…and what have I done? It’s tough to swallow that it’s come and gone already! Work didn’t leave me with much energy in the run-up to Christmas, to decorate our home, get presents, or to organize a get-together with the whole family. I don’t know how we managed to put up the tree last Sunday! But we did, and sitting by the lights of the tree and numerous candles, things did seem to take on calmer, brighter hues… that, and probably the fact that my vacation leave finally started last Wednesday!
Our Christmas tree, finally in place!
So many weeks, months – the whole bloody year! – passed by so quickly, it’s frightening. It’s been a very intense year, with so much going on that at times I’m wondering whether it really all happened in one year! Probably it would have been more appropriate to title this post “So this was 2009…” Continue Reading…
Posted on December 26, 2009 - 7:13 pm. Add a comment
It seems my blog is becoming a “satellite” to Discover Gozo… The destination blog of the Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz is fast becoming my raison d’être on the weekends! The beauty of it is that it gives me an excuse for revelling in my favourite pastime, photography – so I’m not grumbling!
I wasn’t really grumbling either when my alarm went off at 5 am yesterday. After all, I had the opportunity to get photos that can’t be taken every day at the drop of a hat! The idea was to introduce horseback riding to the readers of Discover Gozo, and thanks to Victor Muscat – Stephanie calls him the horse whisperer of Gozo – we had an unforgettable Saturday morning! Even the weather was amazing, especially for a late November day!
It took me many hours afterwards to sort out and edit some 150 photos (mind you, many of them turned out blurred – bummer!!). And at the end of it all I put together this video. Hope you like it…
And now the weekend is over already… and what’s worse, it escaped me that today is/was the 1st Advent. Christmas is just around the corner!!
Posted on November 29, 2009 - 9:07 pm. 2 comments
I really love it when I get to be in the right place, at the right time! Just as planned, hubby and I went to Ramla Bay today, as we were both off from work. (The weather at the moment is truly fabulous!) Of course I had my camera with me, even though it was a drag on the motorbike, with backpack and camera bag. But I don’t even want to imagine how dismayed I’d have been, had I left the camera behind!! Because just as we settled on the beach, this splendid yacht entered the bay and stayed there for quite a while!
And this is my favourite shot:
Upon returning home in the afternoon I googled the yachts name, Dilbar, and found out that it is, in fact, one of the largest motor yachts in the world! Here is a link with quite a lot of detailed information about the Dilbar.
Posted on November 16, 2009 - 9:05 pm. 1 comment
So it’s over a week ago that I said “tomorrow is another day”. That’s how it goes, my life seems to be one big merry-go-round, though it isn’t exactly merry, most of the time. It just zooms by in a hurry…
Yesterday I was MOD (or ‘manager on duty’, for the non-hoteliers among you); I’ll never lie and say I enjoy these 14 hours shifts. Thankfully they come around only once every 4 to 6 weeks, so it’s safe to say I can live with them. On these days I usually lug my camera with me – you never know that opportunities might come along! After a long drawn-out day I was rewarded when the time came for the sun to set.
View from Cafe & Lounge at the Kempinski Hotel...
...and from the roof top!
A friend of mine (who also saw yesterday's sunset) said it looked almost unnatural - it did!
The church of San Lawrenz, standing guard over the village
A last peek before descending the stairs!
Getting such shots done, make it all worthwhile for me! 
Posted on - 7:37 pm. 2 comments
After I had returned from my dawn photoshoot in Ghajnsielem last Saturday, the weather started to look quite bad. There was a big black cloud looming over Gozo, but after a while it magically disappeared. In fact, the weather then turned out just gorgeous! I packed my son and camera into the car (ok, Daniel actually joined voluntarily LOL), and we drove off, first without any aim in particular, but then Lunzjata Valley sort of materialised by the wayside, and it became our first stop. Unfortunately, it was the weekend of “Festottobru” (I believe that’s what it was called), a cultural activity which I don’t really want to complain about, but there were the marks of humans everywhere… it was tough to find an angle where flags or other paraphernalia wouldn’t interfere. I was also rather taken aback at the huge amount of garbage everywhere. What a shame that people don’t stop and think before getting rid of their rubbish in the countryside!! It would have been appropriate to organize some kind of “clean up the valley” activity, before attempting to show off this beautiful valley – which would easily be Gozo’s most enchanting spot – if it wasn’t for all that garbage!
Stone steps leading from Lunzjata up to Kercem
Rummien - Pomegranates
Fertile fields in the valley of Lunzjata
Old windmill
Posted on October 21, 2009 - 10:00 pm. Add a comment
Yesterday morning I went for the first photo-shoot with my new camera. I purposely woke up at 6 am to catch the sunrise in a particular spot of Ghajnsielem. I needed the photos for discover-gozo.com, to accompany Mary’s blog post on discover-gozo.com. Mary is a Reservations Agent at the Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz, and we roped her in to contribute to our blog baby!
In typical weekend fashion, after a week of sunshine, it rained cats and dogs on Friday night… I practically slept with toes and fingers crossed for better weather. And what can I say… it helped – Mother Nature even threw in a little rainbow for good measure!
Posted on October 18, 2009 - 4:17 pm. Add a comment
…my blog starts to suffer!
Seriously, though, I really don’t find much time for my blog, what with the creation of the new blog of the Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz, Discover Gozo. That blog is a great team effort, and besides the work it involves, it really is fun to keep it going!
The latest offering is from my colleague Stephanie, whose favourite place in Gozo is “in and under the water.” To get some nice photos to accompany her blog post, we went to Dwejra yesterday afternoon, and Mazen, our reservations manager, joined us too. And thank heavens for him!! I had roughly an idea where we’d be heading; I knew that some scrambling over rocks would be involved. I wore jeans and a t-shirt and decided on shoes that would be sort of “sensible” for negotiating the sharp and irregular rocks.
So then came the big surprise: to get to the location Stephanie had in mind, we had to cross some shallow water. Oh boy, I almost quit there and then. My camera bag, stuffed with lenses, had no space for the camera. So I had that bag over one shoulder, another over the other, tripod in one hand and camera hanging from my neck. Oh yes, and then there was the little detail of my shoes… That’s where Mazen’s gallantry came in: he heroically offered me his flip-flops and stored my shoes in his back pack.
I’m still blushing in embarrassment when I think of the idiotic figure that was wading through the water; I was so damn fearful of tripping and landing with all my gear in the sea… but I’m happy to report that all went well – and I did bring back some rather nice shots, too!
Stephanie preparing for the swim...
...and readying the snorkel gear
Meanwhile, Mazen is hunting sea urchins!
Sunset time is getting closer!
the majestic Azure Window, almost close enough to touch!
No comment LOL!
one of Gozo's big trademarks: the crystal-clear sea surrounding it!
Message in a bottle, in front of the Azure Window
Azure your mind!
Oh, and if you need an explanation of Azure your mind – you find it here!
Have a great Sunday… I need to azure my mind a little now, after all the fun!!
Posted on October 11, 2009 - 1:57 pm. Add a comment
Wow… September is a gonner already. Only a couple of months more and we’ll start decorating for Christmas. Funny thought, that.
This week, for me, was mainly characterised by waiting. DigitalRev sent me an e-mail this morning – in response to my message bickering about the delay – saying they would ship the parcel today. Was there a public holiday in UK this week?? That’s what they gave as excuse, anyways. Man, I hate waiting!
In the meantime I thankfully found some distraction in work. A while back we had this idea of creating a blog about Gozo. Et voilà: I have great pleasure to announce that yesterday afternoon, at around 5, Discover Gozo was finally born! Our aim is to create more awareness about the island of Gozo, but not necessarily from the viewpoint of a journalist and/or travel writer. It’s not going to be an authoritative guidebook, and the blog posts won’t be written all by me, either. Discover Gozo belongs to the Sales & Marketing team of the Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz, and each of us will contribute our two cents’ worth. The diversity found in our team – an enchanting mix of “genuine” Gozitans and foreigners – should provide for some interesting insights into the nooks and crannies of this island! In other words, “real” people are talking about the reasons and places they think make Malta’s little sister worth a visit!
So watch that space… while I’m watching my letter box. I’m just dying to lay my hands on my new baby!!
Posted on October 2, 2009 - 9:49 pm. Add a comment
These were more or less shot “from the hip” last Tuesday night in Marsalforn, when one of the fishermen drew a little crowd that was keen to see – and buy – his catch of the day. The photos are certainly no masterpieces. Nonetheless, I quite like the atmosphere they convey.
Posted on September 12, 2009 - 11:44 am. 3 comments
This is not a paid advert – just taking the liberty to give a little plug to my place of work. 
If you are planning to pay the little rock of Gozo a visit in autumn, which is one of the most beautiful times of the year - you could do worse than taking up the special offer of the Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz! But you’d need to hurry, because this is available today only:
All online bookings made today for stays between 5th and 8th October or 19th and 22nd October will benefit from 4-star prices: you pay just EUR 99 per night for a Deluxe Poolview Room for 2 persons and including breakfast! Don’t phone: the offer is exclusively available through our online booking engine. You can book here. Obviously this is subject to availability, so if you’ve made up your mind, don’t leave booking until minutes before midnight…
You might want to consider that breakfast at the Kempinski is as good as lunch elsewhere, and in the unlikely event that the weather won’t oblige, you will love the heated indoor pool, the use of which is naturally free of charge for hotel guests. Using the gym, tennis & squash courts – and obviously the outdoor pools – is also free!
Deluxe Poolview Room at the Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz - which can be yours for EUR99 per night in October!
Who knows, maybe we’ll meet next month?
