We had a bit of miscommunication on how we were going to get to the train station. I thought we were walking, there had been mention of Glühwein from the Christmas market…

I know how long it takes me to walk to the station and time was running short so I went on ahead and told Mr C I would meet him at the station. When I had been at the station for a few minutes there was no sign of him catching me up so I phoned to see where he was and thought there was no way he was going to get to the station on time. A few minutes later I saw him running towards the platform, arriving just as the train pulled into the station. Talk about cutting it fine. Later he mentioned that he intended that we should drive to the station!

There was standing room only on the train which meant by the time we arrived in Birmingham my left knee had become a bit stiff. This caused me to stumble on the stairs and bang my leg. Oops! The young man behind me helped me regain my balance and walked beside me for the last few steps of the stairway.

At the top of the stairway, I was impressed to see Ozzy the mechanical bull that was created for the Commonwealth Games.

This years Christmas market and Christmas lights were less impressive so I wasn’t able to take my replacement camera through its paces.

Back in Wellington we had just missed the Christmas Lights ‘Switch On’. The lights looked lovely lighting up the town. The atmosphere was lovely and uplifiting with a long queue waiting to enter the market’s late night opening event.  We visited one of the local hostelries (which was packed to the seams) for a glass of something warming before our walk home.

Photo taken by Mr C

For some reason I was feeling out of sorts when I woke up, possibly because I could feel the beginnings of the lurgy coming on. We were a little late for breakfast but thankfully there was only a small queue.

After breakfast we had planned to catch the ferry to Birgu but the plan was flexed and we detoured to the war memorial first rather than on the way back from Birgu as we had planned. The pathways that led to the memorial were all blocked off. We had quite a tricky time getting to the war memorial and so it took us longer than expected. Some pathways were closed and the roads around it were very busy.

After photographing the memorial, we walked to the lift that would take us down to the ferry. Unfortunately, the extra time it had taken to get to the memorial meant that we had just missed the ferry and had to wait for it to come back.

Photo taken by Mr C

Eventually in Birgu, we took a few photos of the harbour before sitting on a bench for a few moments to look at a map so we could get our bearings. It was now time for a refreshing drink before walking into town. We didn’t opt for the nearest café and settled for a shady arcaded place a short distance down the street.

Then we headed into town checking a signboard before choosing to visit the Inquisitors Palace first. As we neared the palace, I saw a photo opportunity and realised my camera was missing. I remembered I had put it next to me on the bench when we sat to briefly peruse the map. I always check I have left nothing behind when I move on from a place but for some reason, I didn’t see the camara, maybe it had fallen on the floor underneath the bench. I will never know…

Mr C retraced our steps checking all the cafes and also the bench area where we briefly sat. It was gone without a trace.

Despite being distracted due to the loss of my camera, or, more importantly to me, the photos I had taken during the first days of our holiday I enjoyed our visit to the Inquisitors Palace.

By some quirk of fate, I had unexpectedly upgraded my mobile phone (paying less for my contract) just a few days before we travelled to Malta!  The new phone has an adequate camera, so going forward I was able to capture my own photo memories of our adventures in Malta.

Photo taken by Mr C

We went in search of lunch, ending up on the harbour front sharing a pizza and enjoying a glass of wine and beer seated in shade at restaurant Sottovento. This was handy for our next intended visit, The Maritime Museum. However, we found that the museum was closed to the public until further notice, because is being refurbished.

We returned to Valletta, on the way checking at the café near to where I lost my camera. The waitress took my phone number and directed me to the police station that was 200 yards away to see if it had been handed in there. It hadn’t but the police officer also took phone details, although both of us knew that by now my camera was not going to turn up.

It being my birthday, back at the hotel Mr C ordered a bottle of Prosecco to be delivered to the room. The bar staff said, can you take it yourself? Mr C agreed but they provided no ice bucket so it turned out to be a do it yourself sort of celebratory drink on the balcony! When we sat down, I had a little birthday surprise in that my mum (who struggles with technology) was able to use her new mobile phone to ring me up to say happy birthday.

We walked into Valletta to find a suitable restaurant for a birthday meal, ending up, to our delight, dining in our restaurant of choice, Grain Street which we had thought was shut that day. The food and service were amazing.

Our cosy nearby bar was shut on Sundays so we returned to the hotel for a nightcap instead.

After driving my mum to a couple of appointments I walked to my local Parish Church to see floral tributes to Queen Elizabeth II that had been placed on a commemorative stone in the Garden of Rest. The garden was created in 1953/54 to mark the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the stone marks the occasion.

I walked one of my local routes to see if it was completely accessible for less mobile walkers and pushchairs. There is one small portion of the pathway that I am not sure about. The walk is on the level but the pathway is uneven for a short stretch of the way.

These are some of the views I saw along the way.

After lunch I stepped out for a quick walk along my local pathways. I didn’t take a camera with me, thinking that there would be nothing new of interest to photograph.

How wrong I was! The geese and ducks were flocking in a different area around Leegomery pools. The ducks in particular were wandering around my feet.

Luckily I had my iPhone to hand and was able to capture a few pictures of the scene.

I wonder if I will ever learn the lesson that I should always take my camera with me…

Whilst I was there (before extending my walk towards Apley woods) I investigated a turning on the T50 50 path that I wasn’t clear about. I have now got it sussed

Strong gusts of wind outside the window shutters woke me up just before the alarm went off. I looked out of the window to find several sunbeds had blown into the hotel pool and that the balcony table’s cloth and cushions had blown onto the floor. We made our way downstairs to breakfast which was inside rather than outside due to the weather. There was a good spread of both continental hot and cold food to choose from.

After breakfast we had intended to go on a walking tour of Ravello to find out what there was to see but due to the extremely strong gusts of wind we decided to go into the Cathedral (Duomo) instead. The main entrance to the Cathedral is via two twelfth century bronze doors cast with 54 scenes of the Passion. On entering the Cathedral, it is notable that the floor slopes quite steeply upwards towards the altar giving the impression of walking up towards God. There are two huge mosaic-covered pulpits; one on either side of the aisle.

To the left of the altar is a small  chapel dedicated to St Pantaleone at the back of which is a small passageway that leads to the Holy Relic of St Pantaleone; a vial of his blood that becomes translucent every 27th July, the day of his martyrdom. I was quite dismayed that a tour guide was talking loudly to her group just outside the chapel, a place that I felt should be a place for reflection rather than noise! After she had gone I entered the chapel and visited the relic which is placed behind glass and contained in a metal grille.

After leaving the Cathedral we sat in the square for some time drinking tea before setting off on a walk to find the tourist information centre so that we could buy a multi-site ticket to Ravello’s attractions. We arrived at where it should have been to find that it had recently moved location and so we set off to find the new location, taking in some spectacular views along the way. As we paused to take some photos at the top of a flight of steps, there was a loud bang and the sound of shattering glass. An upper window had banged against its shutter and shattered into the street, narrowly missing Mr C.

We continued walking along S. Giovanni del Torro past the Palazzo Avino Hotel and the Hotel Parsifal both of which were on our list of options for a meal one evening. Nearby we paused to look at the war memorial and memorial stone to Umberto I, King of Italy before finally reaching the tourist information office. We found out that the ticket we required was only available at the Cathedral, in the ticket office we had tried earlier in the day but it was closed!

We continued our walk, looking for a lunch venue that served Pizza, ending up back almost where we had started our walk. After we had finished our pizzas, which were delicious, we returned to the Cathedral to find the ticket office now open so we were able to purchase our multi-site tickets. Presumably the ticket office is only open when the Cathedral is shut between 12.00 and 17.00 hours. However with the ticket we were able to enter the Cathedral even though it was closed.

We started with the Cathedral museum which has many interesting items including a reliquary bust of St Barbara which contains her skull. A former Bishop insisted that holes be drilled into the bust so that he could check inside to see the relic. Our second visit of the day to the Cathedral was much more tranquil than our first and we paused to light  candles before we left and I offered silent prayers.

Our plan for an evening meal was the Villa Amora where we had eaten lunch the previous day but after getting slightly lost on our way there we arrived to find that they only did lunches. We settled on a plan B and booked a table in the Hotel Rufolo before making our way back to our hotel to relax and freshen up before dinner. For my meal I chose sword fish which came with roast potatoes, tomatoes and olives followed by rum baba.

We had a perfect seat overlooking the Amalfi Bay with its twinkling lights and saw some fireworks in the distance. Closer by there was a son et lumière set to the music of Wagner lighting up the Villa Rufolo .

Back in the hotel room we sampled another of the local wines. It was then that I realised that ‘it was forbidden’ to consume any food or drink that had not been purchased in the hotel and that the fridge was not to be used for for personal items either. Ooops!!

I have just returned from holidaying in Ravello, Italy. Halfway through the holiday my camera failed; the shutter stuck in the closed position and the camera view remained black! This led to an unexpected adventure into non-tourist Italy to try and track down a small camera to accompany me on my Italian travels…

…more on the holiday coming soon