Another Maltese wedding!

I had barely recovered from my Switzerland/Italy trip when it was time to make another trip, this time to Malta. The motivation? The wedding of one of my sisters-in-law, the elder one to be precise. This will be the first family wedding since our own (unfortunately I missed my cousin's earlier wedding due to the Porto conference) and thus was doubly excited to attend Miriam's and Chris's wedding.

On the Thursday, I got up as usual at around 8.30am and headed off to Uni and did some decent work. That evening, after dinner and packing a small suitcase, we took the night bus to Marble Arch at 1am and then the 757 coach to Luton and got there by 3.15am. One strong coffee and Krispy Kreme doughnut later, we boarded our plane at 6am and left for Malta, still not having slept. We arrived at the homeland at 10.30am local time and a very long day awaited us; first a blood donation, then wedding preparations, food consumption and what not and only finally slept at about 11.30pm, almost 40 hours after having last been in a bed. Not nice.

The next day, I got up quite early and assisted with a few of the last minute wedding errands and in the late afternoon headed off to the in-laws' house for the start of the wedding antics: photos, video then a car ride to the church and the ceremony began. It brought memories of our own wedding and was lovely. By 9pm, we all headed off to the reception venue and an evening of food, drink, talk and dance awaited and lasted till the early hours of Sunday. After all the guests had gone, we cleared all up and got home at 3.30am, yet another long day, although of "only" 20 hours.

On Sunday, I got up at midday and whilst having brunch, my aunt called and invited us to join them on a boat trip, which I could not refuse. Thus, 2 hours later, we were on a boat to San Blas Bay in Gozo, an amazing place I had never been to before, followed by an obligatory visit to the harbour and enjoying wonderful views of the capital and environs. Malta is simply beautiful, particularly from the sea. No wonder so many conquerors instantly loved Malta; in times when the only international access was from the sea, I would have had no second thoughts as to whether I would like to colonise such a land!

The visit soon came to an end on Tuesday morning, but an extra 2 Micallefs boarded that flight: my mum and my sister were accompanying us to London until Sunday! But that is another story!