Category: Travel

Building on Gozo

The buildings on Gozo are mostly built in warm, honey-coloured limestone. They often have elaborately carved balconies, columns and pediments although many were only built in the 1980s and 90s. Perhaps this is because there are strict planning laws and to retain Gozo’s reputation as a heritage island? Where does this limestone come from?

Living on Malta

Who wrote this to his wife? I wish I knew how to flirt with other women, and especially with my wife. I wish I’d sown more wild oats in my youth, and could excite more than I fear I do. I wish I wasn’t in the Navy and had to drag you out to Malta.… Continue reading Living on Malta

First Gozo Walk

On 2nd April 1951 my aunt was about to give birth to her first child. Richard was born the following day. On Gozo in Malta the Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, was doing a spot of sightseeing. She visited The Lace House and saw a demonstration of traditional lace-making.

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South of Tunis

It’s that red pin again.. This morning it marks Gozo, one of the twenty-one islands in the Maltese archipelago. Having never been here before and erratic Geography it comes as a surprise to see that I am south of Tunis.

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A Place in the Country

People often talk of having “a place in the country” a splendidly non-specific expression that means anything from a castle set in 10,000 acres that has been in the family since the reign of Elizabeth I to a rented potting shed. My place in the country in the 1990s was the latter.

A Tale of Two Banks

Martin Vander Weyer writes in The Spectator about Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena. It comes close to the top of a few league tables: Italy’s third largest bank, Europe’s weakest bank, the world’s oldest bank.

Fingers on the Button

If you live in a democracy it’s a good plan to have the casting vote (just in case). Votes cast for watching University ChallengeĀ at home are exactly 50% in favour but I don’t have that casting vote, so it’s a treat to be on my own for a few days and to indulge.

Bath Time

If you are reading this on Christmas Day I wish you a happy, peaceful and holy Christmas. I don’t have any truck with calling it “the holiday season” or similar weasel words denying its place as the second (or third?) most important date in the Christian calendar.

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Get me to a Nunnery

A recent comment reminded me that I was a vendangeur in 1972; cue for me to ramble on a bit about my “gap year”.

Near and Far

At this time of year many newspapers adopt charities and invite their readers to contribute. I never have but it has led me to reflect on how I allocate my charity budget. It comes down to this.