I am renting an apartment in Majorca this summer....I intend to be one of those saddoes that I laughed at when young....I'm taking a box of Twinings with me. (I do draw the line at taking it into restaurants though).
Yes Fran, it would be wrong to take a box of Twinnings into a restaurant; just sneak a tea bag in your purse!
I don't remember the details. I used to play for a cricket team in north London and they went on tour there around 2009 and stayed in St Paul's (I think). I have lovely memories of Malta so was quite shocked when they came back and a few of them were talking about how Malta was a dump. A lot of them are from the Highgate area and can be a bit snobbish so maybe it's that.
I always Google a resort in any country I visit that is suitable for older people...I like long promenades or walks not too steep (for my companions obviously, not me). Sliema was the recommendation in Malta....long walk round 3 bays and easy access to Valletta by bus or boat. Beach was mainly concrete rafts as little sand, but I don't do beaches....interesting natural seawater swimming pools though. Attractive, though may be a bit built up for some.
We mainly used to stay in apartments in Marsalforn on Gozo until I was about 8. Then we went back a couple of times when I was teenager and stayed in a villa, which was pretty much a perfect family holiday. Quiet area, a nice pool, high walls around the outside garden/terrace so my sisters and I could be left fairly unsupervised and just enough to do in terms of places to visit that we didn't get bored. I went back a couple of years ago with my girlfriend and she thought Gozo was a bit too quiet but Malta's obviously a bit livelier. The other thing my mum always talks about is how friendly the locals were. At some point she was walking between one of the tiny villages and Victoria and a taxi pulled up next to her and asked if she wanted a ride. She decided to save herself the walk and got in. When they reached Victoria she got her purse out to pay and the taxi driver said "No no, put that away. I offered you a lift so you're not a customer and you don't need to pay."
I recommend Italy. It's got a bit of everything. Rome is a really interesting city with its history. The Amalfi coast is fantastic. And the food is great wherever you go.
Bayer Leverkusen defender Emir Spahic could face a lengthy ban after video footage emerged appearing to show him fighting and aiming a headbutt at stewards after a defeat by Bayern Munich on Wednesday night. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-s-penalty-shootout-defeat-Bayern-Munich.html
Haha, could well be. I'm ridiculously nervous - she's cool as a cucumber. No fear. Easy when you're 19!
Nearly recommended Malta myself, but every time I've done so in the past, people have thought me mad to do so, because they have a preconceived idea of what the place is like. All that you say is true.
And also DTLW, depending on how long you're going, I recommend Santorini. You can always get boats to one or more of the other Greek islands.