Easter Break Part 2- Grenoble Reunions

I left Oxford on Tuesday and made my way to London to meet up with Kat and Jess. Together we explored around a bit and then met up with a bunch of people from Grenoble to have a nice dinner. 

The next day we went to Camden Market, I’ve never been there but it’s definitely a place I’d go back to again; there were tons of shops selling everything from t-shirts to cool vintage memorabilia. We met up with Mailin in the afternoon had lunch, Lama joined later and we went for high tea and when we met up with Miranda we headed out to a cool Belgium place for dinner (obsessed with food much?). The restaurant had a really cool deal called “Beat the Clock” which meant that between 5 and 6:30, depending on the time you place your order, it would cost you that much in pounds, i.e. we ordered at 5:50, and that’s how much our meals cost. Pretty cool. After dinner, Kat and I headed back to George’s house to watch some movies and hang out. Despite our intention of taking advantaging of being near Hampton Court Palace, we decided that we really weren’t in the mood to go see the gardens and a maze, quite frankly I wasn’t a fan of paying 4 pounds to get lost in a maze... I tend to get lost frequently for free. 

On Thursday night Kat and I made our way to Highgate to meet up with her friends from Wales who are now living and working in London. I snuck in one last Grenoble reunion to see Rhyanna, I haven’t seen her for nearly two years but it was as though only two weeks had passed.

My last day in London was great, I had my eyes glued to the TV watching the Royal Wedding. I don’t know why I cared so much about it but I definitely got sucked into the moment and bought a commemorative mug, and magnet.I was crying when Kate walked down the aisle. Don’t judge.

I'm pretty bummed that my trip is over but I want to personally thank my cousin Geoff for letting me stay in Oxford, as well as George and Kat’s Wales Crew for letting me crash whilst in London. To all the new people that I met, it was a pleasure, and thanks to the Grenoble crew for making the effort to make our reunion so great. Miss you all already.

I'm back in Malta for the last leg of my course and I only have two and a half more modules left until I’m back home for the summer to work on my thesis. Start the countdown. 

Easter Vacation Part 1

My Easter vacation could not have come soon enough. Even though I had a bit of a break at the end of January, the last two and half months consisted of a lot of work and I was really tired and needed a break. On the last day of class, Carole came to visit me after her trip to India. Despite the jet lag, she was a trooper and manned up to come out with everyone to see firsthand the wonderful world of Paceville. The next day, when we woke up the weather was absolute crap; it had been so sunny and warm in the weeks leading up to break and I had told the girls who were coming to visit that the weather had been great and was supposed to get better. I had a slight panic attack as I checked the forecast which predicted rain for the next four days. By some grace of God things turned around for the better. On Friday night, Jess arrived; it’s a good thing someone was awake to bring her to my room since I accidently fell asleep- sorry Jess! Anyway, the next day, despite the bit of rain, Carole, Jess and I ventured off to Mdina, Mosta and Sliema to check out the sites. 

Mdina Cathedral

Mosta Dome

Blue Grotto

On Saturday night, Jamie arrived and the next day, all four of us went to the Blue Grotto and right after that we went all the way across the island to Comino. We collectively decided that since the weather was good, we didn't want to risk not being able to see Comino at all so it was worth the trek from one of the island to the other. 

Comino

Comino

Comino

We spent all day in Valletta walking and taking in the sites. In the evening we went back to the waterfront and had a great dinner. 

Valletta

Carole left early Tuesday morning so Jamie, Jess and I had a laid back day to go buy some souvenirs and spend the rest of the day at the beach. 

As a side note, I’m proud to say that for the first time ever, I am voting in a federal election. I hope that those of you at home are doing the same because it is an important thing to do. We are so lucky to live in a democratic country where we are able to voice our opinion unlike some countries where people have lost their lives this year fighting for that right. 

Who knew democracy could look this good?

And now, I’m in Oxford visiting my cousin Geoff. I’ve been here once before but it was in the winter time; it was beautiful then but it is even more stunning now that the weather is nice and flowers have been planted in the gardens. It's great being in such an academic environment; I went to the library and got some books to help me with my research for my  thesis. Overall I'm happy to be here to get some work done, to be with family and to relax a little bit as well. 

So I guess I got a little carried away with this entry but it makes up for all the times that I don't write. I hope everyone is doing well. Love to all xoxo

Strawberry Festival

This weekend was generally eaten up by working on a take home exam but I decided that I would check out the Strawberry festival in Mgarr on Sunday. We had heard some rumors that every bus that was going to Mgarr was packed full and was not stopping to pick up passengers. The options were that we could call a taxi or walk. A bunch of us girls decided to walk... for two and a half hours... at 12:30 aka the hottest part of the day. I was okay with it, it made for a good adventure and I think that the walk was better than the actual festival itself. The festival took place in the main square and you could buy various drinks and food made with strawberries but the absolute chaos of buying a ticket to actually buy something was horrific; lines were nonexistent. Either way I got to see something cultural, which I really don’t get to do too often. Not only was there a lot of pandemonium going on at the festival, getting a bus home was another experience altogether. I almost got in the way of a fight between two men who were annoyed about people pushing and they decided that getting aggressive with each other would be the best way to solve the problem. The irony was that they were both near the front of the line and had no problem getting one. Anyway, that’s what has been happening lately, I’m excited that my three visitors arrive this week so we can go on some adventures and relax a bit. Hopefully I’ll get back to writing more frequently again soon. 

After 2.5 hours, we finally arrived