I'm sitting here alone in darkness...

Argh! As soon as I got home from the vacation my cold came back with full force. I thought it was going away at trhe end of last week but no, another wave and now it itches in my throat and I'm coughing like hell. Sucks big time.
But, one thing to cheer me up a bit is my new phone. Ok, it's a work tool but it sure has some nice features my little Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Pro. It was a damn good thing I chose one with the real keyboard... Don't really have the talent for the touch screen...
Guess I should try to fiure out how the mobile blogg works now too then.

Toy or Tool? TOY!

But, for the real thing, the vacation. A couple of months ago Peter was approached by the promoters of the Malta Doom Metal Festival asking if Void Moon could play. It wasn't time enogh to get the set together but we decided the Festival and Malta was a good target for vacation so we went there anyway. Perhaps there will be a gig next year instead because we're absolutely going back again!!!

9 bands in total, most from Malta but that's not a bad thing. Forsaken, Nomad Son, Hands Of Orlac, Sorrows Path, Dawn Of Anguish, Victims Of Creation, Lothüs, Deluge Of Sorrow and a last minute replacement in Thrashacre. A really nice line-up I say! There will be more about the Festival later on Metal Temple though...

After an extremely early morning, the traint to Kastrup left at 03:20am, flight at 05:50am and a change in Frankfurt we arrived around lunch in Malta. It was so nice to get out of the plane and just feel the warmth of the sun through the way too thick layer of clothes. We booked the transit to the hotel and checked in. We took a little walk around the block to find some lunch to start with. Both were really tired but decided it was the best thing to try to stay active.

View over Manoel Island

And since it was an amazing evening it was a joy to walk around and just look at things. Sure, it was off-season and quite empty on Tourists but all the better. It was still around +20 and that makes it 25 degrees warmer than home at least... (and the same temperature as most of the summer here)

The day after we deicded to do some real sightseeing. We figured out the Löwenbraü boat was the ferry from Sliema to Valletta... (it said Sliema - Valletta - Sliema Ferry on the side) It was much more of the old buildings left in Valletta so it was a bit of a difference between the two cities.

Valletta city-line

Of course we had to check out some of the magnificient Churches... In the first one it was allowed to take pictures for a small donation. The dude in the door told us it was 88th birthday this day and that he had flewn over Scandinavia during World War 2. It's always fascinating to listen to peoples stories.

St Pauls Anglican Cathedral (not the St Paul's Church)

The second one we went in to was the St Pauls Church and one of the most decorated I've ever seen. There were 40 stones on the floor, sort of tombstones telling different stories in marble mosaic. Quite morbid pictures from time to time so it was a shame it wasn't allowed to take any pictures inside. The we went to the catacombs and the joker reverant turned off the lights leaving us a few seconds in pitch black... Both he and the lady who gave out the info sheets was looking really amuzed when we found our way back to the light. "Did he scare you?" She giggled...

St Paul's Church squeezed in on a tiny street

There were amazing view's everywhere... Both in the very straight streets and by the seaside. It was a little like Rome where the whole city felt like a museum.

Upper Barracca Gardens and the Grand Harbour

At lunchtime we sat down outside at a restaurant. There were cats a little here and there but apparently this was their favorite lunch place too. Peter was getting starred at while eating his Sword fish. They didn't care at all about my carbonara...

FEED ME!!!

Reading about Malta before leaving it said the busses was an attraction of their own. I'm bound to agree. Some must be from the 60's if not even the 50's. Almost all of them in perfect shape. We didn't take a ride this time... But next year we will.

Notice the really pink pastery!

We had time for two days of sightseeing before the Festival started. Albert and co had arranged it so good that we could ride with the bands staying at our Hotel to the Festival if we could stand sitting through Soundcheck. No problems, the Buskett Roadhouse was on the other side of the Island. I felt a little stupid when realizing it wasn't even 10km's away... But still, I wouldn't have wanted to find my way through the busses in the middle of night.

Picking oranges from a cactus, does it get more evil?

Saturday was really lazy since the we wasn't back at the Hotel until after 3am. So we spent Saturday strolling along the water, trying out the cocktail menus, sitting on the sun heated cliffs chilling our feet in the water. Really nice.

A Swimmingpool and a Tequila Sunrise (2 others we tried was called Purple People Eater and Freddy Fudpucker)

Peter couldn't resist jumping in. I chicked out at first but it felt as an obligation to take a dip in the sea before going home at least. And damn that was nice, very salty but nice.

Tam-tam-tam-tam "SHARK"

It was well needed relaxing days and it felt very hard going home after these few days. It would have been really nice to stay a little longer and rest a few more days before going back to work and winter.

Chill out!

It sure is needed with some sun during these months. I had the chance last year with the work-trips but from now on this will be a tradition. Maybe not Malta year after year but some place sunny at the end of November.

The view of St Julian

Malta really was different from any place I've ever been. To start with, it was a strange mixture of London and southern Europe in the buildings. Then it was the whole atmosphere. People were in general very friendly and polite, even if the towns are quite crowded it felt really relaxed and nice. Not at all as strssful it can be in other cities...

Rerun next year? ABSOLUTELY

It's not really necessary to comment I wasn't too thrilled getting off the train in Borås last Monday and it was 1dm of snow and the flakes still falling... GAH!!!

Cheers

E

NP: Ghost - Opus Eponymous