Part Three.
Well we leave Malta tomorrow for Athens. I'll be pretty glad actually, I've done Malta to the death, and it's dog shit, dog shit, and more dog shit here.
They know nothing about picking up after, or kerbing their dogs, so the sidewalks are covered in the stuff. I havent stood in a fresh one yet, but of course when someone does that makes about five piles as they walk along scraping it off, so its even worse. Pretty hard to walk in a straight line.
I have a cough and a cold at the moment which is really unusual for me. I'm sure its not the SARS virus thingy though. Other than the occasional hack and sniff I'm as fit as a fiddle. I think I got it the other day, when I went for my early morning run in the rain. T'was a good run though.
The TV is full of the war, and I must admit I'm a bit worried where all this is going. The A-Rabs seem to be uniting against a common agressor dont they? I hope it doesnt get bigger than Ben Hur. I feel sorry for the victims in all this, especially for the good guys (in their white hats... the good guys in the westerns always have white hats on dont they?) The British seem to have lost most of their people through friendly fire, thats a bit of a worry. It would be bad enough looking forward without having to watch your back too.
I saw about the posters dropped on Basra saying "Hey trust us we will not desert you this time" Hmmmmm..... what would you do in their situation?
OK thats enough about the war... I'll get off my soapbox now.
Went to an island next to this, called Gozo. Nice place, we had a car and got the ferry over to it. There was a church there (actually there are thousands, but this one was a big one), and I went up to the spire on my own, and had a look around. I'm following the signs (walk this way etc (ministry of funny walks)) and see a bell tower thingy, so think "why not". There's a sign saying "No entry" but I went up this spiral staircase anyway (as one does), and found at the top there's no railings, fences, or anything. All there was, was a ledge about 2 foot wide, and I'm way up this spire thingy. I managed to lean out and get some pics, before deciding I really shouldnt be there, and going down again.
Rabat (victoria) the capital, had shops with hand knitted jumpers for sale in them. Really thick ones too. Not having a jumper for Europe, I though I'd get one. I got the large, and it's so thick and heavy (and big), that I look like a beatnik out of the sixtys.
I guess they must think I'll grow into it. It was only 27 Aussie dollars, and for a hand knitted one that's cheap.
Last sunday we caught a bus to a place called Marsaxlokk, which is a fishing village. It's a bit out of the way, off the beaten track, and we thought that we'd be on our own there, and could wander around at our leisure. What we didn't know was, there was a big market on there on Sundays, and the bus was full of Germans English and French tourists. We ended up having to stand up on the bus, and the ceiling is only about 5'8". I'm over 6'2" and 6'2" doesnt go into 5'8" in my book.
I'm standing there with this bent neck for the whole trip, and by the time we got there I was crouched over like Quazimodo (the bells master ... the bells). It took me an hour to straighten up again.
The car we got was a Daiwoo Matiz. It's a tiny thing, but got us around the main island and Gozo. Isn't it amazing that a hire car can go places, that your own car would never think to go?? Some of the tracks we went on would challenge a four wheel drive, and I was driving over them like a rally driver. They also go over speed humps at a phenominal rate too, at least a couple of times we became airborne. I think I managed to put a dent in the roof where my head kept hitting it.
Ok Athens next.... Ouzo, Yasoo, etc etc. We have three days there, but the book says you only need a day to see the sights (bit of a blunder there). Not sure what we will do with the rest of the time. After that its Paris for three days. After Paris its driving round in a car for 31 days and I'm not sure how often I will be able to get on here and send mail.
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee