The sunshine in London persisted and at some point the temperature here exceeded that at Malta; we had 25 and even 27 degrees in the first few days of the Holy Week 2011. I was more excited about a set of forthcoming activities rather than having to bear with the high temperatures in the office and sometimes the incomprehensible occasional resort to switching on heaters by some of my fellow co-workers. Let's not get started on that...
Last Friday was the last day when most of us in #223 were still in London and thus we all decided to head off for a decent lunch off Oxford Street in one of the best revelations of early 2011: a steak house. The food there was great: medium steak with fresh frittes, preceded by a fresh salad and the main served in 2 equal helpings to keep the meat warm. It was a very lazy afternoon (Friday fever at its best) and followed by an equally lazy weekend before my Easter break. The Sunday was particularly sunny and beautiful and I ventured to take a few snaps of the latest Rogers building in Knightsbridge. What a privilege to be living in the playground of the great architects of the 21st century!
The Monday was characterised by a 2 hour long lunch break in Hyde Park, enjoying the sunshine and with occasional freshening "dips" in the Diana fountain. If only London is as sunny all year long! Tuesday was then my last proper working day for April and on Wednesday I only turned up at the office briefly to clear a minor pending job, clean up my desk and switch off the PC to avoid any temptation of working remotely from home. Come Wednesday night and I met up with one of my Maltese mates who came down to London for the evening to join me for a concert in the Royal Albert Hall: a Pink Floyd tribute concert.
Anyone who knows me will be aware of my PF obsession. I will not diverge from the proper content of this post, but I still think PF are one of the greatest bands ever. Although I had been to a concert of Roger Waters, the Brit Floyd concert sounded too good to miss, especially since the band is voted as the best tribute band so far. The venue was great as always and from the opening Shine on you crazy diamond right down to the closing Run like hell, the concert was simply amazing. The music and the projections were impeccable and the 3 hour long gig was worth every penny. Back home, my mate and I had a quick nap from 1am to 2am, when I had to get up and commence my long journey home (he eventually left at 4am to get the 6am train back to Nottingham).
I operated on auto-pilot as I got the 74 bus to Marble Arch and then 757 coach to Luton (I slept throughout all of the latter journey and thankfully the airport was the last stop; if it was not, I would have kept going on and on!) The flight was on time and after a quick breakfast and coffee in the terminal, I found myself a good seat on the good old Ryanair plane and slept from 6.30am after departure right till we were flying over Sicily. And 30 minutes later, we landed in Malta, my first trip since December.
I was surprised to find that the island greeted me with a grey cloudy sky, but I reckoned this was the usual "Good Friday" weather (alas, the bad weather persisted with consistence throughout all of my stay while London was venturing in the high 20s!) Once home, I started my marathon of good home meals. Easter has always been my favourite time of the year, on many levels: culturally, spiritually and gastronomically.
Thursday night was characterised by the usual Maundy Thursday ceremony in church and Friday morning we went up to Mdina and Rabat to visit the churches there (a first for me) and do the traditional Maltese visti. Lunch was invariably devoid of meat, but was replaced by one of my favourite foods: rikotta pie, cooked to perfection by mum. Friday afternoon and evening was then a visit to Valletta and its procession, another first. I also took a picture with the well-loved personality Il-pampalun and met also an ex-teacher and ex-classmate from secondary school! I did not fail to get a decent supply of karamelli tal-harrub, which I look forward to every year!
As much as I love London and its eccentricity and vibrant life, I still think our own capital is a gem and I am so thrilled simply to walk throughout the straight longitudinal streets, up and down the stepped side streets and admiring all of their Baroque splendour. I found that much of the capital is really being revived, with the new Palace Square, the restored National Library, the works on the Palace and Castille and numerous pavings works everywhere. Besides the City Gate/Opera House project. I cannot wait to see the city in 5-10 years' time...
Saturday was generally relaxed and in the evening headed off to an Irish pub in St Julian's for a surprise birthday do and a gathering with my friends. Good fun. Easter Sunday was then another day of eating and food, this time at the in-laws' and then at home in the evening. The unusual event on the Sunday was the 7 tremors felt over Malta, with the largest at M4.1 felt at 3pm. Personally, I felt nothing...
On Monday, I headed to Valletta again with dad, with hopes of seeing some sun and taking some good pictures, but had to endure nothing but humid, foggy and cloudy conditions. Albeit the uncooperative weather, I enjoyed the trip very much and my thoughts were a re-iteration of those on Friday. Finally, on Monday evening, we headed off to Mgarr and had a massive celebration of Maltese food: snails to start off and then a mix of rabbit, horse and quail. And Kinnie. And wine. Good fun, again!
On Tuesday morning, we made our way to the airport and, in grey and foggy weather, took off to land back in London, welcomed by the sun. It was indeed a very short break and did not enjoy a single hour of Mediterranean sun in 5 days but I swear I will go back in summer for 2 weeks and not return back to London until I am fully tanned!
No comments:
Post a Comment