blog has a small following and I get a respectable 500 hits each month now which considering I make very little attempt to drive people to the blog is quite reasonable. Now the question is could I justify starting a second blog.

I am a bit of a wine geek as anyone who knows me will tell you, and I consider myself fairly knowledgeable on the wine front when it comes to the famous wine regions of the world, France, Italy, Australia etc. A region not much talked about until recently, are the wines of Malta and Gozo and whilst there are hundreds of blogs out there on the subject of wine in the various regions, I have not found any that cover Malta and Gozo (I stand to be corrected if anyone knows any different), so I thought I might start one now. This would enable me to enhance my knowledge on the subject of Maltese wine and at the same time help those that may have a desire to learn a bit more about Malta as a wine region.

I would like to keep the content interesting and without jargon, or where jargon is required it will be explained. I would like to be able to play my part in promoting the wines of Malta both inside and outside the borders of these islands and remain as impartial as possible. I am thinking interviews with wine makers and highlighting the many restaurants that take the serving of wine as seriously as the serving of their food. I would like to involve people at all levels in wine tastings pitching local wines against other regions of the world in blind tastings.

What do you think, is there room for another wine blog, if so what would you like to know, what would be of interest to you. Take a few minutes to let me know either by email or via comments on this blog.

"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put thngs in it" Terry Pratchett.

2009-05-13T07:14:00.004+02:00

The Pro's and Con's of owning a Swimming Pool.

We are lucky enough to have a swimming pool with our farmhouse here in Gozo, and I would not have it any other way. I have never owned, nor had to run a pool before we bought this house, and at this time of year it is a wonderful luxury to have. Nothing beats slipping into the pool to refresh yourself, day or night, to escape the heat and humidity, the heat can exceed 40 degrees centigrade and the humidity can approach 100% at times here in Malta & Gozo.
We have just had the pool tiled with nice Spanish mosaic tiles to cut out the cost of having it repainted every 2 years. The final cost of this little project came to €2500.00, it should be money well spent, time will tell. Then I started thinking what an expensive luxury a swimming pool is and is it really worth it when you think we are 3 minutes from the beach.

A list of the pro's and cons of owning a pool.

Pro's

Cool convenient welcome relief from the heat.
A classy way to entertain your guests.
Just add a barbecue to a pool, and some friends, an instant winner.
Everybody loves to at least look at a clean baby blue body of water. It's almost hypnotic.
It keeps my wife happy. (She is looking over my shoulder at the moment)
On hot sweltering days when you can't go to a beach, it really is a life saver.
Adds to the value of the house, here in Malta and Gozo.

Con's

Cost of Pool chemicals each month.
Cleaning the pool every day.
Chemical test every 2nd day.
Vacuum pool once a week.
Top up pool (around once a month in the summer months).
Clean pool filters about once or twice a week.
Repainting of the pool base once every 24 months (If the pool has a painted finish).
Servicing of pool pump every 2 years.
Pool licence Fees.

The pool is now full of water the sunshine is high in the sky and it is hot, Yes I think it is worth it.

'Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air…' Ralph Waldo

2009-05-07T15:45:00.003+02:00

Car Registration in Malta, (Is It an Extreme Sport?)

I have done what thousands of Maltese are doing at the moment, going to the UK and buying a car, why, because they are so much cheaper that's why, I mean by 60 or 70% cheaper in some cases. As I mentioned in my previous post I have brought back from the UK a Toyota Prius Hybrid and I am very pleased with it. Let me take you through the process of registering an imported car here in Malta..... My story.

When I arrived here in Malta (if my intention was to import the vehicle) I must inform the ADT (government car registration department) within 7 days of arrival, or I am told I am likely to get a fine.
I need to retain proof of when the vehicle entered the country and proceed to the ADT office in Valletta to 'open a file' on the car, this can not be done by post or on the Internet, it has to be done in person. After queuing for some 3 hours, this had been done, and I was to take the car to the vehicle inspector, his office is about 20 meters away from where I was standing, an appointment had to be made, and my appointment was in 2 days time.
I was issued with a green ticket, this meant that I was allowed to drive the car for one day in order to get a vehicle test certificate and enable me to drive the car to the vehicle inspection center, and if caught driving the vehicle at any time prior to completion of the registration process I would be shown no mercy and thrown into jail.
Two days later the vehicle was inspected, the engine, chassis number and mileage were checked, this process involved a one hour wait and took 3 minutes, I was instructed to return to the ADT office (20 meters away) in two days time, at which time I could complete the registration process. I was to take with me all relevant paperwork (equivalent to a small rain forest) including one year full year of insurance, and a sack full of cash, no credit cards, debit cards or personal cheques. Failure to do this would result in me being publicly flogged.
I arrived in Valletta as instructed to complete the registration process, I waited in the line to be seen for three hours and then, it was my turn, I smiled and said good morning I received an icy stare in return. I handed over the relevant documentation and relaxed, the young lady looked up and said 'oh the vehicle is under 12 months old and the valuation has to be confirmed by my manager', surprised I said oh ok, the young lady replied 'he is on holiday this week and is the only person in Malta that can make the valuation, you will have to come back next week'. I smiled and left. Almost forgot to mention, if I use the car before the registration process is complete I will be shot.
One week passed and I returned to the ADT office to attempt the final process again, I waited three hours again (this is not an exaggeration, all these times are correct) whoopee my turn again, the paperwork was rigorously checked all the paper work processed and I handed over my sack full of cash, I was told to wait nearby for my Maltese number plates to be issued. I sat and waited, 30 minutes later I was told the process had all been stopped, they had noticed that my insurance broker was one day short of the full year for my insurance cover, (a clerical error) so they could not give me my plates until my broker confirmed by email that my cover is in fact for 365 days and not the 364 days that my policy actually quoted. All this achieved I was finally issued with my number plates and windscreen tax.

I can now drive the car without fearing for my life. I did not get a fine, thrown in jail, get publicly flogged or get shot. The number plates have been attached to the car and the car and I are now very happy together.

THE END.

2009-05-02T18:00:00.008+02:00

Since Our Return.

Since our return from another trip overland from the UK and back to Malta / Gozo again we have both been very busy...

We have had a Solar water heater installed in the farmhouse which will give us around 90% of all our hot water needs throughout the year courtesy of the sunshine, just need to find a way of getting our water free now.
Just to continue the green theme I brought from the UK a 7 month old Toyota Prius if it's good enough for Hollywood it's good enough for me, how good on fuel is it? well I filled up in Burgundy in France and did not need to refill again until I had returned to Malta.
We are in the process of having the pool tiled with some very glamorous Spanish glass tiles, should be finished on Tuesday.
I am in the process of getting my Toyota Prius registered on Maltese plates, I can tell you it's the stuff good TV comedy's are made of and deserves it's own post, when I have completed the registration process I will attempt to do it justice.
And Chilly the cat will get the 'two brick treatment' so will probably be feeling a little sorry for himself.

'The perfect bureaucrat everywhere is the man who manages to make no decisions and escape all responsibility'. Brooks Atkinson.

2009-04-16T16:21:00.020+02:00

Leaving the UK Behind.

We have had a great week back in the UK, catching up with family and friends and of course the oppertunity to sample the delights that are available in the UK Indian restaurant. This is the one thing I miss most since moving to Gozo.

We hit the road again for our return road trip to Gozo on Wednesday, and were greeted with the news that the French lorry drivers were blocking the ports, again, so we left early and still managed to get the Eurotunnel train that we had pre - booked with only moments to spare. Further trouble reared it's head when driving through Paris and we found traffic jams following an accident, this delayed us a further 90 mins.

Our 1st stop after 10 hours driving was a Water Mill called Le Moulinot , we stayed there this time last year and this is a wonderful part of Burgundy. On to Le Chateau des Comtes de Charme an old Chateau now hotel overlooking the Rhone Alps, quite expensive but nice with stunning scenery.

We are now staying in a B&B on a vineyard in North Italy, high on a hill overlooking the town of Asti not far from Turin, Villa Sampaguita a wonderful old house with vinyard, highly recommended. Tommorrow we head for the ferry in Genoa, and a 39 hour ferry trip back to Malta.

"Nobody got anywhere in the world by simply being content." Louis L'Amour.

2009-04-05T07:56:00.012+02:00

Malta to Genoa Italy to Calais France to UK.

We left Malta on Thursday as planned for the start of our trip back to the UK, the views from the ship as we left Valletta harbour were fantastic. We had a 39 hour sea crossing ahead of us to Genoa in Italy, a very pleasant crossing, the ship is great, the staff are great, the accommodation great but the food sold on board is very expensive, enough even to bring tears to eyes of Bill Gates.
We had a nice easy drive up through Italy to the border of Switzerland, where my wife blatantly lied to the Swiss border Police when questioned before entering Geneva. In her defence she misunderstood the question, I understood the question but sat there quietly, we drove on through Geneva with a wonderful view of the lakes, I of course had to point out to her the error of her ways an hour later, she was devastated.

On to France and first stop Burgundy in a small bed and breakfast owned by an Englishman and his Danish wife where we were made very welcome. We had a wonderful meal that evening in a local restaurant and also went supermarket shopping for local cheese and wine. Suitably stocked up it was on to Calais and Euro tunnel. We decided not to book on this occasion, we simply turned up payed and in ten minutes we were on the train and travelling under the English channel to the UK. I recommend booking as it is quite a bit more expensive to not pre book, you live and learn.

We arrived in the UK , we travelled up the M20 motorway and upon arriving at the junction of the M25 motorway encountered our first traffic jam in 800 miles of driving ..... Welcome to the UK.

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food." George Bernard Shaw.

2009-03-30T12:27:00.009+02:00

Road Trip - Gozo to London.

We have already done the London to Gozo trip last year, well we will be doing the journey again (in reverse) with a slightly different route this time and will get to sample the fine food, drink, scenery and hospitality that France and Italy offer us, I am looking forward to the trip very much.
The journey will take us around a week (last time we took 3 weeks), car prepared and cup holders at the ready.
I will try to post updates of my journey whilst on route but as I found last time around outside of the big towns and cities WiFi is often difficult to come by, so don't hold your breath.

We start our journey from Munxar, Gozo, ferry to Malta, on to Valletta in Malta and then the Grimaldi ferry to Genova in Italy, this will save 1000 miles of driving compared to the Sicily route, although we will also miss some of the most scenic parts of Italy.

I am looking forward to Mont Blanc again, still snow covered at this time of year, coincidentally this is the exact same week that we made the trip last time around. We leave on Thursday and the forcast is looking good.

"Every nation ridicules other nations, and all are right." Arthur Schopenhauer.

2009-03-21T18:12:00.004+01:00

The Big Bamboo.

Our original sun shade, on the sun terrace that gives us shade from the searing summer heat here in Gozo disintegrated at the end of last year. Time for a new shade I thought . In the valley just below below us here in Munxar grows a massive crop of bamboo cane, I drive past it almost every day.

Whilst passing a few days ago I saw a group of locals cutting it and loading it on to a truck, I asked how much I was told €2.00 a bundle, trying to guess how much will be needed to construct a new sun shade I said 'I will have 15 bundles' two hours later a lorry load of bamboo is delivered to the house, now each bundle of bamboo is 15 foot long. Next to the pool I now have a massive pile of uncleaned bamboo and what looks to be around 3 days work before I can even begin to start putting together the sunshade.

I had better get cleaning if this shade is to be in place before summer.

"Gardens are not made by sitting in the shade". Rudyard Kipling.

2009-03-11T12:43:00.003+01:00

Light Hearted Observations of the Maltese. (not to be taken seriously).

As a foreigner living in a country like Malta, you start to notice the unique mannerisms and traits that are well, unique or certainly different from the UK population and the reason you recognise them is because they are so different (does that make sense). A fellow blogger, funnily enough Maltese, living and studying in London published a piece, that she said made her laugh out loud.
Her blog is called 'Rantings From Afar' The list is titled 'Being Maltese Means' now some of the observations I do not recognise but many I do, the parts I recognise are in bold type.
I have her permission to replicate that list here.

Being Maltese…..means….

* You move abroad with 2 kgs of frozen pastizzi or Hobz Malti and a Timpana recipe in your luggage

* You move out from your parents house…….to move in with your spouse…within walking distance of your parents’ house

* You have been officially engaged longer than you have been dating…………while waiting for your house to be built

* You have been separated longer than you have been married……..while sleeping under the same roof

* Your best friend lives 2 blocks away, but you only drive there

* The difference between the before and after pictures of your Mum’s wedding, is about 5 stone

* The only way to decorate your escorts, capris and trucks is to stick banners across the windscreen such as ‘rambo sex’ or ‘baby think twice’, bumper sticker tend to be ‘Eat my Dust’

* Zebra crossings are a matter of opinion

* Give Way translates to Get out of my Way

* Stop sign is in fact Give Way

* No Waiting, Unloading Only, NO parking, actually mean Parking at your convenience

* You don’t even turn off your mobile phone in church (even if you are a priest)

* You think the north is entirely culturally different from the south….with the total geographical area being 18miles long, Gozo is considered another country

* You think the only places to visit abroad are ‘Oxford Street’, Lourdes and the Vatican

* Big Ben is in Birkirkara and not in London

* you go to church every Sunday even though you’re atheist

* you get married in church so that your in-laws would not know you’re an atheist

* you care more about what the neighbours think, then about your own opinion

* you are an independent adult, but your mum still buys your underpants and does your washing.

* Catholic shrines and posters of Elvis and Rambo jostle for space on public transport

* The cry ‘Aw sex!’ is seen as a legitimate chat-up line (Variation in Gozo tends to be ‘Aw Gobon’…no pun intended)

* Before marriage, sex is a taboo and parents expect their kids to have never engaged in sex. However if you’re not pregnant by the end of your honeymoon, your grandmother (and parents) starts saying special prayers.

* You strike bargains with the Almighty in order to achieve your ends.

* You call your children Denzel, Shania, Aaliyah and Rihanna… even though you have no connections with the film industry… (these names were amongst the most popular names in 2007 making it to the top 20)

* Your idea of eating out is going to the Diner in the Airport Viewing Gallery or to Serkin in Rabat for pastizzi and tea.

* You go to Catechism classes to pick up girls

* You disagree profoundly with your chosen political party’s policies, but vote for them anyway, cos that’s what your father did, and your grandfather, and his father…… anyway you still invite your local MP for your wedding as it will impress your guests

* You don’t believe in bribes but in gratitude

* At home you have ‘Teachers’, ‘Vermouth’ and perhaps ‘Shandy’

* Your parents used to dip the pacifier in Whisky so that you sleep during parties

* Your parents’ favourite brand used to be GM as anything from toilet paper to towels used to have this logo (Not ‘General Motors’ but ‘Gvern ta’ Malta’)

* You go to other people’s weddings in order to criticise the wedding souvenirs and the food.

* You send your children to private lessons even though they are the top of their class

* You are not a racist but open minded except if your kid turns up to be gay or decides to marry an African or Arab person.

Go on Smile, you know you want to.

When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable. Clifton Fadiman.

2009-03-04T07:29:00.007+01:00

Twitter Twitter Tweet.

Anyone out there that is a regular computer or mobile phone user has heard of social networking, SMS phone messaging or email can be simple unorganised versions, then there are MySpace, Facebook and many others. The new kid on the block is Twitter, I say new kid it has been around a while, just has only recently hit the big time. So what is it and why use it?

Also known as Micro-blogging it is defined as a quick update containing a very limited number of characters, 140 in the case of Twitter.
Micro-blogging is for people or businesses, who want a blog but don't want to blog. A personal blog can keep people informed on what is going on in your life, but not everyone wants to spend an hour crafting a beautiful post about the vibrant colours you can see whilst looking at that sea view when on holiday. Sometimes, you just want to say "went shopping for a new shirt but didn't find anything".

That's where Twitter comes into the picture. It's a great place for keeping people informed on what you are up to without the need to spend a lot of time crafting an entire post on the subject. You just say what's going on and leave it at that.

You can follow the tweets (that's what the short messages are known as) of various well known figures if that's what you want. I follow President Obama, Gordan Brown, Jonathon Ross, known as Wossy and Stephen Fry among a few, you can link your tweets to Facebook so that as your tweet comments are automatically posted to your Facebook wall.

Twitter can be used for social messaging.
Receiving news messages. Many news services use it.
Media marketing.
Link sharing.
Team up with others with the same interests.
Event coordinating.
It's a business tool.

Twitter is micro-blogging. It is social messaging. It is an event coordinator, a business tool, a news reporting service and a marketing utility. If you would like to follow my inane ramblings sign up. Check out the Twitter window on the right of this post.

Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it. (Unknown)

2009-02-26T12:54:00.010+01:00

White Wines of Malta.

During my regular search for wine that is a little different, I came across a bottle of Delicata Medina Vermentino Zibibbo on the supermarket shelf at around €5.00 a bottle. This locally made wine came as a pleasent surprise and is highly recommended. A blend of 2 grapes Vermentino grown mainly in Italy and used in the wines of the Liguria area, Zibibbo I have to admit is a grape I am not familiar with, regardless of my vast wine knowledge, a google search tells me that this grape is widely grown on Pantelleria, a small island off the north coast of Sicily.

What a wonderful light summer wine this is (I know it is not summer) I can see it being a regular tipple during the coming summer months, this bright clear white wine, has an aromatic slightly citrus nose, a little grassy (a la sauvignon blanc). The taste reminds me a bit of a Gewurztraminer crossed with perhaps a Pinot Griggio with a bit more body, nicely balanced, fresh.

I am not sure of the quantities of each grape in the wine as I can find no mention of it on the Delicata website. I can tell you that the grapes are hand picked and it is 12% vol because it says so on the bottle. It didn't all come together for me at once, but this is one of the most interesting, thought-provoking white wines from Malta I've had in a while.
At this price level 9 out of 10.
Highly recommended.

2009-02-19T13:39:00.009+01:00

Malta & Gozo, Cheap Electricity, One Answer.

A sure fire way to reduce the reliance on oil, for power generation is to pay the community to generate the power for Malta & Gozo. This system is already in place in Germany and many other countries around the world, and it works. The system is called FIT (feed in tariff).

There are three parts to FIT,

Any individual household has the right to generate electricity and feed it back into the main grid.
Enemalta would be required to accept the power, and pay a premium for it say three or four times the current price per unit as generated by oil power, the price paid would be guaranteed for twenty years.
There would be no limit to the amount of electricity you can generate. Now this is proper incentive for everyone to cover their abode with solar panels and other green power generating equipment.

You could expect the take up of such a scheme to be swift and as the years go by more and more of the the local population will feed power into the main grid and the need to import oil to produce power would gradually disappear. Once in place it does not cost the government a cent. This idea started in Germany and is now spreading around the world. In Germany this idea produced 250,000 new jobs. All we need is the political will, it has been proven that this system works, why would you not explore the possibility?

The energy crisis has not yet overwhelmed us but it will if we don't act quickly. President Jimmy Carter.

2009-02-10T17:53:00.007+01:00

Rabbits of Malta and Gozo.

One of the delights of both Malta and Gozo for the foodies that are Gill and myself is the abundance of rabbit that is available here for the pot. The national dish is rabbit (or fenek) served in garlic, onions, wine and herbs, you will also find spaghetti rabbit and many other dishes in the various restaurants. In the UK you would normally have to order rabbit, or buy it frozen, imported from some far flung Asian country, it certainly was not easily available, not in the London area anyway. Here in Gozo I can always get it from the butcher or see the rabbit man in his small holding nearby and he will kill it for me on the spot, you don't get fresher than that.

So rabbit is now a regular part of our diet and having tried and enjoyed the local recipes we have now started to experiment. How about rabbit in mustard (a French delicacy I think) or curried rabbit I can't wait to try this one on one of the locals, they don't seem to have found the passion for curry that we have in the UK. If you get the chance to try the local rabbit stew give it a go, I am sure you will like it, best washed down with a bottle of the local Medina Syrah from the Delicata winery. Cheers.

'Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.' John Steinbeck.

2009-02-03T07:09:00.007+01:00

Google and the Maltese Translator.

What a wonderful tool for us non Maltese speaking expats, Google have just added Maltese to it's list of languages available on it's translator. I have used the Google translator on many occasions to assist me in my typically British inability to speak a foreign language, normally for French or Spanish, but Maltese not being widely spoken world wide has not been among it's list of many languages available.

I can speak a few of the more popular words or phrases in Maltese and I am learning more all the time, but everyone agrees it is one of the more difficult languages to learn, being a kind of Italian / Arabic crossover.

For those that don't know Google translator or Google translate enable you to select your language and then click translate, it takes seconds.

I jaraw jekk xogħlijiet, jiena xi ħadd li jiżgura li seaks Maltin se jkunu jistgħu tell me jekk dan huwa korrett?

Any Maltese speakers, does it work?

'Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing'. Robert Benchley.

2009-01-30T08:18:00.003+01:00

Happiness is...

It is now ten months since we arrived here in Gozo to live, I am being asked by friends, family, acquaintances, is it what you expected, have you found your nirvana, have you found happiness.

I think that we (humans) always think that happiness lies with something we have yet to find or own or experience, and we look for that one thing that will give us happiness. Like if only I could just afford to buy that new sports car, or take that dream holiday, buy that wonderful house and 'once I retire all my problems will be over' we have all been there. But then you realise that no one material thing will make you happy on it's own.

You know I like a quote, Alfred D. Souza said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."

With this in mind I have concluded that no single route nor single experience nor single object will offer you, or me happiness.

So, don't wait to lose weight, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or house, until your car or your home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until winter, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you're born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy.

Get out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself, I did, change is good. Yes we are both very happy and content here in Gozo, we hope that we don't find our nirvana just yet because it is just such great fun looking for it.

That was a bit deep for me, perhaps I should get a job as a life coach.

My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right? Charles M Schulz.

2009-01-24T18:31:00.005+01:00

Rain and Humour.

Boy have we had some wind and rain this month, (yes I am British so it is compulsory to talk about the weather). I know when we lived in the UK they used to talk about rainfall in inches, forget inches we can discuss the amount of rainfall in feet for January. here in Gozo. Being the outdoor type that I am it has been quite frustrating being confined to the house for days at a time, it has not been that cold though, day time temperature around 15 or 16 degrees. And when the rain does pass, the sun shines. None of those long grey cold winters we used to get in the UK, winter only really properly arrived here in the Maltese Islands at the start of January and it will soon be spring ;-)
I received an email yesterday from one of my geek friends, a fellow computer builder, with the title of 'What if people bought cars like computers' and in the absence of anything more intelligent to write I thought I would share some rainy day humour with you.

Helpline:

"Ford Helpline, how can I help you?"
Customer:: "Hi! I just bought my first car, and I chose your car because it has automatic transmission, cruise control, power steering, power brakes, and power door locks."
Helpline:: "Thanks for buying our car. How can I help you?"
Customer:: "How do I work it?"
Helpline:: "Do you know how to drive?"
Customer:: "Do I know how to what?"
Helpline:: "Do you know how to DRIVE?"
Customer:: "I'm not a technical person! I just want to go places in my car!"

Helpline:: "General Motors Helpline, how can I help you?"
Customer:: "Your cars suck!"
Helpline:: "What's wrong?"
Customer:: "It crashed, that's what went wrong!"
Helpline:: "What were you doing?"
Customer:: "I wanted to go faster, so I pushed the accelerator pedal all the way to the floor. It worked for a while, and then it crashed -- and now it won't even start up!"
Helpline:: "I'm sorry, sir, but it's your responsibility if you misuse the product."
Customer:: "Misuse it? I was just following this damned manual of yours. It said to make the car go to put the transmission in 'D' and press the accelerator pedal. That's exactly what I did -- now the damn thing's crashed."
Helpline:: "Did you read the entire operator's manual before operating the car sir?"
Customer:: "What? Of course I did! I told you I did EVERYTHING the manual said and it didn't work!"
Helpline:: "Didn't you attempt to slow down so you wouldn't crash?"
Customer:: "How do you do THAT?"
Helpline:: "You said you read the entire manual, sir. It's on page 14. The pedal next to the accelerator."
Customer:: "Well, I don't have all day to sit around and read this manual you know."
Helpline:: "Of course not. What do you expect us to do about it?"
Customer:: "I want you to send me one of the latest versions that goes fast and won't crash anymore!"

'Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn't start a conversation'. Kin Hubbard.

2009-01-11T07:30:00.004+01:00

In Search of Nirvana 2008 in Review.... Continued.

July. This month right through to the end of the year brings a stream of friends and family to see us, and they are welcome, I love showing off Gozo at every opportunity. This month would see some serious unrest amongst the taxi drivers in Malta as widespread industrial action takes place, leaving tourists stranded at Malta International Airport, the work force here have quite strong union links and strikes are not unusual.
August. The heat really starts to bite at this time of year, the green landscape of the winter and spring months has now been completely replaced by the parched, baked and mainly empty farmers fields, 40+ degrees is not unusual and may only drop as low as 30 degrees in the evening. A project that I had started a couple of months ago involving what would have been providing perhaps the greenest B&B accommodation on the Maltese Islands, has fallen through, after weeks of hard graft involving meetings, emails and of course money spent.
September. All the years that we have been coming to Gozo and we have not really looked very much at Malta, so we took what would become one of our first of many trips to Valletta, Malta's capital, a beautiful place oozing character and history.
October. This was the start of what journalists now call in Europe "the credit crunch" Originally coming from the UK we are of course at the mercy of the exchange rates, whilst the press decided that the UK economy was doomed and the European economy was not looking so bad the pound against the euro plummeted, causing much anxiety on our part.
November. This month we returned to the UK, first trip back to the since we left in April, first port of call was one of our favorite curry houses, (you can get curry here in Gozo but it just is not the same), I had a few days work and it also gave us the opportunity to catch up with family and friends, at the end of our 10 day trip we could not wait to return to our home, Gozo. Also a sad time as we lost my father following a long illness.
December. This month's highlight would be Christmas and not our first Christmas here, we came 2 years ago for Christmas so things done the Maltese way was not new to us. The other highlight would be Chilly the cat. Nine months we have been here now and the time has just flown by.

'If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside'. Robert X Cringley.

2009-01-02T07:42:00.007+01:00

In Search of Nirvana 2008 in Review. January to June.

As the last twelve months have involved a lot of important life changing decisions for the both of us I thought I would do a month by month review of 2008.

January. I gave three months notice to the London Fire Brigade after more than 30 years service. We secured a sale on our Gozo farmhouse which would enable us to take on another farmhouse restoration project later in the year.
February. We started planning our 2600 mile road trip across Europe for the big move to Gozo. An art exhibition in London's Soho of original photographs taken of Jimi Hendrix, this type of exhibition comes around quite frequently in London and is one of the things I will miss about dear old London town.
March. The first of two leaving party's for me took place in Soho at a blues bar called 'ain't nothin but' the only club in the UK to play live blues music every night of the week. Much good music was played and much alcohol consumed, a great night was had by all. The 19th March was my last day of service with the London Fire Brigade, and I am seriously looking ahead now, I have fond, as well as sad and painful memories of my time with the brigade but lets look to the future now.
April. With our goodbyes to family and friends complete on April 4th we left the UK for the start of our road trip to Gozo, we will follow our chosen wine & gourmet route which will take three weeks. We go through the channel tunnel into France, our 1st night takes us close to Reims the champagne region, we then head on to Cote de Bourgogne, Burgundy where I had to try the local snail curry, Vermenton, close to the Mont Blanc tunnel, and on into Italy, many stops followed all the way down the Adriatic coast, to my favorite area of Italy, Puglia and Calabria, with some very special food and wine consumed on route, and witnessing some of the most stunning scenery to be found anywhere in Europe. We moved on to Sicily for the remainder of our trip before arriving in Malta at around 1.00am in the morning, followed by the drive to the ferry and on to Malta.
May. This month was one of adjustment, turning our holiday home, into a home that was right for every day living. Taking delivery of a 20ft container of furniture from the UK, registering with a local doctor. We were busy on our first couple of weeks but towards the end of the month we started to chill, the rain had gone until September (so a local had told me). Now it was time to begin the big adjustment from London life to life in Gozo, a bigger contrast would be challenging to find.
June. The first of a string of visitors that have arranged to stay from the UK, arrive this month, in an attempt to see what all the fuss has been about, this place called Gozo? The start of many books to read, we decided that we would spend the summer on holiday, not dive straight into any new projects immediately, this is probebly the only time in the near future that I will have this opportunity so take advantage we did. Favorite book of the summer, the Autobiography of Eric Clapton highly recommended.

July to December will follow.

"The really frightening thing about middle age is that you know you'll grow out of it". Doris Day.

2008-12-24T17:15:00.011+01:00

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The seasons greeting to all my readers.

Let me start and finish with a rant about email etiquette, if a business or government department offers, on their website the option for communicating by email, you would think that they would have the courtesy to answer, this I have found is one of the annoying things about communicating by email with local businesses and government departments here in Malta. It is the modern way to keep in touch, or find out information, quick, simple and the recipient can deal with it when they are good and ready, unlike a telephone call, because I may call at an inconvenient time.

Unfortunately even in the UK you would have the occasional email ignored, but I have found here in Malta and Gozo around half of all emails that I send to government departments or businesses are being ignored, I am starting to get paranoid.
Does my breath smell or maybe I have body odour, perhaps I am just pig ugly and boring and don't deserve the time of day, if any of these are the problem just tell me, I am pretty thick skinned, I can take it.
Example, I have emailed the Department for Citizenship and Expatriate Affairs about my citizenship, Enemalta about my utility bill, a local Yoga retreat about Yoga, and none have had the courtesy to reply, some were emailed 2 or 3 times, and yes I have double checked the email addresses are correct, I also appreciate that the occasional email gets lost in the big bad binary world out there.

So if your website has the option of communicating by email, bloody well reply!!

I am off to take a shower, brush my teeth and fix my make up.

The Seasons greetings to you all, and may your god go with you.

I was going to buy a copy of The Power of Positive Thinking, and then I thought: What the hell good would that do? Ronnie Shakes.

2008-12-06T12:52:00.005+01:00

Top Five Best Islands To Live On. Is Gozo in there?

We decided yesterday to go and look at American style fridge freezers, you know the ones with the side by side doors. We looked at these before we left the UK but decided to wait until our arrival here in sunny Gozo. So we went to the store to check out prices, we found one that we liked and asked the price, I was told €1595.00 I thought that sounds expensive and duly shopped around, they were all a similar price. With the use of Google I thought lets check out some prices, the LG fridge freezer we had looked at, in the UK £650.00, in Italy €850.00. Now I realise that prices from country to country will vary due to exchange rates etc. Most white goods supplied here in Malta and Gozo are supplied from Italy, so why such a large difference in the prices?

I came across this article over the weekend from Journeyetc.com. I mention it of course because Gozo is in there. The first part is below.

When it comes to downsizing your life, you may just want to sell up your belongings and make a clean break to one of the many exotic and remote islands around the world. What better way to while away your time and relax from the hustle and bustle of a busy life than sunbathing under the fronds of coconut palms, or swimming in the crystal clear waters of the tropics? Or maybe sunshine is not for you, but the remoteness and close-knit community of one of the more northerly rural island appeals?

Click here to read the rest.

"Perfection is a road, not a destination. Every time I live, I get an education". Burk Hudson.

2008-12-05T13:18:00.009+01:00

New Addition to the Family Home.

Forget Britany Spears, let me introduce you to Chilly the Persian. Eight week old tom cat, colour is referred to as champagne. Chilly is currently hyperactive in one hour spurts and then sleeps for three or four hours at a stretch.
When we were in the UK we used to have two Persians, a brother and a sister and we had them both for fifteen years unfortunately old age catches up with them and they went to the great cattery in the sky. We held off getting any more cats until we had settled in here in Gozo.

We saw an add in the Malta Times and took our first trip to Sliema in Malta. We did some shopping, (that is the royal we) met up with a fellow expat for coffee for the first time in person to share relocation experiences, us from London and Ilene fresh in from the U.S.A. Ilene's blog can be seen here.

And now the pictures.

Looking very angelic.

Very impolite.

About to pounce on one of those huge Gozitan killing ants.

A very good impression of a gremlin.

"Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow". Jeff Valdez

2008-12-04T18:31:00.006+01:00

Will the UK Join the Euro?

When the euro was first conceived, there were some good economic reasons why the UK shouldn't be part of it. The euro has increased in popularity over the years there are now 15 members of the euro zone, as well as nine more states and territories using the euro as their sole currency, and many others, like Poland, the Czech Republic, and the Baltics, will join in the future. The labour party chancellor of the day set 5 tests that Britain would have to pass before the UK joined the euro, these tests at the time were so diverse that it seemed that the nation would never be likely to pass them all at the same time, oh how times have changed.

Today, the UK would pass the five tests with flying colours. Yet even as the euro becomes increasingly useful and powerful, the chances of the UK ever joining seem to get ever slimmer.

My feeling is that the time has passed. Tony Blair could have pushed it through at the beginning of his term in office, when he was flush with political capital, but he expended all of that capital, and then some, on the Iraq war instead. The whole issue is a bit of a political hot potato at the moment, the British press have stirred up a frenzy in the past because the UK would of course lose the ability to make decisions that suit itself, and not have to compromise with the rest of Europe, after all decisions made on monetary policy might be right for Germany or Malta but not perhaps Britain, but is this not the same for every member state?

I can see all the arguments against, but the arguments for, in the long term, far out way these. A big issue is public opinion, people don't like change, it makes them feel uncomfortable and uneasy and raises suspicion that a hidden agenda exists among the politicians. It was much the same here in Malta prior to the euro being adopted on the 1st of January this year, many local people in conversation would seek my opinion as an outsider, on the subject, not that I am an expert.

So the question remains, when will Britain wake up and join the euro?

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on". Robert Frost.

2008-11-27T18:28:00.006+01:00

London, Ryanair and honesty.

Our trip to London was a busy one, the reason for the trip was of course to catch up with family and friends, also my services in my new fledgling business as a Fire Safety Consultant were in demand (see, they can't do without me) so part of it was work, and part pleasure. I also had a wine tasting to attend at the Landmark Hotel in London, so the 10 days just flew by. I needed a reminder of how absolutely sh*t the weather is at this time of year in the UK. The grey skies, the snow, the rain, the frost, the cold, in my 10 days in London I saw them all.

As you may be aware from my previous post I have attempted to get a tax refunded that Ryanair had collected for the Maltese government, this tax has since been declared by the EU as illegal so has had to be removed. I had heard that Ryanair have been dragging there heals when it has come to returning said tax to it's customers.
On our arrival at check in at Malta International Airport I asked the Ryanair check in staff if they could inform me of the procedure for reclaiming the tax, I was pointed to the 'Service air' desk, and they promptly found me a contact number to call in Ireland. For those interested that number is 00353 18121676, however do not call this number as a recorded message comes back saying that "this number is no longer in use".

I have in my possession the email addresses of 5 of Ryanair's middle and top managers, I have sent them all a very polite email explaining the situation, all the emails were delivered and read, and all have been ignored.
I contacted the Department of Civil Aviation (phone number 2369 6156)and they have advised me to write to Ryanair requesting that my moneys be returned and copy in the Department of Civil Aviation so this I have done.
If anybody requires further detail, (I know many people are in the same position) don't hesitate to contact me via this blog, I am no expert but still very determined.

"Honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it". Mark Twain.

“The European consumer would crawl naked over broken glass to get low fares.” Michael O'Leary Ryanair CEO.

2008-11-13T07:16:00.008+01:00

Ryanair, Collector of Taxes.

We return to London for the first time since we moved here to Gozo in the spring, the airline I have booked with for the first time is Ryanair, we normally fly Air Malta, but it would be unfair of me not to give Ryanair a go.

When we booked the flights a couple of months ago, a tax was applied (€23.00 per person) to the fare. This tax has now been removed since (1 November) here in Malta and from the stories I am hearing both by word of mouth and via the press, that Ryanair are not playing with a straight bat, by failing to return this tax when requested to do so. In another case I have heard that they are charging an administration fee of .......... you guessed it, €23.00 per person. If this last one is true, that Ryanair are charging customers for the collection and administration of taxes, I may have to question the legality of this move. I wonder if Ryanair would also charge it's staff for collecting income tax on behalf of the revenue?

I here that MEP Simon Busuttil is asking questions both of Ryanair and the Civil Aviation Authority about this matter.
I am going to reserve judgement at this stage, but you can rest assured, I will be asking Ryanair for a refund of €46.00 for the two of us, on my arrival at Malta airport today (Friday). I am not feeling optimistic. Watch this space for the next part of the saga.

Please complete my survey on the right side of the page if you qualify.

"Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration and co-operation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace". Dwight D Eisenhower.

2008-11-08T11:19:00.010+01:00

The Budget in Malta.

I have been very guarded in my opinions since I moved here to sunny Gozo to live, but hey what the hell I am a taxpayer here now so I think I am entitled to voice an opinion. I have just witnessed the build up, and the announcement, followed by the public backlash of Malta's 2008 budget. Some of it good, some of it not so good and some decisions (much like the UK ) not fully thought through.

First of all congratulations to Malta on moving from the cheapest petrol and diesel in Europe at the start of 2008, to having the dearest fuel in Europe at the end of 2008. The rest of Europe has been slashing the price of fuel as world oil prices plummet, here the government has increased prices? This is not a personal whinge as my petrol consumption is minimal, but the local population is already suffering, as prices rise and wages remain static.

A tax has been applied to plastic carrier bags, these are normally given away in the supermarkets when doing the weekly shop. I don't disagree with discouraging the use of carrier bags as they do cause a considerable problem to the environment in the quantities that we throw them away, 'BUT' since refuse is collected every day here on the Maltese Islands the main receptacle for the storage of rubbish to be collected by the dustman are these carrier bags.

So remove the carrier bags from the equation and people will have to find something else to put the rubbish in for collection, the only thing I can think of is plastic refuse sacks sold in supermarkets. The result is you have simply replaced one type of plastic bag for another and strangely enough, at the same time the government has discovered another opportunity with which to raise taxes under a green banner, but without actually solving the problem. The refuse bags are heavier duty plastic than the carrier bags so will take even longer to degrade when tipped into landfill!!

"Conscience is what makes a boy tell his mother before his sister does". Evan Esar.

2008-10-25T18:06:00.008+02:00

28 Great Excuses to Visit Gozo.

If you’d like to visit Gozo for a holiday or short break, but you’re searching for the right excuse and opportunity to go, you’re in luck. Pick any one of these plausible or quirky excuses and start booking!

1. Gozo is great for your health, low pollution, lots of sun, fresh fruit and the freshest fish to be found anywhere in the Mediterranean, I mean, you’re health is very important, isn’t it?

2. Ancient history: Ġgantija temples predate the piramids of Egypt by 1000 years, erected about 3500BC, and so one of the very first in the world.

3. One of the finest diving locations in Europe with caves galore.

4. You’d like to watch the greatest sunrise and sunsets while sitting on top of one of Gozo's dramatic cliffs.

5. You want to find out if geckos really talk and if they have English accents.

6. Have you seen the hotel deals? Oh they are the best I’ve seen in a long, long time!

7. You want to stargaze in one of the best spots on earth.

8. You’d like to swim in the morning and sunbathe in the afternoon. You can do both on Gozo.

9. You need to rev up the romance with your other half.

10. You’d like to get married in a beautiful location, go on a Mediterranean honeymoon, or renew your vows or celebrate a significant event.

11. You’d like to learn about ancient civilisations. Um, we’ll say the excuse is you’ve developed a sudden interest in sociology.

13. You need to earn some frequent flier miles.

14. You’re scared of snakes. Gozo does not have snakes, (well not poisonous ones)

15. You love challenging roads.

16. You’d love to try something other than French or Italian wine, Gozo has some great wines.

17. You want to make your friends jealous by sporting a nice tan.

18. Getting highlights at the hair salon is very expensive, so go to Gozo and get them for free.

19. The weather is starting to get cold and you need a warm up.

20. Your local bar just does not stay open long enough.

21. You’ve been reading The Rough Guide for a while, and now you just need to go see for yourself why Gozo is a great holiday destination.

22. You need a little joy in your life.

23. You love to hike and cycle to see rewarding views.

24. You’re a budding meteorologist and you’d like to study the micro climate on the island.

26. The local population are just sooo friendly.

27. I live here, so it must be good.

28. And, last but not least, you need a bloody holiday!!

So, which excuse will you use?

Hope is a waking dream. Aristotle.

2008-10-19T18:40:00.008+02:00

Choose Your Domain Name Carefully.

In the early day's of the Internet at a time when computers were really only for geeks and were just starting to make there way into peoples homes, I took an interest in website design and learnt the basics of HTML and how to put a website together. I went on to produce firstly a website for a friend whom owned a hotel in the Cotswolds and charged him very little money having explained that it was my first attempt and on the understanding that he would need to be patient with me, I actually did a half decent job and he seemed happy with what I had done. I did a website for an antiques dealer and he to was satisfied with the results. I soon realised that web design is about more than just the technicalities behind the process you also need an eye for design, now technical ability I have, an eye for design I don't have and I soon became aware of my shortcomings in this area and stopped doing websites.

One of the rules of web design is choose your domain name wisely. All of these are companies that didn't spend quite enough time considering how their online names might appear - and perhaps be misread...

Who Represents is where you can find the name of the agent that represents any celebrity. Their Web site is
www.whorepresents.com/
Experts Exchange is a knowledge base where programmers can exchange Advice and views at
www.expertsexchange.com/
Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at
www.penisland.net/
Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at
www.therapistfinder.com/
There's the Italian Power Generator company,
www.powergenitalia.com/
And don't forget the Mole Station Native Nursery in New South Wales,
www.molestationnursery.com/
If you're looking for IP computer software, there?s always
www.ipanywhere.com/
The First Cumming Methodist Church Web site is
www.cummingfirst.com/
And the designers at Speed of Art await you at their wacky Web site,
www.speedofart.com/

"Wisdom is what's left after we've run out of personal opinions". Cullen Hightower.

2008-10-13T06:43:00.013+02:00

Munxar, Gozo. In the Morning.

I am normally an early riser, I wake in the morning somewhere between 6.00am & 7.00am, 5 or 6 hours sleep is normally enough for me. I find the mornings are my most productive time, I get far more done am. than I do pm, I get no pleasure whatsoever from lying in bed once I have woken.
The first thing I can hear on awaking is one of the local cockerels crowing at the top of his voice, and then 2 or three others in the locality will join in, now the local competition has started between the local poultry to see which one can outdo the other. The first thing friends that stay with us will comment on is 'the bloody crowing cockerels'.
This time of the year the temperature is around 20degrees first thing in the morning, and as I step out on to my bedroom balcony and look out across the slightly greening valley at the sunrise over Victoria, the capital of Gozo, I can see where the baking summer has previously parched the landscape a dusty brown almost desert like colour. I can see the criss cross of the boundaries of the small parcels of farmland as they sweep down the edge of the hillside into the valley below where the local farmers are starting to work.
I hear the distant sound of the church bells calling the local population to morning mass.
Alongside the cockerel chorus the birds will be singing in harmony, then in the distance a sudden commotion as one of the local farmers bids me good morning, 'bongu Steve' whilst moving his herd of goats and sheep, bells around there necks clanging as they walk, to pasture at the end of the road to graze for the day, this does not stop the herd pausing momentarily to graze on the plants in the pots outside peoples houses before being hurried along again.

The peace of the morning is then shattered by the diesel death rattle of one of the farmers as he starts his old tractor, ploughs attached, before proceeding to his own parcel of land nearby.
The air has the smell of burning about it, a combination of wood smoke and grass as the farmers burn the fields prior to ploughing and planting the winter crops.
Around 7.30 we get the arrival of the first of many of the street vendors, shattering the silence of the village, announcing there arrival with the sound of blasting musical air horns, each has his own unique tune so that you can tell which service they are actually offering. They will be selling general groceries like toilet paper, bleach, beer, and bottled water. Then another will offer bottled gas or how about fresh fish caught that morning. Bread from one of the local bakers, fresh fruit and vegetable direct from the local farmers, and they are generally cheaper than buying from the supermarket. Only down side is that you have to be in at the time they pass.

All this is a far cry from my old life in London, where the first thing I would hear on stepping out side would be the sound of traffic on the nearby A1 dual carriageway. Am I happy to be here in Munxar.....You Bet.

'Life is something that everyone should try at least once'. Henry J Tillman.

2008-10-09T07:19:00.005+02:00

I Am Thirsty.

I am a big fan of responsible drinking, to get drunk is not funny, not clever, and is certainly not good for your health. I have never been drunk in my life........however the subject did come up whilst I was out recently having a drink with friends and avoiding getting drunk, these were some of the conclusions we came to.

THE FIVE STAGES OF DRUNKENNESS

Stage 1 -- Smart

This is when you suddenly become an expert on every subject. You know all, and greatly wish to express this knowledge to anyone who

will listen. At this stage you are also always right. And of course
the person you are talking too is very wrong. You will talk for
hours trying to convince someone that you are right. This makes for an
interesting argument when both parties are "smart". Two people talking,
in fact, arguing about a subject neither one really knows anything
about, but are convinced that they are they complete authority on the
subject. This makes for great entertainment for those get the opportunity to
listen in.

Stage 2 -- Handsome/Pretty

This is when you are convinced that you are the best looking person in
the entire room and everyone is looking at you. You begin to wink at
perfect strangers and ask them to dance because of course, they had been
admiring you the whole evening. You are the center of attention, and all
eyes are directed at you because you are the most beautiful thing on the
face of the earth. Now keep in mind that you are still smart, so you can
talk to this person who has been admiring you about any and all subjects
under the sun.

Stage 3 -- Rich

This is when you suddenly become the richest person in the world. You can
buy drinks for the entire bar and put it on your bill because you surely
have an armored truck full of your money in the car park. You can
also make bets in this stage. Now of course you still know all, so you
will always win all your bets. And you have no concern for how much
money you bet because you have all the money in the world. You will also
begin to buy drinks for all the people in the bar who are admiring you
because you are now the smartest, prettiest, and richest person on the
face of the earth.

Stage 4 -- Bulletproof

You can now pick fights with the people you have been betting money with
because you cannot be hurt by anything. At this point you would go up to
the boyfriend of the woman who had been admiring your beautiful self
all evening and challenge him to a battle of wits for money. You have no
worry about losing this battle of wits because you know all, have all
the money to cover this bet, and you obviously win a fight that might
erupt if he looses.

Stage 5 -- Invisible

This is the final stage of drunkenness. At this point you can do
absolutely anything because no one can see you. You can get up and dance
on a table; you can strip down to your underwear, to impress the people
who have been admiring you all evening, because the rest of the people
in the room cannot see you. You are also invisible to the person whom
you have picked a fight with earlier in the evening. You can walk through
the streets singing at the top of your lungs (because of course you are
still smart and know the tune perfectly) and no one will think anything
of it because they can't see you. All your social inhibitions are
gone. You can do anything you like, because no one will know.

And you certainly won't remember !

So stick to the lemonade in future.

"It takes only one drink to get me drunk. The trouble is, I can't remember if it's the thirteenth or the fourteenth". George Burns.

2008-10-02T07:57:00.004+02:00

You Can't say we weren't warned.

So this is the way cowboy capitalism ends, not with a terrific bang, but a taxpayer bailout.

For years, a small group of experts complained that finance companies were pushing ruinous payday loans and high-interest mortgages like crack cocaine but hardly anyone listened. And those who spoke up were loudly dismissed by the powers that be as ignorant of the self regulating powers of free markets.
Last night the U.S. Senate passed a $700 billion financial market rescue package, loaded with inducements for the House of Representatives to approve, this followed the House's rejection of an earlier version. I think all the wealthy countries of the planet have played some part in this mess we find ourselves in today, UK included.

This has all been said before many times over, and I am no expert so here is a little friendly financial humour to help us through the crisis.

The Dollar bill has been redesigned..

Corporate accountability..

"The great thing about democracy is that it gives every voter a chance to do something stupid". Art Spander.

2008-09-29T12:01:00.006+02:00

The Return of Sauvignon Gris.

What the hell is Sauvignon Gris I here you ask, it is a grape variety from the dim and distant past of the wine world that until recently was mainly used for blending, as a lesser grape you would not normally find it mentioned on the label. It fell out of fashion because it would not (Yield) produce as many grapes per vine as it's close relation Sauvignon blanc and so was not as profitable to grow. With the world now flooded with wine so to speak and production out stripping demand, wine producers are always looking for an edge, something different to put on the label.

Enter Sauvignon Gris, I have seen France & Chile start to promote this wine recently and be shown as a variety in it's own right. It is a white wine (although the grapes appear pink) for all you sauvignon blanc fans out there, it does not have the green grass fresh and gooseberries aroma of sauvignon blanc and is less sharp on the palate but is fuller bodied with a hint of lime. Expect to pay £5.00 to £9.00 for a bottle depending on the winery involved. So if you are fed up with the usual and are looking for somthing a little different give one a try. I have not found it here in Sunny Gozo, but I know in the UK it can be found in Marks & Spencer and Waitrose.

"Stay healthy, never eat more than you can lift". Steve Holmes.

2008-09-23T17:49:00.007+02:00

Valletta Park & Ride.

I had to drive to Valletta for a business meeting this week, wrench myself away from the sunny lazy shores of Gozo, I was looking forward to the trip I have after all been coming to Gozo for many years and have never got round to visiting the capital of Malta. Plenty of local advise was forthcoming from locals, don't drive into Valletta itself, park in one of the park and ride car parks on the outskirts of the city and catch the bus into the centre. I am used to schemes such as park & ride many larger towns and city's across the UK have them, and I think they are a good idea.

The car parks seemed to be well signposted, we duly found our car park it was fairly full but spaces were available. I parked the car, locked it......... now ...........I looked around for information, is the car park free? I could not find any signs to tell me I had to pay, then the paranoia sets in there are no signs to tell me it's free either, I know, I will ask someone...... not a single person in sight, I guess it must be free to park, now where do I go for the bus? it is a big car park there must be a sign here somewhere with information to tell me where to go, a further 5 minutes past whilst I wandered aimlessly around looking for either a sign or someone to ask. Then I found a tunnel, above the tunnel the sign said use staircase through the tunnel, I thought well my surname is Holmes I had better live up to the name and took this as a clue, climbed the staircase and found the bus terminal, Uncle Sherlock would have been proud. I found my way into the centre of Valletta had a good look around and it is great place to visit, I also had a successful business meeting, So other than the car park experience a good day was had.

In future I will know what to do when using the park & ride, but a few small simple signs with the relevant information on them within the car park area would be very useful for first time visitors like me and other first time tourists.

I almost forgot to mention, the car parking is free in the park & ride car parks, the buses into Valletta are also free from the park & ride car parks.

'Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense'. Gertrude Stein.

2008-09-20T17:48:00.005+02:00

Rich Impressions of Gozo & Comino.

I first started blogging back in 2006, one of the first pieces I wrote for my blog was the one below. I have decided to regurgitate it here, because I am often asked how I found Gozo in the first place.

I always like to read written articles about the Maltese Islands, fond of the place as I am.I first came across Gozo in 1986, after reading an advert in a diving magazine, Gill and I decided it would be a great place for a quiet get away from it all kind of break. In 1987 we visited for the first time staying in the Cornucopia Hotel, (a lot smaller then than it is now) well I have to say that we really enjoyed it and have been returning on a regular basis since then, over the years I think we have stayed at most of the hotels on the island and lately in a variety of farmhouses. Last year we made no less than 4 trips to the islands. Now I do not want to paint Gozo as some kind of utopia it does have many short-comings, its just that it is such a contrast to the UK and I suppose that you always seek what you have not got in life. I have discovered that generally people that have been brought up in quiet country side type surroundings tend to seek out the hustle bustle and bright lights of the city, those that reside or work in the city look for the opposite. So what do I like about the place?...... well living and working in and around London as I do I suppose that the above applies, then there are the usual cliches, the climate, the people, low crime, neighbours that will actually acknowledge that you even exist, the way of life, the laid back don't give a Sh*t attitude, it is all some how........ refreshing. Anyway back to the main point, this particular piece by Daniel Scott of The Guardian newspaper I found was very well written and well focused, with a few warts thrown in for good measure. I do like a balanced view.

Two paragraphs below, for the full article click on the link............"After an active week exploring Gozo and Comino, I am left with a host of rich impressions. I can picture two small but stocky sun-blushed Maltese islands with sheer cream cliffs and intricately sculpted shores. I remember Gozo's ubiquitous big-domed churches - 50 among a population of just under 30,000 - and my first sight of the world's oldest surviving man-made structure - the Ggantija temples, dating to 3,600BC - standing on a high ridge on the island. I also recall cycling along hillsides full of olive groves, citrus trees and caper bushes on Gozo and bursts of fragrant wild thyme as we hike among Comino's stony slopes, on a cloudless day. Finally, I remember being mesmerised by the rhythmic pouring of oil onto my forehead during an Ayurvedic massage treatment at the Hotel Kempinski on Gozo".

travel.guardian.co.uk

"Paradise is exactly like where you are right now... only much, much better". Laurie Anderson

2008-09-17T12:18:00.010+02:00

Paint it White.

When did we decide that having all the roofs in the world black was a good idea? I know, tar is black, and that's what many flat roofs are sealed with, but I really can't imagine a more stupid decision (is that good english)?
It's fine in the winter, when the roof becomes a giant solar heat collector. But there's no way to turn that giant solar heat collector off when the hot weather comes around.

Here in Gozo in our farmhouse we are lucky enough to have air conditioning in the master bedroom, and at the height of summer this does get used regularly, not good for global warming and certainly not good for the wallet with the cost of electricity at the moment.

Now here is the interesting part, simply painting your roof white in a hot climate could decrease air conditioning bills for those buildings by 20%. That's why California has required all new buildings to have white roofs for the past few years.
A study has shown that if the 100 biggest cities painted all their roofs white, and switched their road materials to lighter colours (ie concrete instead of asphalt) it would reflect enough light and heat back into space to entirely offset the global warming of the last few decades.
It's not a proper fix for the problem, obviously, for that, we need clean, sustainable energy. But it could buy us enough time to make the changes we really need. I feel myself going all green all of a sudden.

"He who wonders discovers that this in itself is wonder". M.C. Escher.

2008-09-03T12:35:00.005+02:00

More Web Browsers than you can Shake a Stick at.

We have Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 3, and now Google's first browser, (still in Beta) is called 'Chrome' and of course, I had to take a look. So after a quick download and a quick install, I started to browse the web just to see how it feels. At the moment having played for a couple of hours it doesn't feel very different from Firefox 3. Rumour has it that Chrome might be a little faster, but it's hard to tell on a fast computer. Also, my Google Chrome does not have any plug-ins installed at the moment. Overall, the first impression is good. Chrome is something that I will continue to play with, although I suspect that I will keep my Firefox 3 around until Chrome has some equivalent plug-ins, which is where the real value of Firefox lies.

Chrome seems to consume considerably less memory than Firefox 3 & IE7, this would offer an advantage on computers that are older or smaller laptops with less memory. I think that I will need to play with this one a bit more, at this early stage I am not 100% convinced that Chrome will do any more than the other players in the market do already. Download the Beta here and try it yourself.

"The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office". Robert Frost.

2008-08-29T17:58:00.015+02:00

The Old Farmhouse Door.

When we bought the old Gozo farmhouse back in 2003 it was in one hell of a state, the restoration of the old house did take the best part of two years to complete. One of the questions we were keen to ask is how old is the place, we were told it was built around1795 - 1800 so I think we can assume it has stood the test of time. We were keen to keep as many of the original features as possible, and those that were beyond restoration we had made new but to the old specification where possible. The windows and the main front door was about all we could salvage from the front of the house, the back of the house was completely beyond help in the way of doors and windows anyway.

So we had the doors and windows stripped back to the original 200+ year old wood, restored and refitted, thing is I was never really happy with the finish, so I have just taken on the job of finishing the doors to a standard that pleases fussy old me (check out the picture). I am pleased with the finished job, still bears the scars of time and yet, easy on the eye. What do you think?

Then I got to thinking (dangerous), what was going on in the world when these doors and windows were fitted first time around?

1795 The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed.

1801: Tsar Paul I of Russia demands the return of Malta to the Knights.

1803 England declares war on France, (again).

1805 Lord Nelson defeats the Spanish and the French at the Battle of Trafalgar.

I am sure Admiral Horatio Nelson would approve, if he were here to see the door for himself.

"History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives". Abba Eban.

2008-08-25T08:45:00.010+02:00

Music, Rock, Blues and Last FM.

I have this insatiable need to listen to music, it does not matter where I am or what I am doing I need music, in the car, the house, working on the computer, I do like to have some music playing. If you listen to music a lot you need either a massive music collection or be happy to listen to the same tracks over and over.

Enter Last FM. You simply give the search engine an example of your taste in music, either a music track, group or style of music , and Last FM comes up with a selection of music based on your taste, streamed straight to your PC, you then either reject or confirm the tracks that Last FM comes up and they will continuously tweak your preferred style of music. I think it is a great idea, I was a bit suspicious as to how effective it would be when I heard about it, but I have to say it works really well.

For example I told Last FM to search for music in the style of the Eagles and it has come up with Chicago, The Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan, not groups that I would normally listen to but hey, something new, and variety is the spice of life after all.

New music is uploaded to Last FM every day, get some variety, all you have to do is register with them. And it's legal honestly. Thank's Tony for pointing it out to me.

"To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other". Jack Handey

2008-08-18T07:51:00.017+02:00

Malta and Gozo and why Competition is Good.

When we arrived here in the Maltese Island it was late spring early summer, we had driven here from London UK. It was around the same time that fuel prices around the world went through the roof. The countries that we had driven through included UK of course, France and Italy, throughout our journey we did see a range of fuel prices, also keep in mind that the euro against the UK pound is and was very strong.

We found that the UK had the most expensive fuel in Europe by quite a margin. £1.08 a litre (unleaded) in London in April and peaking at around £1.22 in July, (I am not going to bore you with all the prices across Europe). France was the next most expensive followed by Italy and then Malta. When I put fuel in my car on arrival here in Malta, I paid around €0.95c per litre, I thought 'petrol is cheap here'.

The difference is the amount of tax collected by the relevant governments, (85% of the cost of a litre of fuel in the UK is tax) but it also depends on how tough the competition is.

Around the world since the end of July oil prices have been plummeting. This has been reflected across Europe as competition from rival companies to continuously undercut one another, to the extent that petrol prices are falling sometimes 1 or 2 times a week in the UK as the world oil price falls. The competition for customers is fierce, there is a bottom line that they can go to but you can bet that the price is as good as it can get. As the big oil companies and the supermarkets battle for our custom, great for us, the consumer.

Enemalta supplies all fuel here on the Maltese Islands, sets the price and decides when prices should go up or down, because there is no competition Enemalta can set prices as and when they like.

Petrol compared to the rest of Europe is still cheap here, it is interesting to note that fuel prices here seem to have stuck at just below €1.20 per litre and have been this price for the last three weeks. For example unleaded petrol in the UK has tumbled in the last three weeks to £1.06 (sterling) (€1.33).

I conclude that whilst Malta is still cheap for fuel compared to the rest of Europe if you had competition from other oil companies, an open market, and rival companies were to set up here so that you would have brands like Esso, Repsol, Texaco and how about an independent Maltese brand, all competing for our custom, the competition would help the price of fuel change as the world oil price changes, and not as and when Enemalta decides that it perhaps really should think about it. Petrol here on the Maltese Islands is cheap, but it could be cheaper. Competition is good for the economy and good for the customer.......Competition is good.

"Competition is a painful thing, but it produces great results". Jerry Flint

2008-08-07T13:40:00.005+02:00

Would Giant Kites be preferential to wind farms for the Islands of Malta & Gozo?

The quest for renewable energy that every modern nation on the planet is trying to harness, for the greater good, the benefit of our wallets and most important of all the benefit of the environment, Malta and Gozo are no different.

One particular path that is being pursued here is wind energy, and the same arguments are coming up here as they did in the UK. The benefits of wind farms and monster wind turbines destroying the landscape views, and you would need so many to make a significant difference. Could kites be the answer?

While deciding how to capture wind energy, scientists from the Netherlands went out and flew a giant kite. The 10-sq-meter kite was attached to a generator and managed to produce 10 kW of power. With the success of this kite, they’re planning to test a 50 kW version of the kite, dubbed Laddermill, and if that succeeds, they’re proposing a multi-kite version that could get as much as 100 MW - enough for 100,000 homes.

The kite generates energy by pulling on its string on the way up. When it gets to the end of the string, it’s pulled back down and then sent back up for another flight. The amount of energy captured is maximized by flying the kite in figure eights, and bringing it down in a fall like a glider.

Considering how easily the kite takes off in the strong wind – no running, jumping, or Peter-Pan-wishful-thinking involved – I can imagine that a whole lot of power could be generated. Google thinks so too, having invested $10 million in a US kite project last year.

The Dutch scientists believe they could generate power comparable to the price of coal, and 50% cheaper than wind turbines. Now, like most renewable energy endeavors, all these researchers need, is the funding to back the project.

"The goal of life is living in agreement with nature". Zeno

2008-08-06T08:37:00.008+02:00

London Fire Brigade Finale. 2005 - 2008.

In 2003 I was offered the opportunity to get involved in the legal side of the fire service, helping to police fire safety law and legislation in the London Borough of Barnet. In any job that I have been involved in I have always been an outside man and very active, to take on this job would mean spending 60% of my time behind a desk and I thought 'will I manage to cope being stuck behind a desk and away from the day to day action that is the operational side of the London Fire Brigade'. I bit the bullet and went for it, it was after all only on a trial basis I was always going to be returning to operational duty in a few months.

Let me explain more about what Fire Safety teams do or what the role of a fire safety officer is.

My role would be to enforce the relevant fire legislation and to help educate businesses, and where legislation was not being followed to the required standards to advise or prosecute with the help of the London Fire Brigades legal team. Prosecution could vary from a warning or a fine and in the more serious cases, a prison sentence.

In summary, the primary focus of fire safety is to ensure public safety from fire and its effects, in places used for commercial, business and leisure activities, and that the law is complied with. (Sound like a text book.)

I remained in Fire Safety for 9 months and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. During my 9 months in the team I took every qualification that I could and attended every course that was available to me, I shadowed more experienced officers to learn the trade. Fire Safety is viewed as a kind of black art within the London Fire Brigade because the only people that fully understand it are those that have been involved with it, and this applies from the lowest ranks right to the very top.

After 9 months I returned to station and got straight back into the old routine, it was as if I had never been away, nine to five was gone and back to shifts, nights, weekend and public holiday working.

In 2005 I was offered a position in the Soho Fire Safety team, probably the busiest and most challenging team in London, the job would include promotion and yet more courses and qualifications, I jumped at the chance and I was in. On top of the previously described responsibilities I would also be given the task of consulting with Westminster City Council's building control, I would also consult with planners and architects on fire safety systems in buildings offer general advise to the business community where necessary. We all had specialist roles within the team and I dealt with premises holding a gambling licence, so clubs and casinos. The Soho area of London is a great place to work and I enjoyed my final years with Soho team.

And so in a nut shell that was my working life with the London Fire Brigade, 30 years and 2 months service, how will they continue without me!!

You can find out more about the Soho area of London here.

You can find out more about Fire Safety at work here

"If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere". Frank A Clark.

2008-08-02T18:59:00.008+02:00

Internet Explorer and Sitemeter Fallout.

I have been getting an increasing number of browser errors recently, I thought it was a problem with IE7. I also use Firefox it depends on the task I am doing which browser I use. So if I ever have a problem like many I Google it and this is what I found.

Traffic measuring tool Sitemeter is blocking users of Internet Explorer from accessing sites using the service.
According to a number of web reports, the problem happens when anybody using Internet Explorer tries to open any sites with the Site Meter code present, and thousands of websites/blogs have been shut off from IE users.
Users of Internet Explorer receive the following message when visiting any site with Site Meter installed:

Internet Explorer cannot open the Internet site http://www.nameofsite.comOperation aborted

A search using Google Blog Search found that the issue is widespread, and the only known solution at this time being to remove the SiteMeter embed code from the website or blog. Notably users of Firefox, Safari and other browsers are not affected by the issue.
So far, Sitemeter has made no official statement.

And yes you guessed it, I use sitemeter to keep track of the traffic visiting my blog.

While we are on the techie stuff some of Google's staff have left the company and started a new improved version designed to compete with Google, its called http://www.cuil.com/ it seems pretty good so far although the different layout is awkward. I think they will have an uphill task knocking Google of it's perch.

"It's a well known fact that computing devices such as the abacus were invented thousands of years ago. But it's not well known that the first use of a common computer protocol occured in the Old Testament. This, of course, was when Moses aborted the Egyptians' process with a control-sea..." Tom Galloway

2008-07-28T07:53:00.009+02:00

Eco-Gozo Vision 2015.... Have your say.

The above is the title of a public consultation programme that has been set up by the governments Minister for Gozo, Giovanna Debono. The document and website were brought to my attention by a friend that knows I am interested in the welfare and future of Gozo, I was heavily involved in the future development of the local community when I lived in the UK.

So what is this all about? I quote - 'Your contribution will help us develop further our vision of transforming our island into an eco-island - a model of sustainable development'.

and

'Eco-Gozo is a concept which summarises Government’s vision for the future of this island. It is a vision which aims at transforming Gozo and Gozitan society into a sustainable reality in its wider sense – not only environmentally, but also socially and economically'.

The government of Malta in the past has often been guilty of failing to recognise that Gozo has different needs and that many of the policies written for Malta are not always right for Gozo, Gozo has different needs, different problems and therefore they requires different solutions.

This consultation exercise is a big step in the right direction, it is aimed at all 'stakeholders', that is political jargon for anyone whom lives, holidays, invests or has any interest in the welfare of Gozo.

I have been involved with a number of consultation exercises both in the community and in my previous profession, and I often find they are either set up so that the politicians involved can say that they have consulted, and then do what they intended to do anyway.

Or they are very well run and achieve a satisfactory outcome for all involved, lets hope that this one turns out to be the latter of the two. Get involved, I am.

If you have an interest or a stake go to the website and have your say.

"I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians". Charles De Gaulle.

2008-07-22T09:10:00.008+02:00

London Fire Brigade Part 3. 1992 - 2005.

A change of stations again this time to Finchley in north London, I was looking this time for a change in direction and to specialize, Finchley had what was known at the time as an ET or emergency rescue tender later would become known as an FRU (fire rescue unit) and I needed further training to qualify to use all the specialist equipment carried on these trucks. I arrived at Finchley on the white watch, the station had three trucks pump, pump ladder and FRU.

I completed my course and achieved the relevant qualifications. A Fire Rescue Unit (FRU) is a special type of rescue vehicle used by the London Fire Brigade.

A major incident from this time was in April 1993 when at the height of the IRA,s bombing campaign, in London's financial district an IRA lorry bomb devastates the Bishopsgate area, killing one and wounding 44.

FRUs are equipped with heavy lifting, winching, cutting and pulling tools, floodlighting, longer duration breathing apparatus (vital for rescuing people from tunnels deep underground) and portable generators and other specialised equipment. FRU crews are specially trained and equipped to handle complex rescues, including those from road and rail accidents, water, mud and ice, urban search and rescue incidents such as collapsed buildings, chemical spills and difficult rescues at height. These vehicles would later play a major role in the July 7th 2005 London bombings.
Nine of the Brigade’s existing fleet of Fire Rescue units were mobilised to the London bombings of 7 July 2005 and since then the LFB has upped its number of FRUs from 10 (including one reserve) to 16, but not before first cutting the FRU's from ten to nine. A study took place on behalf of the politicians and all the results were produced to prove that the LFB could afford to reduce the FRU's by one, this would save money, £900,000.00 a year, bloody politicians, at the time the protests of the people on the front line were ignored.

It took the tragedy the July 7th London Bombings to change the minds of the politicians, it is not a nice way of saying 'I told you so'. It is sadley ironic that I was at school with one of the victims killed in this incident.

I attended many tragic and sometimes disturbing incidents in the time that I was involved with the FRU's but at the same time it gave another dimension to the job and was a very interesting part of my career.

The final part will follow.

"Our lives teach us who we are". Salman Rushdie

2008-07-15T22:47:00.002+02:00

Unrest in Malta.

A bit of education for you today, "The Encyclopedia of Business and Finance" not my normal read but I thought I would check out the meaning of the term Monopoly. Described thus,

'A monopoly, in its pure form, is actually quite rare. The majority of large firms operate in a market structure of oligopoly, which means that a few sellers divide the bulk of the market. People often have the impression that the goals of a monopolist are somehow evil and grasping while those of a competitor are wholesome and altruistic. The truth is that the same motives drive the monopolistic firm and the competitive firm: Both strive to maximize profits. A basic proposition in economics is that monopoly control over a good will result in too little of the good being produced at too high a price. Economists have often advocated antitrust policy, public enterprise, or regulation to control the abuse of monopoly power'.

So what does this have to do with anything, a fellow blogger Sabine tells the story in her own very carefully chosen words. Here

Competition is a painful thing, but it produces great results. Jerry Flint.

2008-07-08T22:03:00.013+02:00

Grocery Shopping in Gozo.

Back in the soggy, chilly UK after Gill and I were married shopping would take place usually on a Friday evening after work. We would both be tired following a long hard day at the coal face and not really feel like shopping at all, but it meant we could avoid the hoards that would fill the supermarkets on a Saturday and the opportunity for a lay in the following day.

Then the UK supermarkets started opening 24hrs a day and so we shopped once every 2 weeks. We both hated food shopping so the less time spent in the supermarket the better, the less time spent hearing tuts because you have put your trolley right next to where the young lady with the screaming kids wants to get at. Listen to the check out girl wish you 'have a nice day' not because she means it but because she has been on a customer service course, and they have told her that's what you have to say to the customer to ensure the swift return of that customer.

In recent years we even managed to extend our shopping to once every three weeks, we did of course still need to pick up basics bread, milk etc, but you could get these basics in a newsagent or a petrol station, and your vegetables would last for weeks at a time because that is how they have been designed, sorry grown.

Shopping in Gozo is a different experience altogether, food shopping here takes place at the very least every 2 days and in many cases daily which has the advantage of making the shopping experience short and sweet. The supermarkets here are packed to the doors with produce much of the fresh produce sold is grown within 5 or 10 minutes of the farm that they were grown on, and bought direct from the farmer by the store, the tomatoes can be a bit nobly with blemishes on them but taste delicious and will need to be eaten within a few days. Without the middle man to pay they are cheap, the same can be said of much of the locally grown produce of which plenty is around to choose from.

The supermarkets are dimly lit and the isles are about the width of 1 trolley, the lady behind the till will either be miserable because she is, or full of the joys of life, because she is, she may say have a nice day but that would be because she means it.

Bread needs to be bought fresh every day is top quality and very tasty, the stuff I would buy in the UK could last a week and still be edible. Do I miss the genetically modified, preservative laden, perfect, tasteless looking specimens on sale in UK supermarkets? I would have to say no. I know that Gordon Brown is harping on about the amount of food thrown away by UK families, here in Gozo because we shop on almost a daily basis much less gets thrown away, here in this household it is just non recyclable packaging that gets thrown away.

"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found". Calvin Trillin.

2008-07-03T09:53:00.009+02:00

London Fire Brigade Part 2 1982 - 1992

It was around this time that I moved stations, still in North London, this time Harrow. A smaller station with one Pump and a Foam Tender that would cover London's Heathrow airport. I also decided it was time to specialize and I applied to become a driver. At this time to drive a fire engine you simply did a driving course passed your lorry heavy goods vehicle test returned to station and that was all the training you received you were straight in at the deep end so to speak.

These days of course driver training is a lot more involved with blue light training and skid pan training it can take months to qualify. Despite all this additional training the accident rate is considerably higher now than it was 15 or 20 years ago. I passed my test and spent the next 10 years driving all manor of vehicles as well as regular fire engines, foam tenders, hose layers, heavy rescue units, light rescue units, control units and many others. With this qualification I found myself being posted almost anywhere in the London area.

It was in this period that I got my first taste of management the opportunity to act up to leading firefighter and take on additional responsibility, that included office work as well, not something that I was at all familiar with.

The big incident of this period was the Kings Cross Fire on the 18th November 1987 in which 31 people died including one firefighter, King's Cross is one of London's busiest interchanges, and is used by thousands of people daily.

The fire started under one of the wooden escalators an area where debris was allowed to accumulate, this debris caught fire from a discarded cigarette and the rest is history, this event resulted in smoking being banned on all London Underground premises and trains.

After 14 years in the job I was now considered an experienced fire fighter and was at this stage regularly leading crews at incidents. I have had to deal with wide ranging incidents from major fires, road accidents and chemical incidents to cat stuck up a tree, bird stuck up a chimney.
At this time I started to become aware of politics & politicians playing an ever bigger part in the organisation and it's decision making, many decisions being made on purely financial grounds and not on public or staff safety grounds however when these decisions where presented to the media and the public it would be in such a way as to show that it is all for the greater good, of course those people in employment with the London Fire Brigade could see what was being done but any one that made any comment to the media would be labeled a trouble maker, I started to play an ever bigger role within the union.

Tme for another change.

Part three to follow

"Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced" Soren Kierkegaard.

2008-06-27T11:29:00.005+02:00

It-Tmun Victoria Marsovin Wine Tasting Banquet.

Last Night (Thursday) I attended a vertical wine tasting hosted by It-Tmun in Victoria, Marsovin and The Definitive Good Guide to Restaurants.
What is a vertical wine tasting? well instead of tasting wines in a random fashion, the tasting can be arranged so that you taste wines from the same grape variety or the same vintage, or the same wines from different vintages. The last description was the theme of this wine tasting.
Throughout the evening we were served seven different wines with a variety of food carefully selected by Patrick Buttigieg the proprietor of It-Tmun.

On arrival we were greeted by Patrick, offered a variety of Canapes served with Cassar De Malte from Marsovin this is sparkling wine 100% Chardonnay and made using the champagne method and to the best of my knowledge is the only local made wine made using this method, the quality was obvious, floral on the nose with a hint of yeast, fresh on the palate with melon and a good medium length finish.
Soused mackerel terrine was the next course with apple cider and saffron vinaigrette. When I saw this combination on the menu I thought, this will be challenging food to match with any wine, I was surprised, the Antonin Ramla Valley Estate Chardonnay 2007 was a superb match, a big chardonnay nose, in the mouth the citrus with oak but not over oaked and not fat as some Aussie chardonnays can be.
Next course Home made Tortelloni filled with Maltese sausage, with asparagus. with these delights we had Marnisi Estate Marsaxlokk 2001 & 2006 side by side to try, the 2001 came from Marsovins private reserve and I do not think is available any longer, I think Marsovin were trying to demonstrate that Maltese wines can age and the 2001 certainly demonstrated this. For me it was the wine of the evening a classic left bank Bordeaux blend and probably the finest Maltese wine I have tasted to date with all the dark red fruits that come from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The 2001 being far more complex than the 2006, but the 2006 will get there with time. I know I will be buying a case of the 2006 to put to one side for a few years.
Calvados & Honey Glazed Local Pork Belly was served with Grande Maitre 2004 & 2005 side by side, again a good combination this wine was 50% Cabernet Sauvignon & 50% Cabernet Franc, a solid wine this one, both wines were decanted before being served however I felt that the 2005 needed maybe a couple of hours in the decanter to allow it to open up a bit more.
Trio of desserts, Tangy lemon tart, ricotta cheese cake, Brandy snap filled with nougat & amaretto truffle, these were served with Caravaggio Moscato DOK 2007 this think went with the second two desserts better than the citrus of the tangy lemon tart, while the Moscato is a dessert wine it is not over sweet and maybe that extra sweetness is what was needed for the lemon tart.

Thank you to all concerned for a wonderful evening, a particular thank you to Bernard Muscat Marsovin's wine specialist for introducing the wines, I look forward to the next event.

'Good food ends with good talk'. Geoffrey Neighor

2008-06-26T09:43:00.013+02:00

London Fire Brigade Part 1 1978 - 1982

People often ask me about my time in the London Fire Brigade, as though it might be as interesting as say the life of Gorden Ramsay or Robert Mugabe, well I probably don't quite measure up to the stories that these people could tell but I will give it a go.

So my life in the London Fire Brigade, the shortened version.

I joined the London Fire Brigade in February of 1978 having spent the previous 12 months as a Lifeguard and Swimming Instructor. Basic training lasted 16 weeks in this time you spent your time learning procedure and how to use the basic equipment of fire fighters and the theory of firefighting. Fitness also played a big part and as you proceed through the training a number of individuals would decide that the fire service was not for them.

Training was very much in the style of military training, Some people could not get on with this system of training, or found that they suffered from claustrophobia, or could not stand heights or were simply not fit enough, so from an original training group of 16 by week 3 we were down to 12.

At the end of our time at Southwark training center we all believed we were it, rough tough firefighters ready to take on the world and most of all as proud as f***.

We were posted to our various stations all across London, in my case Hendon in north London then amongst the experienced people you work alongside at the fire station you realise that you ain't so rough nor tough and you now have to learn the art of firefighting. Fires can be hot frightening places to be, but you don't think to much about this when you join.

The tv pictures that you see of firefighters surrounding a burning building with hoses aimed at the building, spraying water are the ones you see the most in the media, because these are the pictures that the media can get easy access to, the majority of fires are fought from inside the burning building and not outside, you see buildings are designed to keep water out, so you have got to get in their, perhaps this ain't the glamorous job that I thought it was going to be after all...god I could be injured doing this stuff.

In my first year at Hendon I attended many incidents however my first major fire was a warehouse in St Pancras Way in central London in October of 1978 attended by 35 pumping appliances, the fire burnt for days and unfortunately cost the life of one firefighter when a high wall collapsed, with several others being injured, a sad time for the London Fire Brigade.

It was four years I spent at station learning the art of firefighting, it was tough and a steep learning curve to follow but I enjoyed every minute of it. After the four years I had to demonstrate to a senior officer that I had learnt all that was required to be able to call myself a qualified firefighter. I am pleased to inform you that I passed with flying colours, so could now call myself a proper firefighter.

Part 2 to follow.

Photo courtesy of Paul Wood.

"Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight" George Carling.

2008-06-09T07:50:00.005+02:00

Malta, Pioneers in Digital Radio.

DAB stands for Digital Audio Broadcasting and is the future of radio broadcasting. It's interference free and features a wide and varied choice of stations. If you live in a poor signal area where the FM signal is barely audible, then DAB should offer you better reception.
DAB radio was taken up with vigour across the bigger countries in Europe from around 1999, a regular radio was not able to pick up a DAB signal so it was necessary for those interested in being a part of this new revolution to invest in one of the new radios to be able to receive the stations in this new format. At this point in time Malta had no facility to receive DAB radio.

Then last year the World DAB organisation announced a new broadcast standard, DAB+, which offers better sound quality than the DAB standard already in use across Europe. This has left many that have already invested in the new technology, concerned that current DAB digital radio will soon become obsolete, this may be true of course as the older DAB radios will not be able to receive the new service although some of the newer radios may be able to be upgraded. Many of the countries with DAB already established are reluctant to promote the new standard as the older DAB has not really been around that long.

Enter Malta, because they did not adopt the older DAB system Malta is in prime position to take on this much improved technology, and Malta will be one of the first countries in Europe to adopt the new standard, before both the UK & Germany.

These new radios are available in Malta anytime soon, prices start at €75.00, trials start I believe from next month (July). So here is your opportunity to lose all that hiss, crackle, squeak and pop that is normally associated with FM and AM radios.

For more info Click Here

"Everyone is a genius at least once a year. The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together". Georg Christoph Lichtenberg.

2008-06-05T12:39:00.010+02:00

Is The Grass Greener?

We are into our second month now since our arrival here in Gozo and people keep asking 'how do you find it, is it what you expected'.

As we are still in our adjustment period for want of a better description it is difficult to say at the moment. Anyway lets try, lets look at some of our reasons for moving here.

'When we were visiting Gozo we'd dream of moving out here, We'd sit in a local cafe supping a cappuccino talking about it, and then we'd have to go home and it would be back to the grindstone.'

I know many couples spend their holidays hatching plans to escape the humdrum routines they feel trapped into back home, our plan to move Gozo started seriously around 6 years ago, although it was first mentioned tongue in cheek on our first holiday here 16 years ago.

Back to the point in question.

Get away from the London rat race.......... We have certainly done that.
Find a healthier lifestyle............... We are both more active now than we were at home, mainly because we have the time I guess.
Integrate with the local community here in Gozo, not get tied up with expat communities whom totally segregate themselves, as in Spain.......... We have made many friends here, in fact we know more locals than Brits.
The weather................. Since we arrived here 6+ weeks ago we have seen a fall of rain that lasted about 2 hours and that is it. Sun Sun Sun.
Learn to sail............ Still working on that one.
Start a business........Still working on that one.
Chill for the summer........No problems there.
Live a better quality life, a life that focuses on the actual living side of things rather than chasing more money all the time. Improving life rather than improving income........It's a tough one but I am working on it.

So is the grass greener on the other side of the fence? So far yes, early days yet, perhaps I should revisit this issue when I have been here 6+ months.

"The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be". Robert Fulghum.

2008-05-28T12:57:00.012+02:00

Learning to Sail.....Soon.

On my retirement Gill and I thought that it would be good to find a pass time that we could do together, not something that she does already and not something that I do already, something we could learn from scratch together, without one or the other having any advantage in knowledge.

So is there anyone out there on the Islands of Malta and Gozo that are willing to offer my wife and I a taste of what sailing is all about, nothing big, just a small dinghy perhaps.
You would think here on these small islands surrounded by the beautiful Mediterranean that it would be easy, not so in my experience, I mean there must be people that come here to learn to sail but certainly here on the tiny island of Gozo I can find no one willing to teach us.

I have found the 'Gozo Sailing Club' on the Internet and have left a message on the bulletin board, so far no one has responded . I notice on the website of the Gozo Sailing Club that some racing will be taking place this Sunday at Hondoq, maybe I will go along and introduce myself. I am really surprised that nobody is doing this on a commercial basis, a business opportunity for a budding entrepreneur perhaps.

"As I career towards old age, there are many things which frighten me. All the hair on my head will start to grow out of my nose. My ear lobes will swell up. My bladder will cease to function. I will become even more baffled by new technology". Jeremy Clarkson.

2008-05-20T07:37:00.012+02:00

Eric Clapton - The Autobiography

Any one that knows me is left in no doubt that I enjoy music, I am particularly fond of rock and blues. One of the artists to introduce me to what I might call true blues as opposed to the more modern development of electric blues is Eric Clapton.

My sister in law and her husband treated me to Eric Clapton's Autobiography for Christmas and it is not what I might have bought for myself, not because I don't read but because it seems every man and his dog is coming out with biographies of one form or another at the moment, some from people that have not been on the planet for more than five minutes and therefore do not have very much of substance to write about and others badly written or written by ghost writers, this fashion does not encourage one to read autobiographies.

So I have just finished reading Eric Clapton - The Autobiography, in the late 1960s, one of the most prominent pieces of graffiti seen in London and New York was "Clapton is God." Thirty years later, the guitarist and singer continues to hold the initiated enthralled, and a fair share of his present-day fans weren't even born when those words of worship were emblazoned in public. Clapton's meandering and groundbreaking musical career has been punctuated by extreme personal hardship and tragedy. Through the emotional truth of his music, he has sought refuge and release from the suffering of drug and alcohol addiction and personal relationships gone wrong, also the deaths of several loved ones.

Throughout the book, Clapton discloses his relationships with women, his bouts with drugs and alcohol, as well as the death of his son, Conor. Referring to the lowest points of his life, he states “…the only reason that I didn’t commit suicide was that I knew I wouldn’t be able to drink anymore if I was dead.”

His friendship with George Harrison and especially his obsession with Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd, returns again and again throughout the book. However, he barely touches on Harrison’s death, which I found surprising. I also noticed that he doesn’t hand over a great deal of praise to many living musicians; most of those he holds in high regard are dead. However, in all fairness, he doesn’t thoroughly bash those musicians whom he criticizes.

As harrowing as it is fascinating, this Autobiography offers a valiant portrait of an brilliant music legend. Honest and candid, Eric Clapton confides his life story with much the same sincerity that distinguishes his music. If you like Clapton you will certainly enjoy the book.

"Actions have consequences...first rule of life. And the second rule is this - you are the only one responsible for your own actions". Holly Lisle

2008-05-06T07:21:00.006+02:00

Two Weeks in Gozo.

It is 2 weeks since we arrived here in Gozo and it has been quite a busy time, within a few days of us arriving here our container full of belongings from the UK arrived here with 150+ boxes. Our house here in Munxar is already partly furnished so we have been trying to find homes for what amounts to the contents of another house, we are almost straight again now.

We have had to arrange telephone and Internet connection, we are going through the rather drawn out task of obtaining a Maltese ID card, whilst the UK population continues to object to the introduction of ID there they have had them here in Malta and Gozo for some time. We have also had time to relax, chill out and do a bit of reading. Gill and I have decided we would like to learn to sail so will be making enquiries this week to see if we can find someone to offer us a few trial lessons, it would be mad to come to a small island like Gozo and not take to the water in some way.

For the time being we are both in the enviable situation of not having to get up at any particular time in the morning and actually having more spare time than I ever remember having, in my working life anyway.

"I'm an idealist. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way". Carl Sandburg.

2008-05-01T11:10:00.004+02:00

Road Trip London - Gozo.

Day 18 Mirabella Imbaccari, Sicily - Pozzallo Sicily - Gozo.

We left Agriturismo Gigliotto feeling a bit disappointed, this area of Sicily is wonderful and the location of Agriturismo Gigliotto is even more so, unfortunately from an accommodation point of view well lets just say it's a bit rough around the edges, some attention to detail is required.It is around 90 mins drive across country to the Sicily coastal town of Pozzallo, on route we had to stop to fill up with fuel and clean some more bugs from the car to enable us to see out of the window, the pump attendant laughed and commented "do you not get bugs in the UK" surprisingly in English I explained that we do indeed get bugs sticking to the car in the UK but only in the one or two hot months that we get a year in the UK each year and then not in this quantity.
We arrived in Pozzallo, the ferry was well signposted and easy to find, we stopped to check the timetable the ferry would not leave until 9.00pm this evening and we would not be able to book tickets until 7.00pm that evening. The time then was 11.30am so a bit of time to kill, Pozzallo would normally be a busy holiday seaside town but we are very early in the season so it is almost uninhabited with not much in the way of entertainment open for a couple of tourists with 8 hours or so to kill. We quickly found a coffee bar on the seafront and ordered 2 coffee's to think about what we were going to do, we decided on an early lunch, found a restaurant that was open and enjoyed lunch overlooking the sea, that killed a couple of hours, we then spent another hour or so driving along the coast road taking in the view, stopping periodically to check out the beach, found somewhere to park up on the beach and watch the world go by.

At 6.30pm we returned to the ferry ready to book our tickets at 7.00pm, whilst waiting I noticed a motor home with British plates and went over too introduce myself (you don't get many British vehicles this far south normally) it was a Scotsman and his wife also relocating to Gozo, in conversation he explained that he had already been here for 24 hours waiting to board the ferry to Malta. This was my train of thought before we left on this journey, only one ferry a day makes the crossing from Sicily to Malta and back, it is mid April the holiday season has not really got underway so you the demand for the ferry will be low, so it should simply be a matter of turning up purchasing a ticket and driving on. WRONG!!The capacity for the ferry is not that large, it will carry a large number of passengers but not so vehicles.

I Cued at the ticket desk along with others for last minute tickets, the ticket office opened and then it dawned on me from previous experience Italians don't cue, in the free for all that followed I was told that there were no spaces on the ferry I should come back at 8.30pm to wait for a space that may become available if somebody does not show up that has booked, and I would be 4th in that cue, Other wise we would have to wait until Wednesday (this was Monday), I went back to the car to explain to Gill what was happening, oh gosh she exclaimed, (her actual words were a lot stronger than that).We got on the ferry that night, only just, so we were all happy again.We arrived in Malta around midnight and were now faced with the task of finding our way from Valletta harbour to the Gozo ferry at the other end of the island, now you may think they have just found there way from London to Malta so Valleta harbour to Gozo should be a piece of cake, the first thing to understand is all the way across Europe I have had the assistance of TomTom satellite navigation, the maps included with this system covers all of western Europe and even some of eastern Europe but strangely enough not Malta.We arrived in Munxar at 2.30am only to find that I had picked up the wrong keys to the house whilst we were in the UK, the correct keys had been packed and would be on a container with the rest of our belongings and would arrive in Malta in about 1 weeks time.I had to wake he lady that looks after the house whilst we are away to get her keys, she was very understanding.

So Home Sweet Home 2.30 in the morning 21st April 2008.

Mileage 2635
Fuel used 80 gallons or 363 litres.
Fuel cost £508.00
Toll road fees cost £270.00.

2008-04-28T15:56:00.003+02:00

Road Trip London - Gozo.

Day 17 Castroreale - Mirabella Imbaccari, Sicily.

This will be our last night in Italy (we think) and we are heading to the southern most part of Sicily. We left Green Manors on a beautiful sunny day and headed south for 100 miles to our next accommodation called Agriturismo Gigliotto. Seventy miles of the journey was on the autostrada with the last 30 miles on country roads, a nice easy drive. We now have 2500 miles under our belt and although the trip has been great we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and have set out sights on home, Gozo that is of course.

We found Gigliotto without any trouble as it is well signposted, it is a huge farming operation in a lovely setting on top of a hill with beautifully restored farm buildings, this place is more of a country estate than a smallholding it produces figs, grapes, artichokes, olives, aubergines, tomato's, peppers, pears, peaches and cherries, also makes it's own wine.
The accommodation although comfortable was not to such a high standard as we had witnessed elsewhere on the trip at this price level, and the food while not bad was very basic.
We are around 50 miles from the ferry here and will be heading to Pozzallo tom morrow to catch the ferry.....we hope, because we have not prebooked any tickets.

2008-04-25T10:54:00.003+02:00

Road Trip London - Gozo

Day 16 Green Manors, Castoreal, Sicily.

Green Manors is a 1600's Manor House, it was restored around 5 years ago and the restoration took 2 years to complete. This lovely 10 bedroom house is run by Pierangela, Chris and Paolo whom are outstanding hosts and are happy to cater for your every need, Pierangela particularly seems to have this second sense of being able to anticipate what your next requirement will be before you yourself know.

On arrival we were shown to our room complete with both balcony and it's own sun terrace, following this an impressive buffet lunch was quickly assembled. Dinning guests are provided with silver cutlery, and linen napkins, food produce is sourced either locally or produced on the premises. Outside is a large terrace and pool area and directly opposite is a type of wildlife park with peacocks and ponies.The family are somewhat multilingual so communication was no problem where ever you come from, I heard at least 4 different languages in use.What I find astonishing is that this is a small country hotel, not a 4 or 5 star hotel, the quality of rooms, quality of food and attention to detail would put some 4 or 5 star hotels that I have stayed at to shame.
Green Manors has been one of the highlights of our trip.
Tomorrow we head for the southern part of Sicily to sort out our ferry tickets for Malta.

2008-04-24T10:51:00.003+02:00

Road Trip London - Gozo

Day 15 Curinga, Italy - Castoreal, Sicily, Italy.

We will head for Sicily today the ferry is only about an hours drive away on the autostrada. The ferry port at Reggio Calabria was easy to find and well signposted.

On our arrival Gill jumped out of the car to get some cash from the cash machine and was immediately accosted by a man wanting to know if we were looking for ferry tickets, yes she replied, he quickly showed her where the ticket office was and purchased the required ticket and pointed us in the right direction, Gill gave him a tip for his trouble.

We were on board the ferry in no time, and were quickly under way to Sicily, only about a 15 min crossing. Gill then realised that she did not have her purse she quickly blamed the dodgy looking man at the ticketing office in Reggio at the ferry port that assisted her buy the ticket, and maybe he was not just after the 1 euro tip after all. Following a full three minutes of panic she found her purse, it had fallen out of her bag and on to the floor of the car, panic over, apologies to the dodgy looking bloke at Reggio.

We quickly found our way onto the autostrada again and our destination was to be Green Manors a restored 1600s manor house 1 hours drive away, we will be staying there for 2 nights. More about that tommorrow.

2008-04-23T10:56:00.004+02:00

Road Trip London - Gozo

Day 14 Speziale, Italy - Curinga, Italy.

A long stint today after 6 hours driving we have now covered 2100 miles.Our first stop was to be a place in the Parco Nazional Della Silla a large national park. We left the main road and headed into the trees, and using some very challenging roads, perhaps more suited to a Ferrari or Porche than a Toyota 4x4.

As we climbed I noticed the temperature start to drop it was 21c when we left the main road as we climbed further the temperature dropped to 10c then we noticed the snow on the hilltops, then the temperature was 6c and we were driving through snow, the roads in the main were clear so it was not a problem.

We are now in Calabria which other than Sicily is the southern most point of Italy, the toe of the boot, I did not realise that they had snow this far down south even in the winter and here we are in a full blown Ski resort. Needless to say we drove on, after all we were dressed for summer not the bloody snow.

Thirty mins later we were back in the sunshine and 21c of warmth again.We have found a restored olive oil mill offering rooms right up in the hills overlooking the sea, a place called Antico Frantoio Oleario Bardari it was in one of our wine books and is famed for it's restaurant and wine list so we had to give it a go.

I can not believe that we managed to find it, but a couple of stops to ask some villigers the way in my best Italian pointed us in the right direction. Lovely though this place is we have decided to push on tom morrow to make Sicily. Hope full our next stop will be able to offer me an Internet connection.

2008-04-22T15:26:00.004+02:00

Road Trip London - Gozo

Day 12 - 13 Vasto, Italy - Speziale, Puglia, Italy.

The trip from Vasto to Speziale nr. Fasano here in Puglia was uneventful. The roads are noticeably quieter the countryside appears more summer like, to put it another way the countryside looks more like you would expect to find in the UK in the month of June perhaps. The buildings have changed in appearance from pitched roofed to flat roofed and are far more like those you would find on the Maltese islands.

The bug count on the car has gone up considerably, on our last fuel stop I cleaned the windscreen on the car 100 miles later it needs another clean, I must give the number plate a clean you can't really read the number any more.

We have found an agrotourismo farm called Masseria Narducci, the main produce to be found here is what Gill would describe as some of the finest olive oil she has ever tasted in fact anything you can do with an olive or with olive oil they will do here.We were met at the door on our arrival by the lady of the house whom described my attempt at asking for a double room for two as "your Italiano zero" with a smile on her face, so I asked again in English and she then understood my request welcomed us both sat us down at a table in the sunshine and brought us a tray which contained a bowl of fresh olives, home made bread, biscuits, and a jug of red wine taken straight from the barrel, which Gill and I gladly consumed, we then slept for the rest of the afternoon.
Dinner was served at 7.30pm which consisted of typical local produce, chick pea soup (I am sure that is not what they call it here but that is my description) a rustic stuffed roast pork dish with vedg followed by a plate of fresh strawberry's and an espresso coffee, oh nearly forgot that jug of red wine again.
Our second day here was spent exploring the area, tasting some more wine trying some local pasta dishes and viewing the coast via the very quite coast road.

Wi Fi connections are very difficult to find here in rural Italy, as you may have guessed.

2008-04-13T20:56:00.006+02:00

Road Trip, London - Gozo.

Fano, Italy - Vasto, Italy.

Nice thing about travelling on a Sunday morning we did not see a single heavy truck and the roads are not so busy. We have made good progress today and the sun was shining.

We arrived in Vasto around noon and had the usual problem of trying to locate our b&b that we had chosen, took us about an hour but we found it in the end. Vasto is a busy seaside town extremely busy in the summer season looking at the photographs of the beach.

Our b&b is an old Italian villa about 200 yards from the beach called Villa Monteferrante is owned by a Canadian expat and his wife, he teaches English to the Italians, is a Moto Guzzi fan, and writes music for a blues band, what a life.

We have now traveled some 1600 miles since London and will be heading into the heal of Italy tomorrow the area known as Puglia or Apulia, we will head to the area between Bari & Brindisi on the map. Vasto our current location is on the opposite coast to Rome.

2008-04-13T08:04:00.003+02:00

Road Trip London - Gozo.

Day 9 - 10. Rocca di Roffino, Italy - Fano, Italy.

We are heading for a castle today in the Marche region of Italy, this castle has been turned into a luxury hotel, well we thought we would live it up for a couple of days. The castle is called Castello Monte Giove a simply wonderful place with polite staff good food and wine. We have spent a couple of days here chilled, had a look around the town of Fano. Mentioned to the receptionist the at we were having trouble locating a UK mains adapter and she said 'give me a couple of hours' and sure enough within a couple of hours we had our mains adapter so we are now fully equip ed with charged phones and as you can tell a charged laptop. The cost of this wonderful service €3.00, mind you the hotel ain't cheap in the first place. Highly recommended if you are passing.

2008-04-13T06:42:00.008+02:00

Road Trip Gozo.

Day 8 Verona, Italy - Rocca di Roffino, Italy.

WE are now moving into the hills just outside Bologna, Emilia Romagno this is the area where much of Italy's famous food comes from like the best salami, the best hams and of course Parmesan cheese. This is the home of the famous Lambrusco wine but there are also many other reasonable red wines sangiovese based, unfortunately you do not get to see outside of this region, so it was good to be able to try a few.

As we drove down the hill into Rocca out of the sunshine, we could see what appeared to be smoke or fog ahead, we had actually climbed that high into the hills that we where now actually driving down through the clouds into Rocca. We found fairly easily our next agroturismo stop called http://www.lafeniceagritur.it/lafenice_e.htm La Fenice our room was a suite on 2 levels with a small balcony, and a wood burning stove for the cold winters they get here in the hills, very old, full of character but fairly basic.

Gill's food poisoning situation was now much improved. The food that was served for us here at the table was almost exclusive all produced on the farm including all the meats smoked or not and the bread is also made on the farm. The farm has been with the same family for 5 generations, a beautiful spot.

2008-04-12T17:53:00.006+02:00

Gozo Road Trip.

Day 7 Verona Italy.

We will stay in this area for another night to give us the time to check out a bit more of the local area. One or two problems have arisen, for example, I appear to have mislaid or UK / continental Europe mains adapter so we now have a laptop, and both our mobile phones with flat batteries. I can not find an adapter locally in any shops at all. Gill seems to have picked up food poisoning from the restaurant that we ate in last night, I did not have the fish which turns out to be a good move.

Well it can't all be plain sailing can it!!

2008-04-12T06:33:00.003+02:00

Road Trip Gozo.

Day 6. Cannobio, Italy - Verrona, Italy.

1200 miles in total covered and I reckon we are about half way into our trip, better slow down this journey should take three weeks according to our plan.

We hit the autostrada again and continue our journey to the Adriatic coast of Italy, skirting around the north of Milan reminded me of London's M25 motorway not only is it very busy but add to that the Italian driving style and it is easy to see why Italy has the highest road death rate in western Europe. Think of a cue of cars traveling at close to 90 mph, maybe 20 cars and no more than 3 meters between each car then throw into that mix additional vehicles travelling in excess of 100mph......madness.

On our arrival just outside Verona we find ourselves in the heart of Veneto and wine making territory. Yet again we could not find our B&B of choice so opted for vineyard accommodation and of course to be polite it was necessary to try some of the local Amarone and Vallpolicella wine that is made on this very vineyard. We are around 10 minuets drive from the shores of Lake Garda.

2008-04-12T06:05:00.004+02:00

Road Trip Gozo

Day 5. Annecy, France - Cannobio, Italy.

I have been having trouble getting Internet connections in Italy hence the much delayed entry. We are now on day 5 of our trip and 950 miles into our journey and heading for the Mont Blanc tunnel. The scenery as we drive towards the Alps is spectacular, beautiful countryside with the trees on the mountain slopes and thick snow all around, accept the roads these are completely clear.

The toll fee for the tunnel itself was a bit of a shock at €32.00. On leaving the 7 mile tunnel and arriving into Italy we are greeted by brilliant sunshine. We now headed towards an agrotourismo B&B that we had been told about but after 2 hours of searching we could not locate it and so found a nice 3* hotel on the coast of Lake Maggiore.

2008-04-06T18:14:00.003+02:00

Road Trip Gozo.

Day 4 Vermenton, France - Annecy, France.

I have been driving today for 6 hours and I am knackered. We have travelled some 650 miles in total now so are making good progress. The terrain is noticeably more hilly so we are clearly heading towards the mountains. We have found a b&b close to Annecy not far from the border with Switzerland, fairly basic but comfortable.

We could not get a room in the b&b that we wanted to stay in so spent the last three hours trying to find somwhere that was either not full or that was open. Gill was beginning to think that we would be sleeping in the car tonight.

Tommorrow we head for the Mont Blanc tunnel and Italy.

2008-04-05T16:23:00.003+02:00

Road Trip Gozo

Day 2 & 3 Reims France - Vermenton Burgundy.

Another wonderful spring day started with a breakfast of cereal toast and some strong coffee. We decided that we should head for
Burgundy and around Chablis and try some of the local produce.The journey this time was mainly on the main and country roads avoiding the motorways to give us the opportunity to view some of
the countryside. On arrival in Burgundy you can have no doubt that you are in wine country as you are suddenly confronted on all
sides with grape vines.The roads continue to impress, I think we drove at one point for 20 minutes without seeing another vehicle, wonderful.

We are again looking for some interesting lodgings and found in Vermenton close to Auxerre a handsome old mill house called Le
Moulinot, this hostelry is owned and run by Leigh and Cinda a very hospitable couple hospitable to the point that we shared the best part of a bottle of Leigh's malt whiskey this evening.We dinned at a local restaurant called Hostelry de la Fontaine, a
wine cave that had been converted into a restaurant a couple of local speciality's that I tried, entree snails in a curry sauce and for main course pike in a cream sauce washed down with a bottle of Irancy 1999 a very well made local wine, pinot noir of course.

Day 3

We will be staying an additional night here in Vermenton to give us the chance to check out the area and following another hearty
breakfast we will be going wine tasting in one of the caves called St. Bris tried some wonderful Irancy and had to buy a case of
this wine, we are only three days into the trip and we have a case of wine already, by the time we reach Gozo the car is going to
sound like a milk float driving on cobblestones. Lunch followed the wine tasting and then a drive around some of the vinyards of Burgundy.We are now 440 miles into our journey, tom morrow we will be heading for the Alpine region of the Rhone Valley, this will take us
close to the Mont Blanc Tunnel where we will spend one more night before crossing into Italy.

2008-04-04T18:49:00.002+02:00

Road Trip Gozo

Day 1 London UK - Reims France.

We left sunny Borehamwood at 10.00am this morning and it was sunny as well, a beautiful spring day. We headed off around the dreaded M25 which was remarkably clear and set our sites on Folkestone for the Euro tunnel train to Calais. The eurotunnel is quite an experience quick and simple, at the halfway point you get an announcement telling you where you are and that you are traveling at 140kph. The crossing takes around 25 mins time enough for a quick drink and a sandwich and then it's time to go.From Calais we took the A26 Motorway and I have to say that although this is a toll road it is very fast and quite light on traffic a sobering experience after any British road experience, the traffic was so light I can only describe it as like traveling on the M4 at 4.00am.

We have covered a measly 200 miles of our 2000 mile journey and have found a wonderful B&B in a place called Catillon du Temple in a small farm village just north of Reims right on the edge of champagne country and I have had the opportunity to try and recall my schoolboy french with limited success fortunately for us madame speaks a few words of English so between us we should get by.
The B&B is a small farm cottage on the top of a hill overlooking the country side called La Commanderie, the house was built in 1970 on the site of an old Roman Castillion built for the Nights Templar around the 12th century on the top of a hill with wonderful views of the surrounding countryside.
A very simple style accommodation with simple country fare for dinner washed down with a rustic local country red wine of unknown orig en other than it was of course French.

Tommorrow we are off to the Cote de Bourgogne.

2008-03-30T14:36:00.005+02:00

"The time has come" the walrus said.

On Friday I had my leaving party and I would like to thank the red watch at Finchley Fire Station for all the work that they put in to make the night a success. Special thanks to Tim, Dave, Maria, Nick and Gordon. Please make sure you all keep in touch.

Gill and I are frantically doing the rounds this weekend to try and see everyone before our departure on Thursday. Monday will see us getting ready for the movers to come in on Tuesday to pack up the contents of our house. Wednesday we get a 20ft container dropped outside our house and the day will be spent loading for the 6 week journey by sea to Malta. Wednesday night we stay with my mother before setting off for Folkestone and the euro tunnel to Calais. Our first stop should be somewhere in the Champagne region close to Reims.

It could well be that this will be my last post before France so it's good bye to old England and hello sunny Gozo.

"Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop". Lewis Carroll

2008-03-21T14:00:00.003+01:00

Party Time.

Tonight is our farewell party, a time to say goodbye to family and friends. The party will be a joint affair as it happens to coincide with Gill's Mother and Father and their golden wedding anniversary, 50 years of marriage, some landmark.

The venue is the Holiday Inn in Borehamwood, we will have a group called the Fabulous Lounge Swingers playing for us, music along the lines of The Blues Brothers so should be a good evening.

The video below, taken from you tube was brought to my attention, now I love to listen to good music and many talented people have clips o youtube that stand out, this is one of those. A very talented guy called Andy McKee I feel he is just a bit more than your average guitarist. Check him out.

"Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children." George Bernard Shaw

2008-03-18T07:24:00.004+01:00

Last Day.

Friday was Gills leaving do with work, and a good evening was had by all those that attended, it was held in the Sterling Bar very close to her office at the now famous image on the London skyline, the building designed by Sir Norman Foster known as The Gherkin.

Yesterday (Monday) was last day at work for both Gill and I, (left us both feeling very surreal) we have said our farewells and made various promises to stay in touch. I still have another works party to attend before I completely break ties with the London Fire Brigade. As word gets out that I am leaving I continue to get offers of work which is a great confidence booster not to mention reassuring.

So plans for this week, well I am here typing this at 06.30 am so I continue to wake at my usual get up for work time of 6.00am, more changes of address, arranging to pay final utility bills, closing bank accounts, downsizing yet again to make sure that we don't export anything that is not absolutely necessary, many trips to the local tip.

Another big step in the right direction for the both of us.

"Make your life a mission - not an intermission". Arnold Glasgow

2008-03-07T09:47:00.007+01:00

Chicago and West Coast Blues

The first of my retirement party's last night at "aint nothin but" in London's Soho. The evening started with 6 of us. I insisted that we start the evening checking out the Jimi Hendrix exhibition at the Blink Gallery, well worth a visit, origanal photographs of Jimi, signed and numbered ltd edition prints including art work from some of the memorable album covers, all top quality stuff and all for sale, prices varied from £500.00 to £4000.00.

Then on to a curry house where we had a superb meal, with full stomachs and a few pints of Kingfisher later we made our way to the blues bar where we were met by a few more of my colleagues.

Performing were Gentleman Tim & the Contenders playing traditional Chicago and West Coast Blues that delivers a powerful punch! The band play their way through a flurry of examples of classic blues that ranges from Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson, to contemporary practitioners like Freddie Brooks, Lynwood Slim and Sugar Ray Norcia, and a rousing version of Junior Parker's "In The Dark". Tim Corbett leads the band with vocals and harmonica, if you like the blues you will love this outfit, they played 2 sets finishing about 1.00am a great night out.

This is just the warmup for the main work leaving doo on the 28th of this month. I have the day off work today and it's just as well cause I have one hell of a hangover, time for a few more pints I think to get rid off this hangover.......water of course.

"I feel sorry for people who do not drink. When they wake up in the morning it is as good as they are going to feel all day". Frank Sinatra

2008-02-28T15:14:00.005+01:00

Soho, Jimi Hendrix & the Blues.

Coming up in the next couple of weeks are the first of three leaving party's planned prior to our Gozo departure.

The first is a small gathering at "ain't nothin but" in Kingly Street Soho close to Carnaby Street also known as "The Blues Bar". I will be there on the evening of Thursday March 6th with a few of my colleagues, (drinking that is not playing) if you are in the area come say hello, I am not sure who is playing yet.

For those that don't know the bar it is the only place in the UK playing live blues 7 nights a week and has been described "As close to a Southern juke joint as one is likely to find on this side of the Atlantic"..........

Also in Soho until the 8th March at the Blink Gallery in Poland Street, if your nostalgic for the days when being a musician meant more than having outrageous hair and skinny jeans there is a Photo exhibition of pictures from the late great Jimi Hendrix, pictures taken by some of the greatest photographers of the time, some of them never seen before in the UK. I have not been yet but will be taking a look in the next few days.

"Blues is easy to play, but hard to feel." Jimi Hendrix

2008-02-22T09:37:00.009+01:00

Get Rich Quick.

I am always looking for an opportunity to make some easy, honest money as I am sure many people out there in the real world are. Yesterday among my emails was an opportunity sent to me by a pleasant sounding Nigerian gentlemen whom goes by the name of Mr Emory Barr, he explained that if I could help him transfer £25 million from his late brothers bank account in London he would pay me £20,000 for helping him. All I had to do initially was send him £5000 to enable him to set up the transfer. Sounds reasonable to me, but before I go with this money making opportunity I thought how else could I make a quick easy honest buck to put me on the road to buying that Ferrari.

I could invent a wind up radio perhaps, that's sure to make me a bucket load of cash, how about the electric car that would do it. trouble is these have already been done and have indeed made the inventors a few bob.
I could become a dot com millionaire, set up an online auction website or sell books and DVDs online, OK they have also been done already but maybe something along the same lines, I just need to come up with the right idea.
Something green perhaps, everybody is jumping on the green bandwagon these days, recycling, the petrol alternative maybe.
Perhaps I could encourage my niece to get involved in the art world and I could sell her paintings for a £100'000 each or encourage her to take up music and join a girl band. I may have problems getting the OK from her parents on that one.

I can see that I am quickly running out of ideas here, perhaps I will help out that nice sounding Nigerian gentleman after all.

Google 419 scam and read all about this type of email, remember if it sounds to good to be true then it probably is.

"I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I buy something". Jackie Mason.

2008-02-08T17:04:00.000+01:00

Road Trip - London to Gozo.

We have started to plan the upcoming road trip to Gozo might take two weeks maybe three, who cares we have no deadline to meet. Thursday 3rd April we plan to hit the road, from London around the M25 and on to the south coast to take the Eurotunnel train to Calais in France, then on to the champagne region to stop for the night before moving on to the Northern Rhone the following day.

After that little trek we are not quite sure, we will be motoring on through Italy but should we take the mountain roads over the Alps or use the 7 mile long Mont Blanc tunnel which would be the easier option but then you miss all the views and scenery. We should then be stopping in Piedmont, then across to Veneto and on down to Rimini. Our final Italian destination will be Sicily before heading for home......Gozo.

None of this is set in stone of course and it will provide us with the opportunity to try lots of the fine Italian wine & food on offer, and of course we will have to learn some of the French & Italian language, meaning in at the deep end, phrase book and bad pronunciation, us Brits after all are known for being criminally lazy when it comes to learning foreign languages. We have it easy in Malta and Gozo because every one speaks English, we know a few basic words in Maltese but not enough to hold a conversation, I guess that will come in time. Any suggestions of places to visit in Italy from you seasoned travellers out there will be gratefully received.

We will be looking to stay away from the larger towns and cities and lodging in properties that support agro tourism, I think we will get a better feel for Italy that way and with some 30,000 places to choose from and the wonders of satellite navigation they wont be hard to find, always the optimist. I will be taking my laptop with me so hopefully I will be able to give a blow by blow account of the journey, as long as I manage to find accommodation offering a Wi Fi connection.

Time is a fast approaching....c'mon.

"To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing". Elbert Hubbart

2008-01-29T19:29:00.000+01:00

The Wit & Wisdom of Jeremy Clarkson.

For those of you that don't know Jeremy Clarkson is probably the leading commentator on cars and the car industry the UK.
He is arrogant, outspoken, opinionated, rude and is certainly not politically correct.

He is known for upsetting both the motor industry and the powers of Westminster with his ranting and I love him for all those reasons, he says it like it is and often says what most others are already thinking but worried about the backlash from actually saying what needs to be said....if you get my drift.

The Sunday Times this week published some of his quotes and I thought I would share them with you.......

On being a real man. "Cherie Blair says my attitude is macho and she’s right. It is. It might not be very attractive in this day and age. But that’s because I’m a man. I know this because I much prefer Uma Thurman, who’s all woman, to Kate Moss, who, from behind, could well be a boy".

On political correctness. "Who are the busybodies who say that we can’t smoke foxes or smack our children? The nitwits who say that we should have a new bank holiday to celebrate traffic wardens and social workers? Where do they meet? Who pays their wages?"
On road safety. "A third of all those injured and killed on the roads are young men, aged in a startlingly narrow band from 17 and 19. Drowning in testosterone, and filled with a youthful sense of immortality, being 17 is dangerous. It always has been. The fact is, you simply can’t make a 17-year-old see sense."

On Australia. "Australia is where you go when you’ve made a mess of everything. That’s why the 1.3m Brits who live there are known as whingeing Poms. Because they’re all failures."

On kids & education. "I would dearly love to launch into a tirade against stupid video games, and how their graphic violence is poisoning the minds of our precious children. But I love them. I spend hours chasing my kids around nuclear power stations, laughing hysterically when their arms and legs are blown off by imaginary hand grenades."

On football. "Football refs, so far as I can see, never ever make a correct decision. No really. They don’t notice when the ball goes over the goal line, they send players off for breathing and do nothing when Ronaldo hurls himself to the ground and claws at his face as though he’s been showered with acid".

"Wisdom is what's left after we've run out of personal opinions". Cullen Hightower.

2008-01-19T07:48:00.000+01:00

The Old Farmhouse.

A few people have said to me "you keep shouting about this old Gozitan farmhouse that you have had restored, stop yapping about it and get some pictures on your blog so that we can all have a look". So here they are. First a little background, the ground floor is thought to have been built around 1800 and then the first floor added 100 years later, Gill and I bought the house from the family of the late Professor Joseph Aquilina, LL.D., Ph.D. (1911-1997) linguist and author of the Maltese English / English Maltese dictionary, this was his residence for a number of year. We purchased the house in 2002 and it took around 18 months to complete the restoration work. So here are some pictures before, during and after restoration.

The back just as work begins.

The kitchen prior to work beginning.

Work has commenced.

Progress with the kitchen the same view as in picture 2

The swimming pool.

Nearly finished just the back balcony to complete.

Finished pool lit at night.

Views of Victoria from the roof terrace.

"It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation which give happiness". Thomas Jefferson.