Shooting with the old and New

It may seem insane to carry a 1940's Speed Graphics camera along with a Betterlight digital scanning back to a remote part the island but I was determined to see how the kit managed in the field.

The "kit" comprises of a heavy duty tripod, the 4 x 5 camera, the digital scanning back, the scanning back interface/hard drive, a portable power pack and a laptop computer. I picked two locations one overlooking Ramla bay and one from Nadur. Each shot produced a close to 300 Mbyte file and I took several shots at each location.

Was it worth it? I guess only time will tell, check out
http://www.thelongwedding.com/images/ramlabayPanorama.jpg for a very low resolution version of Ramla Bay image

The Bocce Challenge

The Gozo Camilleri's and the gang from America had a big challenge match in one of the most beautiful restaurants on the Island. Perched high on the side of a ridge the views are spectacular and the Bocce court freshly wetted. It was a close match with Gozo winning the first match and America the second.

The final was exciting and tense but alas the Gozo team won handily. More picture on the Flickr photostream.

The Azure Window

A big tourist destination in Gozo is the Azure Window which is spectacular at sunset. It's down a very steep narrow road where you occasionally meet large Gozo buses (very harrowing).

Legend has it that the island is the home of Calypso, the sea nymph, who held Ulysses captive for seven years until Jupiter commanded her to let him go.

Down a narrow path near this rock is an "inland sea" and you can hire a boat and go through a narrow chasm in the rock out to sea where you are met by towering limestone cliffs. It's easy to imagine ancient sailors coming across Gozo and being transfixed by it's dangerous and mysterious beauty. Homer was here!

With the strong winds and crashing waves it made a perfect, if a little chilly, place for a "Gozo" picnic with local cheese, cured meats, wine and of course the local beer Cisk.

There is a short video of the waves on YouTube (search decoyte)

Festival - Fontana, Gozo

Last evening we went to a festival in Fontana, Gozo, it was truly amazing. The Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which is pretty spectacular, carry out a statue of Jesus which is then carried around the village. Fireworks are an important part of all things Gozo and used they were with the church bell ringing and loud explosions of fireworks going off every minute or so it was LOUD!

When the statue was carried out there was a large brass band playing along with a choir and solo performances by a tenor and bass male singers.

If you check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6VQVie6dSE you will find a short video of the process. Also we will post some pics on Flickr soon.

Yes, that is a bunch of people standing IN the bell tower while it was ringing, I guess if you are not deafened by the fireworks that's where you get to stand!

The Gozo Party

On Saturday we hosted a party for my extended Gozo family (my sister-in-laws family really).  We ordered a cake from a local baker, an excellent almond cake and had a great time. Fortunately for us we have a 42" TV in the Farmhouse so we had the World Cup on in the background (an essential part of any occasion!)

Six of Frances' (my sister-in-law) brothers and sister and their wives, husbands and some children were in attendance and it was great to meet everyone again.

The family very kindly gave Sabrina and I a set of photographs from the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, an ancient burial complex in Malta dating to between 4,000 and 2,400 BC. and a book about the main Cathedral in Valetta, Malta.

More pictures on our Photostream at Flickr.com (search - People - The Long Wedding)

Tuesday - Malta and Gozo

We left for Malta on Tuesday morning with overweight luggage and a 225 pound ($325) excess baggage charge. I didn't think the shoes were that heavy! I am pretty sure we will be leaving some stuff in Gozo!

The flight was uneventful and we arrived in Malta and were met at the airport with two Jeeps. We then undertook the one hour drive across the Island of Malta to the ferry for Gozo. A short 20 minute ferry trip and we were on Gozo on our way to the Farmhouse. The keys to the farmhouse were in the door, of course! A testament to the lack of crime on the Island. (If there is any crime they blame it on the visitors from Malta).

The Jeep is just the right mode of transport here. The roads can be insanely steep and pretty badly paved (similar to NYC).

The farmhouse is perfect. On Saturday we have my Gozo family around for a little celebration - more on that later. But now we relax for two glorious weeks!

London - Monday, shoes and culture

What better way than to end a visit to London than buying shoes and being cultured and no better place to buy shoes than "French Sole", apparently the only place in Europe to buy Ballet Flats.

With names like Harriot and Animal Sabrina spent a happy hour or so trying on many, many pairs of ballet flats until, triumphant, we emerged with two pairs of Harriots.

The off to the Tate Modern for our first cultural part of the trip where we saw an interesting show co-curated by MOMA San Francisco called "Exposed"

The evening's culture was a play at The Globe Theatre in London an exact replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre originally built in early 1500's. Yes, an exact replica complete with wooden seat built for people who lived in the 1500's (read small). Henry the 8th was the play. That's Michal (our best man) standing in the "posh" section. We were in the mosh pit and in seats below.