Hi, I am describing our journey to Austria. I hope, I will have finished it by the end of Jan. Unfortunately, I didn't take my professional photo camera and haven't got good pictureas, but I can offer to you photos from an another site about Vienna http://phototravels.net/vienna/index.html .
Saturday, 29 December 2007
Austria Dec 2007
Hi, I am describing our journey to Austria. I hope, I will have finished it by the end of Jan. Unfortunately, I didn't take my professional photo camera and haven't got good pictureas, but I can offer to you photos from an another site about Vienna http://phototravels.net/vienna/index.html .
Saturday, 27 October 2007
Malta. Sightseeing
Fish Market. Before I set my foot on Malta the first time, I’d read about 
Malta on the internet a lot. Basically, there were descriptions of the capital, about the incredible underwater world, of course, about Malta’s Knights and at last, about a local fish market. I was interested in shooting same uncommon pictures and I knew fresh fish were being sold by fishmongers only one day a week. Oh no, It’s a mistake. They sold fresh fish only several hours only one day in week. Poor foreign tourists, they never see a real fish market. After sellers almost finished their work and the most fresh and tasty delicacies have been sold, a crowd of idlers gathered. As for me, I had been told a fish market was situated in a small town called Marsaxllock and it opened at 7am. By sunrise I was in the central square of Marsaxllock. The time was 6.20am. I had to take a taxi, so early it was. I saw a handful of absolutely sleepy people, who were putting on tables different kinds of…frozen fish, strawberries and clothes. You would have smiled to see a typical tourist with a huge camera and a rucksack, who was wandering around at 6.30am again and again. But I saw the sunrise; I saw hundreds of fishing boats what were sleeping in a bay, I saw how fishermen’s boats, full of catches, arrived from open sea, and how roughly they were preparing catches for selling. In order to succeed in shooting fish, you need to awake up early. I had been confused; I had not known any names of fish. Little by little, counters had been filled by plenty of creations. I try to list: Mazzolia, Kavalli, Klamari (squid), Awart, Dott, Lampuki, Spnot, Trill, Pagel, Gambli (shrimp), etc. Some of them where fresh and opened their mouths with no sound, heads of another were cut and skins were excoriated. I saw a piece of weird big fish, I suppose the diameter was almost 15 inches, but unfortunately the head was missing. A nice thing about the fish market is the kind atmosphere. Everyone smiled and nobody objected to my taking photos and I was able to take some good photos.
Valetta. I really liked Valetta! It’s the marvelous town, because the clever Maltese got rid of any advertising on the streets. It seems they don’t use air-conditioners, but all their air-conditioners were hidden in order to save the original historical appearance of Valetta. There are a government buildings, a working residence of Malta’s knights, museums, gift shops, open-air café, old fashioned carriages, and crowds of tourists in Valetta. I loved to wander around Valetta with my camera, very slowly, looking for interesting sights. Generally speaking, Valetta is one big museum. It’s difficult to describe, it’s a compact, unassailable, medieval town. If cars and buses left the city suddenly, you wouldn’t be aware of what period you were in. We went on a festival of food and fireworks, so I have an idea of how they celebrate their special dates. I was surprised, they don’t drink alcohol, at all. But they ate huge rolls instead of hamburgers with fries. In addition, Fireworks are respected in Malta; even a local holiday in a small village is accompanied by a firework, certainly. To be
honest we weren’t satisfied by the performance, as I have been told later, it was a one step of competition between Mediterranean neighbors. Anyway, wine was being sold. Before we joined a festival, we’d enjoyed couple of bottles excellent red wine. Some people contend that wine helps us to speak and understand a foreign tongue. I agree as we arranged speak English that day and successfully, despite our ability, so we all were able to speak Russian. Also, I remember, I took Uri out sightseeing at night and we were alone on the highest tower, strong wind blew, and some big cargo ship was rushing confidently across the bay towards their destination. I have already told you about the fish market, that day I took a bus from Marsaxllock to Valetta, I had managed to go around the whole Valetta and at last, I decided go to the hotel on foot. I wouldn’t have made up my mind, but I had seen the biggest tower, which was situated exactly near my hotel. I had been walking for six hours before I put my shattered body into bed at 11pm.
I bought the excursion to Mdina at EC school. I was really interested in visiting new and new places. Mdina is a classical tourist trap. Citizens left this town many years ago. It is located in the middle of Malta. We visited the show ‘Mdina experience’, the movie about history of Malta from ancient times to our days.
The most interesting thing about the show was a story how castles and other buildings were being built. The Maltese called that story ‘Heritage’. By the way, it’s very interesting. Natural stones were used for building. They just hadn’t any other materials. I went to an ethnographic museum and saw the reconstruction process. First of all, they dug out a layer. Next similar blocks were sawed and moved from a gallery by tracks. One fisherman, who I saw every morning on the shore said that now stones supplies have been depleted. So, I had been living in Malta for 4 weeks, but I hadn’t visited again ‘The town of silence’. It is still my dream, to visit Mdina at 8am and feel real pleasure…
Golden Beach, Gozo & Camino. Malta has no beaches, well almost. I know only one respectable beach, of course, it is called ‘Golden’. I had seen it when we were riding on bicycles. It’s a remote land. The bus takes about 1.5 hours from Valetta to Golden Bay due to the very complex roads and the streets are extremely narrow. There are old, bright yellow color buses in Malta. Believe it or not, all the buses had a different shape (!), different windows, doors and head lamps. Especially old models didn’t have a button to inform the driver about you wanted to get off. Otherwise a driver doesn’t stop till somebody beeps. So, the old models had laces which spread in the bus above passenger’s heads. It looked old fashioned and funny. A ticket for Golden Bay cost 0.5ML (approx. 1Euro).
Diving. I’ve heard Malta is a beautiful place for people who are interested in good diving, because the water is crystal-clear and you can see wrecks of ships which sunk a long time ago. Also, as I remember, even a world underwater photo competition is held every year. When I was walking along the sea front at the first day, I found out dive center ‘Neptune’ and I dropped in, by chance. Inside I was accepted by the boss. As I had several dozen dives, I was interested in wrecks or something. The boss said ‘Yeah, of course, you’ll see a beautiful site’ and I was even shown a book with a route and description of the object. We selected the underwater suit for me, equipment, flippers and I was booked for the next day. Quite satisfied I left the center. Next morning our group gathered near the center and we loaded our gas tanks and boxes with equipment in the minibus. To be honest, the price was very expensive. For example, in Egypt two dives from a boat, with lunch costs 35-40USD, in Malta two dives from the shore (!) cost 27ML=80USD. This was an very expensive rate. But I couldn’t have missed a possibility to record Malta’s note in my dive logbook. And so, we put our suits and equipment on and tried to reach the water. It was difficult, breakers were strong and stones were slippery and sharp. Because of there were hand-rails and I managed to get to calm water. What did I see under water? Utter rubbish, basically. I saw grass, stones, and several tiny little fish. In addition, poor visibility, enough cold water and a torn suit let me down. But the great disappointment waited ahead. I was just cheated by the boss; I hadn’t seen a wreck the first dive and second either. I can’t stand these things and the boss tried to explain to me about bad weather and promised me a wreck next dives. At the same time I promised to pay later… I was so annoyed, the money hadn’t been paid. I think it’s a draw, 1:1. )))
Basically, tourists spend one or two days and have no time to absorb the beauty of the island, a silence of the ancient towns, a friendliness of the inhabitants, and an irritation of the bus drivers. Tourists should be required to live in Malta at least one week. Time is flying and by January 2008 Malta will lose their currency, ML as Malta is going to become to be a competent EC member. Newspapers write articles against funny yellow buses, what are polluting the environment. Fish supplies have been depleted and the Mediterranean Sea is empty (as I’ve seen!). Malta is changing as the whole world. If you decide to see Malta, you ought to fly in April or May. Because the weather isn’t intolerably hot, but you are able to swim in open sea. You would manage to see castles and towers without thinking about an air-conditioned tour bus.
In conclusion, Malta is good place for sightseeing and just having a rest.
Malta on the internet a lot. Basically, there were descriptions of the capital, about the incredible underwater world, of course, about Malta’s Knights and at last, about a local fish market. I was interested in shooting same uncommon pictures and I knew fresh fish were being sold by fishmongers only one day a week. Oh no, It’s a mistake. They sold fresh fish only several hours only one day in week. Poor foreign tourists, they never see a real fish market. After sellers almost finished their work and the most fresh and tasty delicacies have been sold, a crowd of idlers gathered. As for me, I had been told a fish market was situated in a small town called Marsaxllock and it opened at 7am. By sunrise I was in the central square of Marsaxllock. The time was 6.20am. I had to take a taxi, so early it was. I saw a handful of absolutely sleepy people, who were putting on tables different kinds of…frozen fish, strawberries and clothes. You would have smiled to see a typical tourist with a huge camera and a rucksack, who was wandering around at 6.30am again and again. But I saw the sunrise; I saw hundreds of fishing boats what were sleeping in a bay, I saw how fishermen’s boats, full of catches, arrived from open sea, and how roughly they were preparing catches for selling. In order to succeed in shooting fish, you need to awake up early. I had been confused; I had not known any names of fish. Little by little, counters had been filled by plenty of creations. I try to list: Mazzolia, Kavalli, Klamari (squid), Awart, Dott, Lampuki, Spnot, Trill, Pagel, Gambli (shrimp), etc. Some of them where fresh and opened their mouths with no sound, heads of another were cut and skins were excoriated. I saw a piece of weird big fish, I suppose the diameter was almost 15 inches, but unfortunately the head was missing. A nice thing about the fish market is the kind atmosphere. Everyone smiled and nobody objected to my taking photos and I was able to take some good photos.
Valetta. I really liked Valetta! It’s the marvelous town, because the clever Maltese got rid of any advertising on the streets. It seems they don’t use air-conditioners, but all their air-conditioners were hidden in order to save the original historical appearance of Valetta. There are a government buildings, a working residence of Malta’s knights, museums, gift shops, open-air café, old fashioned carriages, and crowds of tourists in Valetta. I loved to wander around Valetta with my camera, very slowly, looking for interesting sights. Generally speaking, Valetta is one big museum. It’s difficult to describe, it’s a compact, unassailable, medieval town. If cars and buses left the city suddenly, you wouldn’t be aware of what period you were in. We went on a festival of food and fireworks, so I have an idea of how they celebrate their special dates. I was surprised, they don’t drink alcohol, at all. But they ate huge rolls instead of hamburgers with fries. In addition, Fireworks are respected in Malta; even a local holiday in a small village is accompanied by a firework, certainly. To be
honest we weren’t satisfied by the performance, as I have been told later, it was a one step of competition between Mediterranean neighbors. Anyway, wine was being sold. Before we joined a festival, we’d enjoyed couple of bottles excellent red wine. Some people contend that wine helps us to speak and understand a foreign tongue. I agree as we arranged speak English that day and successfully, despite our ability, so we all were able to speak Russian. Also, I remember, I took Uri out sightseeing at night and we were alone on the highest tower, strong wind blew, and some big cargo ship was rushing confidently across the bay towards their destination. I have already told you about the fish market, that day I took a bus from Marsaxllock to Valetta, I had managed to go around the whole Valetta and at last, I decided go to the hotel on foot. I wouldn’t have made up my mind, but I had seen the biggest tower, which was situated exactly near my hotel. I had been walking for six hours before I put my shattered body into bed at 11pm.I bought the excursion to Mdina at EC school. I was really interested in visiting new and new places. Mdina is a classical tourist trap. Citizens left this town many years ago. It is located in the middle of Malta. We visited the show ‘Mdina experience’, the movie about history of Malta from ancient times to our days.
The most interesting thing about the show was a story how castles and other buildings were being built. The Maltese called that story ‘Heritage’. By the way, it’s very interesting. Natural stones were used for building. They just hadn’t any other materials. I went to an ethnographic museum and saw the reconstruction process. First of all, they dug out a layer. Next similar blocks were sawed and moved from a gallery by tracks. One fisherman, who I saw every morning on the shore said that now stones supplies have been depleted. So, I had been living in Malta for 4 weeks, but I hadn’t visited again ‘The town of silence’. It is still my dream, to visit Mdina at 8am and feel real pleasure…Golden Beach, Gozo & Camino. Malta has no beaches, well almost. I know only one respectable beach, of course, it is called ‘Golden’. I had seen it when we were riding on bicycles. It’s a remote land. The bus takes about 1.5 hours from Valetta to Golden Bay due to the very complex roads and the streets are extremely narrow. There are old, bright yellow color buses in Malta. Believe it or not, all the buses had a different shape (!), different windows, doors and head lamps. Especially old models didn’t have a button to inform the driver about you wanted to get off. Otherwise a driver doesn’t stop till somebody beeps. So, the old models had laces which spread in the bus above passenger’s heads. It looked old fashioned and funny. A ticket for Golden Bay cost 0.5ML (approx. 1Euro).
Diving. I’ve heard Malta is a beautiful place for people who are interested in good diving, because the water is crystal-clear and you can see wrecks of ships which sunk a long time ago. Also, as I remember, even a world underwater photo competition is held every year. When I was walking along the sea front at the first day, I found out dive center ‘Neptune’ and I dropped in, by chance. Inside I was accepted by the boss. As I had several dozen dives, I was interested in wrecks or something. The boss said ‘Yeah, of course, you’ll see a beautiful site’ and I was even shown a book with a route and description of the object. We selected the underwater suit for me, equipment, flippers and I was booked for the next day. Quite satisfied I left the center. Next morning our group gathered near the center and we loaded our gas tanks and boxes with equipment in the minibus. To be honest, the price was very expensive. For example, in Egypt two dives from a boat, with lunch costs 35-40USD, in Malta two dives from the shore (!) cost 27ML=80USD. This was an very expensive rate. But I couldn’t have missed a possibility to record Malta’s note in my dive logbook. And so, we put our suits and equipment on and tried to reach the water. It was difficult, breakers were strong and stones were slippery and sharp. Because of there were hand-rails and I managed to get to calm water. What did I see under water? Utter rubbish, basically. I saw grass, stones, and several tiny little fish. In addition, poor visibility, enough cold water and a torn suit let me down. But the great disappointment waited ahead. I was just cheated by the boss; I hadn’t seen a wreck the first dive and second either. I can’t stand these things and the boss tried to explain to me about bad weather and promised me a wreck next dives. At the same time I promised to pay later… I was so annoyed, the money hadn’t been paid. I think it’s a draw, 1:1. )))
Basically, tourists spend one or two days and have no time to absorb the beauty of the island, a silence of the ancient towns, a friendliness of the inhabitants, and an irritation of the bus drivers. Tourists should be required to live in Malta at least one week. Time is flying and by January 2008 Malta will lose their currency, ML as Malta is going to become to be a competent EC member. Newspapers write articles against funny yellow buses, what are polluting the environment. Fish supplies have been depleted and the Mediterranean Sea is empty (as I’ve seen!). Malta is changing as the whole world. If you decide to see Malta, you ought to fly in April or May. Because the weather isn’t intolerably hot, but you are able to swim in open sea. You would manage to see castles and towers without thinking about an air-conditioned tour bus.
In conclusion, Malta is good place for sightseeing and just having a rest.
Monday, 22 October 2007
About EC School (Malta again)
I’d like to remember my English lessons in Malta. It was a terrible first day, I was late for a test! I try to be punctual and I had even found the school day before, but I was lost. The test began at 7.30am and nobody was waiting for me, no doubt. I was led to a small crowded room and given several sheets of paper with a printed test. The people around me had been doing the test for 15 minutes by my appearance and I began to feel very uncomfortable. In addition, I almost didn’t understand the teacher. But the process in school was so well-organized that in a dozen minutes someone invited several of us to continue the test in another room, which was quiet and calm. The test was really difficult for me. I didn’t understand a recording and wrote a muddled creation for free subject. In conclusion, I ticked in the test small windows, my memory allowed me do it correctly evidently. It’s evident that my Russian English school gave me good knowledge! I confirmed my pre-intermediate level and I’ve got 50.2 points! It was my little success that day.After the test finished we had a free time. I did nothing useful and was wandering around the building, ate a roll with a lemon-tea and I took a lift up to the roof by 12 pm. Someone students tried to have a tan, someone read, I stared at people round. At last, a crowd of future students gathered. There were plenty of eccentric teenagers, several middle aged people and even an old woman. I hadn’t seen any people my age and was very surprised. A loud voice was screaming out our names and we had been invited to our classrooms.
It was a lucky break; the first teacher I had met in school was Simon. He could make a kind, patient, comfortable atmosphere. He urged and encouraged us to express our opinion and did it very politely and our levels were taken into consideration. We didn’t have two similar lessons with Simon. For instance, we were solving one problem after we had survived in a desert after crash landing. Each of us had got a list of 15 items and we should have ranked it in order of their importance for a personal survival and after that, all together, we should have written one list. For example, we had been given torch, knife, map, loaded pistol, parachute, mirror, 1 liter of water, vodka and etc. That communication activity taught us the most important thing in the similar situation is a mirror as it can be used to signal for help. Simon’s lessons were liked by everyone. I had three lessons every day, apart from the weekend. Basically, we were taught new words and expressions all 4 weeks, books were seldom used. Now I have a pile of some materials and I still can’t throw it out.
So, the next teacher I remember was D. He was very shrewd, looked like a psychotherapist and each lesson was brain storm. For example, one task was ‘The ark’. Of course, again, we had to vote for 5 lives from at least 12. Each of us prepared a speech and tried explain why exactly his or her person was most important. And we had a really difficult dilemma. Because of the plot, our leader had cancer, our officer was homosexual, our top-models were so skinny and may be ill and etc. First time in my life I felt desire to speak but hadn’t words. Anyway, the group had a same level and studies flew. The most challenging thing about being in English school is studying a lot of new words every day. Nobody wanted to check your knowledge and I was motivated to spend my free time to do it.
I learned new words and expressions by writing, listening and speaking every day. Fortunately, English is used in Malta by everyone. The most rewarding thing was my individual trip which I had bought just on the random travel agency after I had been learning English a couple of weeks. My ability was tested; I hadn’t been lost and even had been brave to asking questions. I left tour bus in a fish market quite satisfied. Let me continue about the fish market, school activities and sights next time.
To be continued…
Saturday, 20 October 2007
About famous persons I have ever met (Homework):
So, It was Vladimir Kuzmin. I had had not a long period of my life when my friends from a radio station were asking me to help them to meet some famous persons, as a rule, Russian singers or bands. Actually I had a car, not on its last legs and I was delighted because I’ve seen plenty of amazing people. If you don’t mind I’ll write about one. He is a man, called Vladimir Kuzmin. I had heard this name in my childhood. I used to live in a small village not far from here all summer time with grandparents and my elder brother arrived for the rest and he had a tape-recorder (it was…not exactly…1983) and we were listening to the band “Dynamic” (in English ‘speaker’), song ‘Young girl today in a bar first time, She is 15 years old. She is with slim boy, they have one ticket only…etc). You would have called us ‘teenagers’. Yes, we were. Now Kuzmin is not an extremely popular person, but 5-7 years ago it was true. He became famous after decades years of hard work, he is a writer, singer and musician and able to play guitar amazingly. Now he is over 50 (but he got married to a 20 year old blonde girl, who is very shy and lovely) and sometimes he gives concerts, in Perm too.
What does he look like? Let me see.. I remember he is not tall, has frizzy dyed hair and isn’t cute. Of course, he isn’t hip and eccentric. To be honest, I believe a man should be clever, smart and it’s enough to be successful. You know how many one-day stupid person we can see on TV screen every year…I have no idea if he has ever changed his image, because he is popular on radio, not TV. I suppose his appearance has been changing, so he spends almost whole time in the USA, in his recording studio. As I have told already, he is the best guitarist of Russia now, and he wrote greatest gold and platinum hits, and it’s the good things what he could have done.
I’d like to write where I’ve met him. As I have told, several years ago I was helping my friends to realize concerts. You would have been astonished by how patient, quiet he was (to opposite his director and mates). I was like a driver of car and our acquaintance ended quickly. My CD with Kuzmin’s songs was signed and that’s all. Oh no, I forgot about supper after the concert and a picture together were shot. The more unforgettable thing happened with my friend, he was keen on playing guitar and fun with Kuzmin, and he had got a picture together too, because I took him to another side of the scene. He keeps that photo in a visible place of his flat now. It was an incredible event for him. After the concert and dishes he went to a hotel, actually no one ever had done that before, especially rock singers.. It speaks about high moral and human quality of him. I know I’ll never meet him again, but when I listen to his song on radio I just feel a … kind of nostalgia and pleasant. It’s good for me, isn’t it?
What does he look like? Let me see.. I remember he is not tall, has frizzy dyed hair and isn’t cute. Of course, he isn’t hip and eccentric. To be honest, I believe a man should be clever, smart and it’s enough to be successful. You know how many one-day stupid person we can see on TV screen every year…I have no idea if he has ever changed his image, because he is popular on radio, not TV. I suppose his appearance has been changing, so he spends almost whole time in the USA, in his recording studio. As I have told already, he is the best guitarist of Russia now, and he wrote greatest gold and platinum hits, and it’s the good things what he could have done.
I’d like to write where I’ve met him. As I have told, several years ago I was helping my friends to realize concerts. You would have been astonished by how patient, quiet he was (to opposite his director and mates). I was like a driver of car and our acquaintance ended quickly. My CD with Kuzmin’s songs was signed and that’s all. Oh no, I forgot about supper after the concert and a picture together were shot. The more unforgettable thing happened with my friend, he was keen on playing guitar and fun with Kuzmin, and he had got a picture together too, because I took him to another side of the scene. He keeps that photo in a visible place of his flat now. It was an incredible event for him. After the concert and dishes he went to a hotel, actually no one ever had done that before, especially rock singers.. It speaks about high moral and human quality of him. I know I’ll never meet him again, but when I listen to his song on radio I just feel a … kind of nostalgia and pleasant. It’s good for me, isn’t it?
Tuesday, 16 October 2007
Malta PART 1
My first day in Malta. 13 April 2007
It was Friday, 13th. A day before that I had got a ticket, voucher and short instructions what I should do in Malta and I shouldn’t. I had been calmed down in the travel agency, they assured me that everything absolutely organized and wrote a local mobile number of their representative of an agency just in case. I left them almost confident.
It was Friday, 13th. A day before that I had got a ticket, voucher and short instructions what I should do in Malta and I shouldn’t. I had been calmed down in the travel agency, they assured me that everything absolutely organized and wrote a local mobile number of their representative of an agency just in case. I left them almost confident.
I felt first nervous on board the plane, because nobody spoke Russian, of course. Actually, I had a ‘Malta airlines’ trip. Stewards were in uniform with badges and one showed me my place. The plane took off and flight began. To be honest, I didn’t find that service hi-end, as usual, we drank tea or coffee and had breakfast without meat meals for some reason. In the next seat sat a boy from Siberia, of course, he was going to improve his English. In Malta you can see, apart from natives, thousands of English school students and, much less, crowds of tourists in fixed places. So, although we lived in the same city, I’ve met him only once in 4 weeks. After landing and finding my baggage I was met by women with sign with my name in her hands. My vocabulary allowed me realized what I should do next. I had been waiting about 40 minutes till a custom officer stuck a visa in my passport. I was taken by taxi boy and looked through a window to unknown landscape. I saw castles on the horizon and wondered about left-side traffic there. There were plenty of tiny cars around. Later I understood that streets were extremely narrow. I even told cliché to my driver that here rather warmer than in Russia. He pronounced long phrase and our conversation finished. We were moving through the whole island and at last arrived at the hotel. The driver helped me take my luggage from a boot and moved out. I put on a wide smile and went to reception. It took the time to explain who I am, got a key from «excellent room» and then exchange my «excellent tiny-dingy-shabby room» for another. I realized that Malta had similar service to Egypt…
What would you do on your first day? I suppose the same, You must have local money, obviously. But the first thing I made was a journey along the sea shore I saw from my shelter before. After traditional touching the sea by palm I returned to reception with euro-banknote and asked the question kind of «excuse me, I need..aa..money..aa..this..aa..where?...». Thank goodness bank was on the corner. Then I decided to have lunch and went to a café. Small town Pachewill where I stayed is the biggest tourist’s center of Malta due to gorgeous night life. Add Malta’s local traditions and you will have some idea why all restaurants and bars open only after 7pm. I could have a typical coffee and pasta. I found out that dishes are huge, but they were a bit expensive. For instance, I paid 3ML for 1 pizza. It was almost 6 euro. Satisfied enough I took my camera and went to see surroundings. I did do a lot that day, first of all I tried to find post office, banks, ATM, bars and shops, of course. But it was so cold and I had been walking so long time and I felt so lonely that I stayed in some Italian restaurant, took a bottle a red dry wine, king size pizza and began my first supper. After the first glass of wine I realized it had been good idea to leave Russia actually. After second one world around me became amazing and entertaining.To be continued…
Malta PART 2
During I stay in Malta I aimed to have friends from different countries in order to have new experience and knowledge. When I arrived, as I have written, the first day had been spent for sightseeing and at the end of day I was chilling out into Italian café. An incredible story happened in that café. I ordered pizza, but I hadn’t known what means ‘fried’ in the list ingredients and was surprised find out pizza covered with slices of fried potatoes! I was starving the entire day and pizza was eaten in short time. One waiter (I hadn’t known yet he was owner) tried to find out if I was really enjoying pizza or not. Obviously, I couldn’t lie, but my words were obscure for him and, I was amazed, ordered me to choose any another pizza from list. I was supposed to agree, but my stomach was absolutely full and I avoided eating more.
That first day I had seen a diving center ‘Neptune’ and booked in for diving. The second day became at 9am in that center. To cut a long story short we made only two dives in cold water, approximately 16 grades above zero. When we finished our journey, I met a group of students, young and funny. I joined them and we decided to go to the casino because they had
never been in Malta’s casino and, of course, myself neither. We took a bus and went to casino near my hotel. They were interesting team, all from the USA. They were a couple black men, one girl from Hong Kong and another girl from Poland. They had graduated medicine university in the USA and were practicing in Malta then. I suppose I wasn’t irritated them, but I couldn’t make any conversation and I didn’t get on with them.
Fortunately, the first day of school came and brought me new acquaintances. What a great evening we had. We had a supper which was included in a school program, called ‘Welcome dinner’. We were invited to (they said) an oldest restaurant of the island. It was a dark, somber vault with several rows of tables and heavy wooden chairs. Typical Maltese meals were brought: soup, grilled fish or fried meat for choice and one glass of wine. The kind atmosphere urged us to speak a lot, let us know each other. Speaking personally, I got on with Michael from Germany and corky, bubble men from Germany too, his name I forgot. Also, I met my tour guide from my travel agency, who organized the trip. I had been told some useful things, for instance, popular places for sightseeing. It lasted four hours and everyone went away with good mood. Was the food good? If I had lived short time in Malta, I would have liked it, but during I eat different meals, I had fallen in pizzas. I really miss of it here…
Generally speaking, school suggested us plenty of activities later, where our constant team were shaped. We met each other in school at breaks and that’s happened, discussed about lessons, drank coffee and ate huge long Maltese roll (burger are being called small circle thing like a MacDonald’s fish burger.) I almost forgot about internet café where we all could have internet unlimitedly used. Although our school contained hundreds of students, our company was happened in first days. There were Mete Kaplan from Turkey with young friend, Yuri from St. Petersburg, Boris from Malta, Nicole from Austria and, of course, gorgeous Nastya from Russia in our team. Different people joined us every day but they were a skeleton.
That first day I had seen a diving center ‘Neptune’ and booked in for diving. The second day became at 9am in that center. To cut a long story short we made only two dives in cold water, approximately 16 grades above zero. When we finished our journey, I met a group of students, young and funny. I joined them and we decided to go to the casino because they had
never been in Malta’s casino and, of course, myself neither. We took a bus and went to casino near my hotel. They were interesting team, all from the USA. They were a couple black men, one girl from Hong Kong and another girl from Poland. They had graduated medicine university in the USA and were practicing in Malta then. I suppose I wasn’t irritated them, but I couldn’t make any conversation and I didn’t get on with them.Fortunately, the first day of school came and brought me new acquaintances. What a great evening we had. We had a supper which was included in a school program, called ‘Welcome dinner’. We were invited to (they said) an oldest restaurant of the island. It was a dark, somber vault with several rows of tables and heavy wooden chairs. Typical Maltese meals were brought: soup, grilled fish or fried meat for choice and one glass of wine. The kind atmosphere urged us to speak a lot, let us know each other. Speaking personally, I got on with Michael from Germany and corky, bubble men from Germany too, his name I forgot. Also, I met my tour guide from my travel agency, who organized the trip. I had been told some useful things, for instance, popular places for sightseeing. It lasted four hours and everyone went away with good mood. Was the food good? If I had lived short time in Malta, I would have liked it, but during I eat different meals, I had fallen in pizzas. I really miss of it here…
Generally speaking, school suggested us plenty of activities later, where our constant team were shaped. We met each other in school at breaks and that’s happened, discussed about lessons, drank coffee and ate huge long Maltese roll (burger are being called small circle thing like a MacDonald’s fish burger.) I almost forgot about internet café where we all could have internet unlimitedly used. Although our school contained hundreds of students, our company was happened in first days. There were Mete Kaplan from Turkey with young friend, Yuri from St. Petersburg, Boris from Malta, Nicole from Austria and, of course, gorgeous Nastya from Russia in our team. Different people joined us every day but they were a skeleton.Saturday, 13 October 2007
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