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girlyswotIn the summer, I went away for 3 days, to a nice hotel in Wales. I ate delicious food, cycled round a lake, sat in the spa pool, and tried not to worry too much about work, mostly helped by having even worse internet than I do at home. I also discovered Morgan's Brew Tea, which I promptly ordered off the internet when I got back home and am drinking right now. It is seriously yummy.
Last week, I went to Malta/Gozo for 7 nights. I was extremely tired and what I wanted most of all was rest. I wanted an easy week of nice food, nice weather, nice spa pool, nice beach, lots of sleep, no thinking about work. I did not get that week.
I am much less tired than I was a week ago, so the main objective of the holiday was achieved. This is the big headline and I am reminding myself of it regularly, because there were a lot of minor objectives that were not really achieved, or not without quite a lot more effort than I wanted to give them. There were a lot of disappointing things about the week: the weather was mostly not great; the jacuzzi at the B&B wasn't working; the breakfasts at the B&B were limited in both variety and quantity; food in general ranged from okay to fine, and was on some occasions quite difficult to source at all; the two beaches I visited were both fine but not spectacular and required either a longish scary walk, or two buses and a walk. I did sleep fairly well and that was a very good thing.
The single biggest issue was that I lost my kindle on the first day, somewhere between the airport and the B&B. Yes, I have the kindle app on my phone, and on my netbook. Yes, I had taken one paper book with me (I nearly didn't and that really would have been awful). Yes, there were a couple of bookshops with a limited selection of English books. But. None of them are my kindle, with about 1600 carefully curated books, including about 10 that I'd been saving up to read on holiday. None of them have the same combination of battery life, easy on the eye, portability and choice. There was one book which I tried reading on my phone and had to stop because the experience was actually ruining a book that I think I would otherwise enjoy a lot. I did manage some on the phone. The newest Sarah Morgan came out on Thursday and I more or less read it non-stop. Nothing can stop me enjoying her books, apparently. I did enjoy the paper book a friend had lent me, The Keeper of Lost Things, and also two that I bought: Catherine Alliott's Wish You Were Here, and Sally Thorne's The Hating Game. I bought a third, The Wardrobe Mistress, but didn't get into it and decided to donate it to the B&B library instead.
So it wasn't that I didn't have anything to read. But it was hard work. And that was how the whole holiday felt. Everything was hard work. Getting to the beach was hard. Finding places to eat was hard. Visiting places which claimed to be 'open daily', but were actually shut on whatever day I went was hard. Swimming in the unheated pool in strong winds and/or grey drizzle was hard.
Not having a drinkable cup of tea for a week was hard. I think it was mostly the milk, and a bit the water. Water on Malta and Gozo is desalinated seawater and it's perfectly safe to drink, but not that nice. The tea was revolting. And so then I ended up drinking bought things - sometimes water, sometimes fruit juice or fizzy drinks - and not really drinking enough at all as a result. One small bonus was finding that Italian San Pellegrino Aranciata does not have artificial sweeteners in it, unlike the UK equivalent.
After three quite difficult days, I worked out that I needed to take action if I was going to have a chance of feeling rested and relaxed. Initially I googled for spa days, but in the end I moved to a different hotel for the last two nights. It wasn't perfect, but it helped a lot. I barely went out for the time I was there, since it was mostly raining. I swam in the grown-ups only roof top pool, which was cold, but lovely. I swam a bit in the downstairs family pool, which was warm but usually had children in it. I sat in the jacuzzi and had long baths in the gloriously vast and comfortable tub in my room. I ate vast quantities at breakfast and found a nice supermarket for buying picnic food to eat in my room for other meals. Even while I was there, I had to have maintenance come twice for a broken toilet seat and bath plug.
I don't know if I like Malta and Gozo. I am not rushing to return, but most of what was disappointing was circumstantial. I would not go there expecting to have a beach holiday, or for the food, both of which are quite important to me. There's also a huge British ex-pat culture, which is not my favourite thing. But I suspect that if it had been sunnier and less windy and rainy, and if I had not lost my kindle, I would have liked it a lot better. I like visiting places where I can sit and sketch, and there were a lot of places I could have done that in better weather. I didn't go to the ancient temples, for instance, and I would probably have enjoyed them. I didn't visit Valletta, and I think I might have liked to.
There are two big things to learn from this holiday, I think:
1. ALWAYS CHECK YOU HAVE YOUR KINDLE WHEN GETTING OFF PUBLIC TRANSPORT.
2. Trust your instinct. I'd thought about Malta for a holiday a few times, and never quite been convinced that I'd really like it. This time round, I'd also been looking at Crete, and I think that might well have been a better choice after all. But, to be honest, next time I want a holiday on a Mediterranean island, I think I'll go back to Ischia. Not in November, though.
Last week, I went to Malta/Gozo for 7 nights. I was extremely tired and what I wanted most of all was rest. I wanted an easy week of nice food, nice weather, nice spa pool, nice beach, lots of sleep, no thinking about work. I did not get that week.
I am much less tired than I was a week ago, so the main objective of the holiday was achieved. This is the big headline and I am reminding myself of it regularly, because there were a lot of minor objectives that were not really achieved, or not without quite a lot more effort than I wanted to give them. There were a lot of disappointing things about the week: the weather was mostly not great; the jacuzzi at the B&B wasn't working; the breakfasts at the B&B were limited in both variety and quantity; food in general ranged from okay to fine, and was on some occasions quite difficult to source at all; the two beaches I visited were both fine but not spectacular and required either a longish scary walk, or two buses and a walk. I did sleep fairly well and that was a very good thing.
The single biggest issue was that I lost my kindle on the first day, somewhere between the airport and the B&B. Yes, I have the kindle app on my phone, and on my netbook. Yes, I had taken one paper book with me (I nearly didn't and that really would have been awful). Yes, there were a couple of bookshops with a limited selection of English books. But. None of them are my kindle, with about 1600 carefully curated books, including about 10 that I'd been saving up to read on holiday. None of them have the same combination of battery life, easy on the eye, portability and choice. There was one book which I tried reading on my phone and had to stop because the experience was actually ruining a book that I think I would otherwise enjoy a lot. I did manage some on the phone. The newest Sarah Morgan came out on Thursday and I more or less read it non-stop. Nothing can stop me enjoying her books, apparently. I did enjoy the paper book a friend had lent me, The Keeper of Lost Things, and also two that I bought: Catherine Alliott's Wish You Were Here, and Sally Thorne's The Hating Game. I bought a third, The Wardrobe Mistress, but didn't get into it and decided to donate it to the B&B library instead.
So it wasn't that I didn't have anything to read. But it was hard work. And that was how the whole holiday felt. Everything was hard work. Getting to the beach was hard. Finding places to eat was hard. Visiting places which claimed to be 'open daily', but were actually shut on whatever day I went was hard. Swimming in the unheated pool in strong winds and/or grey drizzle was hard.
Not having a drinkable cup of tea for a week was hard. I think it was mostly the milk, and a bit the water. Water on Malta and Gozo is desalinated seawater and it's perfectly safe to drink, but not that nice. The tea was revolting. And so then I ended up drinking bought things - sometimes water, sometimes fruit juice or fizzy drinks - and not really drinking enough at all as a result. One small bonus was finding that Italian San Pellegrino Aranciata does not have artificial sweeteners in it, unlike the UK equivalent.
After three quite difficult days, I worked out that I needed to take action if I was going to have a chance of feeling rested and relaxed. Initially I googled for spa days, but in the end I moved to a different hotel for the last two nights. It wasn't perfect, but it helped a lot. I barely went out for the time I was there, since it was mostly raining. I swam in the grown-ups only roof top pool, which was cold, but lovely. I swam a bit in the downstairs family pool, which was warm but usually had children in it. I sat in the jacuzzi and had long baths in the gloriously vast and comfortable tub in my room. I ate vast quantities at breakfast and found a nice supermarket for buying picnic food to eat in my room for other meals. Even while I was there, I had to have maintenance come twice for a broken toilet seat and bath plug.
I don't know if I like Malta and Gozo. I am not rushing to return, but most of what was disappointing was circumstantial. I would not go there expecting to have a beach holiday, or for the food, both of which are quite important to me. There's also a huge British ex-pat culture, which is not my favourite thing. But I suspect that if it had been sunnier and less windy and rainy, and if I had not lost my kindle, I would have liked it a lot better. I like visiting places where I can sit and sketch, and there were a lot of places I could have done that in better weather. I didn't go to the ancient temples, for instance, and I would probably have enjoyed them. I didn't visit Valletta, and I think I might have liked to.
There are two big things to learn from this holiday, I think:
1. ALWAYS CHECK YOU HAVE YOUR KINDLE WHEN GETTING OFF PUBLIC TRANSPORT.
2. Trust your instinct. I'd thought about Malta for a holiday a few times, and never quite been convinced that I'd really like it. This time round, I'd also been looking at Crete, and I think that might well have been a better choice after all. But, to be honest, next time I want a holiday on a Mediterranean island, I think I'll go back to Ischia. Not in November, though.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-11-03 04:57 pm (UTC)I haven't been to Malta since I was a child and my overwhelming memory of the place is getting heatrash and being thoroughly miserable. Crete is very pretty, I'd go again but I'd do some research before going out of season - we went early in the year and lots of things were shut, but that was more than 20 years ago too and it's probably more popular these days!
(no subject)
Date: 2018-11-03 05:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-11-03 05:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-11-03 07:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-11-03 08:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-11-03 07:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-11-03 08:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-11-03 08:50 pm (UTC)You don’t know it isn’t true.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-11-04 10:21 am (UTC)I have been trying to imagine someone picking up my kindle and reading the books and having their life changed as a result. That is a better outcome, for me.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-11-04 10:23 am (UTC)Oh that's good.