THE WEDDING

We arrived in Malta on Thursday afternoon and made our way to the hotel, 115 The Strand, in Gzira.

We had that day on our own before the arrival of the rest of the family.  That gave Linda a chance to enjoy a spritz and the sunset.

Friday we met up with some of the wedding party for a boat trip.  Linda and I got off of the boat on the island of Gozo while the rest of the group continued on to the Blue Lagoon.  We would join them there later.  On Gozo, we first walked up to the church.

After walking back down, we strolled along the Marina, eventually stopping at a restaurant for a lovely lunch.

The boat then returned to bring us to the Blue Lagoon.  Let's just say that the Blue Lagoon was so crowded that there was no chance of finding any one from our party.  After a brief walk, we swam off of the boat.  I guess I should say that I swam off of the boat while Linda just dipped her, feet in.

Saturday there were no group activities planned.  Along with our son David and his family, we took the ferry over to Valletta.

It was a fun time, but the highlight had to be seeing the best equipped furniture factory in Malta!

In the evening we were treated to a fireworks show over Valletta.

And then it was the wedding day.  The wedding was held at Olive Gardens (not The Olive Garden restaurant) in Mdina.  The venue is below the old walled city of Mdina.  The wedding was wonderful.  Here is a photo of our family (minus the bride, Phoebe, the groom, Carter, and Traci, the mother of the bride) before the wedding ceremony.

Phoebe's brother Ben was the officiant.

Here are the happy bride and groom after the ceremony.

The view of Mdina after dark:

Monday was a day to recover from all of the partying.  The day also saw a big downpour that flooded the street by our hotel.  What a blessing that it didn't happen the day before!

We had a nice family dinner before people started leaving Malta the next day.  Leila loved her calzone which she said was bigger than her head.

What a fantastic way to end a great few days.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

Mas Malaga

It has been a busy 11 days since we disembarked in Malaga, Spain.  Maybe now I can do some catch up.

We had a nice 2 days in Malaga.  Our hotel (Hotel Sur) was not the fanciest but the location was great.  After dropping off our luggage, we walked 2 blocks and were in the historic center.  We spent the morning walking the mainly pedestrian streets checking out the architecture, the churches, and the Roman ruins.

And then it was time for cortados and churros at what seemed to be the most popular cafe in town.

We then had the energy to continue our walk up to the market.

Soon it was time for lunch and we sampled empanadas at 2 different shops.

After that we made our way back to the hotel to get some rest.  In the evening, we had dinner at a very nice restaurant just across the street from the hotel.  It was finally time for paella!

Day 2, we walked through the Malaga Park and made our way to the waterfront, the Muelleuno.

Linda's admiration of the yachts gave me yacht envy!

We continued our walk and made our way to the beach.

And then it was time for sangria and lunch at one of the restaurants along the Muelleuno.

That evening we had a tapas dinner at a restaurant near the hotel (Illari).  The food, the wine, and the conversation with a young couple next to us were so good that we forget to get any photos!

Early Thursday morning we took our flights to Malta to begin the wedding festivities.  That will be the subject of the next post.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry