A Bavarian Town Here In Washington State

Christmas 2011… It wasn’t white in our little town…. But a short little trip to Leavenworth, WA on the 27th… well, that helped fill our need for the white stuff. 

We left late Tuesday afternoon, got over Snoqualmie Pass with just lots of rain coming down as we looked at the mostly empty ski slopes there. All the lights were on, but you could barely see up the hill… the rain/snow/fog limited our view…. Headed on east, then north through Blewet Pass…. And, then right as we went over the crest… ahhhhh, the white stuff started…. Unfortunately, a few miles over the summit, the snow was a bit heavier, and we were greeted by a jack-knifed truck. The police were just arriving at the scene… So, we pretty much got through before the big backup that was inevitable.

The place we’re staying is the Hotel Pension Anna… Scary when you are picking out something from the comfort of your home months before… you never know if the pictures and comments on the web are reality… fortunately, they were. Got here, snow is pouring down, all the town is decorated for Christmas…. Very, very cool! Checked in and braved the weather and ate a little German Restaurant… Never have before, and when we looked at the menu (Halley and Dan are with us)… I wasn’t so sure. Was almost ready to suggest we go somewhere else (later I found out Jerry was thinking the same thing). I kept my mouth shut and kinda glad I did. New foods for us, but they were good… well, we probably won’t go back, but it was good…know what I mean???

The snow was pouring down all the lights were on in town!  It was like Christmas Card!  I only wish I felt that way inside, and that's all I'm gonna say... I'm okay... just a bunch of stuff going on that is hard to deal with!



Devastating Floods in the little hamlets in Italy where we had been...

We so enjoyed this little town, as I said in our blog earlier in the month... Just got home from the trip, and, the last couple days, heaving rain created flooding... the restuarant we ate at... all rocks...

Good bye Malta, Hello Roma, Hello sore throat ..we're on our way home!

So we left Malta bright and early with great plans to use our hotel as a base and head into Roma for one more day…. Alas… plans have a way of changing….

We got to Roma no problem… However, Jerry luggage strap was inexplicably gone. Mine had also been removed and put back on… frustrating, cuz those straps help us differentiate our luggage from all the other millions of pieces of the same. BUT WAIT… why am I complaining, our luggage arrived with us so that was good!

Our hotel was adjacent to the airport after about a 20 minute walk through a maze of confusing instructions. Can we say two travelers getting a bit short with each other and there names are Jerry and Jean…? To top it off, Jean’s throat is feeling like she swallowed, rather tried to swallow a whole tomatoe! We checked in to the hotel finally, using points we’ve earned and got on the Executive level, No Smoking… thought, score! Well, our wing was none smoking, but the other three, not the case. Hallway was stinky, but the at least our room was clean albeit sterile. By now, Jean is not a happy camper, is trying to get ready to take off for the city and, I’m not proud, but I had a meltdown. End result… we stay in the hotel, reading, sleeping, listening to endless CNN broadcasts in the background…This hotel is nice cuz it’s adjacent to the airport, but nothing else is close by other than the train station and runways; they did have a restaurant and of course, the executive lounge… where we could have all the free booze we wanted, but at this point.. we didn’t want any…

Anyway, woke up this morning, had a quick bite and finally something was going well in the directions area. The hotel would provide a shuttle for us to get to Terminal 5, which is NOT accessible from the airport by foot. Thanks God for that blessing. Once in the terminal, again, the Italian directions got weird… check in one area… they just look at the passport, ask you questions, mark your carry-ons. So, while the girl is asking the questions, the person tagging your carry on is asking questions, and then the first one gets mad cuz your not answering hers…. Grrrrrrrrrrr big time!

Make it through there, weave your wave to the check in… again… unique signage… Got to our check in counter where we will give them our luggage : A nice, wonderful agent… and I mean that… was a good thing. Then off to security.

So first you find the exit, done, look up to locate the security entrance, done… or so we thought… several of us head out that was… no, it’s for staff and impaired… Looking to the left, this place has nothing on DISNEYLAND and the way they snake the lines to get folks in only thing… there were no folks… pretty empty.. So we back out of the staff line, and look for the entrance to the ‘real’ line. Start to walk in, and an Italian agent says, no… go straight and to the right… back out and do as he said, and where it says entrance, is blocked off. Now… there is a huge white wall in front of us, but with about a 6 foot opening… aha… that is where we go…. ALAS… we go through and passed muster! HALLELUJAH!

Now, we sit at the gate, me sneezing, throat hurting, Jerry coughing (and has been for about 10 days, but it does seem better) waiting to board. We heard the plane has lay down seats… looking forward to that! And, looking forward to seeing our home, family, friends and of course, Oliver.

Thought we were done with Malta…. But, no! The Blue Grotto and Hagar Qim

Up for a lazy morning, lazy breakfast and we thought a lazy day… And what d’ya know? We are suddenly arranging for a taxi and going to the opposite coast of the Island and visiting “The Blue Grotto” and then ruins from 3000BC, Hagar Qim… Seeing the ruins was nowhere on our radar, but my cousin John mentioned it in a comment on Facebook to me… and we thought… Hey, we’re here.. lets do it.

Easy enough ride there…so much faster than a bus or tour group. Bought out tickets for the Blue Grotto… I knew it would be a boat ride, but I was picturing a tour boat type of vessel… but no… look for yourself at the pictures. There was a bit of chop on the water, but all in all it wasn’t too bad. No communicating once your travelling… that little motor makes a lot of noise! The advantage to such a small boat… you get up close and personal with the rocks and the water. Very, Very picturesque… Glad we did it!

Next, just a hop, skip and a jump away we went to the temple ruins. Saw the informational museum and movie, then off to the ruins, up close and personal. They have rigged a “skookum”, as Jerry would say, tent to help protect them. These stones were even older than what we saw at Pompeii Italy… It was something to think how they built it all… Malta… a very, very rich history I never expected.

We got out of the taxi (Mercedes are the car of choice here for taxi's).... bought out tickets and walked down the hill.  I figured the big tour boat would be there...

Here's our big tour boat!.... Driver, and about 8 of us in the boat..3 were young kids

Off we go... see the spray from the rolling waves... wheeeeeeee.... and we had no safety briefing before we took off... didn't even think of that until just now as I'm typing...

The stone formations and water were beautiful

Can you say clear....?

Our Skipper.... the only time he ever said anything was when we were near the rocks and he would say... 'see how blue and clear!'....

Looking down from the road above at the inlet we had left from...

The 5000 year old stone temples and the canvas cover Jerry was impressed with.

What you see through the two stones is an island out in the water. Not inhabited and as a matter of fact, the British used it as target practice years and years ago... reminds me of that poor island in Hawaii that the US did the same thing with.

One last view of the Grotto from above....

Sunday... oh my gosh... we even went to church!

A good day in Malta! Woke up and decided to take in a church service that was in English, led by a priest named Father Hilary Tagliaferro. Pretty nifty..a great message and a wonderful comment on the death of Libya's Kadafi... The Maltese people for the most part are very happy he is gone; Father Hilary mentioned it was indeed good he was gone, but we should also remember, that only God is the real judge. Notice the church... such a difference from all the cathedrals we have been in. The place was packed... On the way back to the hotel, we walked on the waterfront... no sand, mostly rock, but not like the sharp boulders we have in the northwest. Walked to a condo complex which was built around a bay that contained a few million dollars worth of gorgeous boats... must be nice.

Later, after I finished trying to catch up on the blog, we went to lounge around the pool. It was breezy out, and though the temp was about 70, it was still a bit chilly to me. Jerry did go in the 'sea'... had to be able to say he'd put his foot/body in the Mediterranean. And, he said the water temp was better than the pool.

Dinner tonight in an authentic Maltese restaurant. I had rabbit... had to try it... tasted kinda like a milder chicken. I had to keep from thinking about little bunnies as I ate. They also had horsemeat... strictly passed on that without giving it a second thought....Finished off a bottle of wine... and our day was complete after a skype call with Jillian... the wonders of the internet... also, got to say Hi to Oliver... She'd had him cleaned and all... such a cute little fellow... and a good big sister!

Father Hillary... Well known and well respected in the country... use to be a football player (that would be soccer to us) we were told in his hey day!

Gorgeous boat basin between huge condo complex... hmmmm... how many millions of dollars there?

Yup... He's in the sea!

And now he's out!

Mdina... Part III Malta

We left Rabat and then went on to Mdina, the original capital of Malta up until the mid 1500’s. Currently, there are still about 500 residents that live there and it is a maze of skinny streets… the only cars there are for those who live there, and we never really saw any of them as we were walking around. There are some pretty famous dungeons there, which we managed to bypass (good thing I think). It’s built up on a hill, fortifying walls around and almost in the center of the island. Gorgeous views would be available… I have hear you can see Sicily, but, our day was pretty overcast and a bit drizzly. OH…did our tourist thing… Mdina is know for beautiful blown glass (said to rival Murano Glass in Venice). We stopped at the factory and saw things being made… being from the Northwest, seeing glass being blown is pretty common, so although it was neat seeing it done in Malta, we were not “blown” away by it… AND, we did manage to pick up a couple souvenirs!

After that long, long day (about 6 hours), we said good bye to Ray, grabbed a bite to eat in the hotel… and didn’t leave our room the rest of the night. I was pretty excited about the whole day.

Skinny, simple streets

The main gate

Let's see, three saints are pictured here... St Paul in the middle, his helper to the left and a woman to the right...

Could have been a great view if the day was clear...

Back at the hotel... ordering a meal... and enjoying the view below.... Thank you Lord for a great productive day!