Stub DB

And a celebration of disasters

My visit to Malta 1-14 March

Weather in Malta was like my trip, sunny and sometimes plain ugly to others.

He began with a time delay, as well as the equipment, leaving Minneapolis, turning what should be a simple connection to Gatwick dizzying race to catch our plane in Malta. Evie and I arrived thirty minutes before the Air Malta flight was to leave. In flight the agent called the agents to tell them we have come. When she looked at us I knew we were in some bad news. We were on the passenger list, but they do not have our tickets

<a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=http://www.ticketfront.com >tickets</a and we must prepare them. We did not have any. All we have confirmation of a letter we received from the travel agency. In addition, the gate agent had no authority to make a new ticket. “Tell me, please wait”? She asked. It is the ultimate rhetorical question.

We stepped aside. While we waited, I sold copies of my book for two American tourists who were on the way to his first visit to Malta. After all the other passengers left, I began to take action on various issues, (I think there is a psychological term for this behavior). No wonder that when I measured the distance from the desk to the baggage X-ray, I watched suspiciously from security agents.

Minutes later the loudspeaker announced the last call for boarding flight to Air Malta

<a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=http://www.ticketfront.com >tickets</a, Noticing our desperate look in our other relations service said, do not worry. Even if we start to plan where to stay near Gatwick for the night, and maybe for the whole trip, the phone finally rang. The tickets were ready.

After a stunning flight over sunny Alps and down the Italian coast, we nearing Malta. What we have done the sun disappeared, the sky turned gray and drops of rain splashed on the windows. When we deplaned, it was cold as it was when we left Minneapolis. Despite this, we were happy to go back to our adopted land. Until we found out that our luggage did not arrive, that is. We forgot to check it to Malta, where we left Minneapolis, and bags are still in Gatwick. Very friendly young man at the Malta airport told us it was nothing to worry about. They will be delivered to our hotel the next day at the latest.

All that we had with us was the clothes on our backs, and what we had in our backpacks. At least we could wash our faces and brush our teeth that night and change our clothes.

We are expected to out of tracks, but an inexpensive guest house, where we always stay, but our room was next to the upper level, as in the stories, an elevator is not working. In Bellestrado in the book is actually Soleado in disguise. The Charter of from lack of sleep, we puffed our way up the stairs and went to sleep.

I woke up at 2 o’clock with the patient leg. I mean, my Torn right hamstring in September and was at the rear of the two within a month (remember, as Rick has always bemoaning his bad luck?) And ask for low back pain by various doctors and chiropractors. I also had sciatica in my right leg for some time as a result. At this time he was on the left. Fortunately, we have aspirin in our backpacks. I took one and went back to sleep.

The next morning we were ready to start promoting the book. Even if we did not have a copy of it with us (they are still at Gatwick), we had a few flyers in our backpacks. We decided we would visit every bookshop in Valletta, that the shopkeepers know that we were in town, and that copies will be available from Agius (pronounced ah JUS if you are not familiar with the Maltese), and Agius booksellers. In the shop was hilarious, and smelled of fresh newsprint, but we found a number of buyers present. In the clerks were friendly and told me to go back tomorrow. One actually suggested some time. Little do we know that this was just a taste of Malta typical business style, and that we will leave the gnawing the ends of our fingers before the trip is over.

When we returned to the hotel we found our bags sitting in our room, and manager Joe Bugeja (Josefina in the novel) is waiting for our doors. When I could breathe again, I commiserated with him for what he had to transport a book-filled bags up the stairs. He just shrugged and stuck his lower lip (a typical Maltese gesture, I decided.) “It was not that bad. Ascensor works.”

I bit my tongue, or they would be able to hear me scream Mdina five miles.

Exhausted, we turned in early. I woke up at 3:00 am with excruciating pain in my legs. I could not stand, I could not sit, and so I pace the floor for most of the night.

The next morning, after breakfast, we had to leave to Dr Tony Abela-Medici, our friend and coroner of Malta. Tony looked more tired than I am. He three-member family in the hospital, and is guarding them. Despite this, he seeks to do everything he could to help us. He told us he knew the President of Malta, and he thought he could organize the presentation of the book.

In looking up.

We went back to Valletta, and met with the distributor. David De Angelo was impressed, as far as I know about Malta and said he loved the book cover. He gave us names of contacts, including the Maltese language, a talk show host who sometimes talked about the books. We also received a promise from the Editor related to the Malta Times that the review of this book will be presented in a booksigning.

We immediately headed for the legendary Strait Street, where the talk show, was released. In the old days of knights dueled each other in the cobblestones and the ladies of the night came to show their products. No one had any idea where we would go, (numeric addresses mean nothing Malta), but, finally, a pub owner pointed to a new structure across the street. The building has proved a highlight of the trip. A dark entryway hallway and passed the iron gate. Beyond the courtyard, along with hundreds of exposed pipes hissed and gave the top hint of methane. Best of all, the hanging basket with a rope tied to the top floor railing as we were laughing uncontrollably. We never know what was in the cart, but we guessed he had the mail carrier will not climb up six flights of steps. After the ascent of five flights, we found tiny business card stuck in the closed door with the name we are looking for. We took a chance and knocked. A very young woman opened the door for us. Once we have described in the book, she said she was interested in it and planned it mentioned on the show.

In the future, we also met with the director of the Maltese Tourism Authority, and presented him with a book and spent a pleasant half hour chatting with him.

After this course of events is rapidly going down. In sciatica kept getting worse during the holiday week, and walk really was my only relief. The next Thursday, it was unbearable, and we went to the hospital, which was just a few blocks from the guesthouse. A woman who is perfect in my new Catherine treated me. She was a tall, gorgeous and had a bubbly personality to match, and I immediately started dreaming about the day when I make a movie from Masterpiece Chellini so that I could have thrown her for the role. She gave me a prescription for anti-inflammatory and Painkiller, and sent us on our way. Unfortunately, its provisions do not work, and we returned to the hospital at four am. At the doctor on duty at the hospital to me, and I got a strong injection, which finally relieved my agony. The next day I had a MRI.

How to get to my exam was cheaper than an ambulance at the taxi and the woman who rode with me was chatty. She told me, as a Maltese woman hate Russian women, who come to the island. “We cook for our husbands,” she said in disgust voice: “We keep the house for them and their children. And these Russians will come and steal them from us. And they know only one thing. This is terrible.”