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.

The London Party

London is a little laid back compared to Philadelphia, to say the least, so when Lance of the Fulham Wheatsheaf Pub assured us that we did not have to book food or champagne in advance we were a little nervous but there was no need! The food was great and the atmosphere perfect. Exactly what we wanted for a very low key affair.

It was attended by my family in the UK and some old friends, some of whom I had not seen in years. My sister-in-law Frances and my brother Don provided the excellent Lavender and Lemon cake and an excellent time was had by all. At least so they said!

Again more pics on Flikr

Day 2 - The Saatchi Gallery Kings Road

Well, I guess that I would not be marrying Sabrina if I did not know that she likes a) Art and b) shoes and bags (more about the shoes tomorrow). So a visit to the new Saatchi gallery on Kings Road Chelsea was a must. Pretty interesting too, it's a shame that there is not a single force in contemporary art in the USA that supports emerging artists as much as Saatchi does.

The new gallery is dedicated to emerging London artists and it was a very pleasant visit.

There are more pics on our Photostream on Flikr

Next on to the party!

Day One - London and the World Cup

The World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the World - except in the USA where most of the population does not know it even exists! We are talking, of course, Soccer and the entire World (again except the USA) is in a frenzy of national team support. You cannot drive or walk anywhere here without seeing large England flags (white with a red cross) in windows on buses, flapping from car windows, everywhere.

And what better day to arrive in London with an American than the England vs. USA match. So we took some good old American flags to show our support (a dozen for $3.40 from Humphry's Flags in Old City Philly), and drove out to Little Wymondley, about 30 miles north of London, to my nephews house for a barbecue. Not necessarily the best way to win friends and influence people carrying American flags and passing them out to the bemused children but hey!

We discretely left after America scored (well not so much scored as the goalie fumbled the ball) the equalizing goal early in the match. The drive back to London was uneventful as the roads were deserted with everyone inside glued to their TV's.

The England Supporters in Little Wymondley.
Above: Sabrina showing the flag

The beginning ...

Welcome to everyone who is following this blog, it follows our "Long Wedding" which starts on June 11 and finishes on July 10th. Why? Well we have friends and relatives in the UK and realized that many of them would not be able to come to Philadelphia for the actual wedding so we decided to have a little party in London on June 13th.

Then because of other commitments (mainly Sabrina's) we could not have a honeymoon after the wedding so we decided to have it first so we booked two glorious weeks in Gozo. Gozo! I hear you say, where is that and why. Well Gozo is a small Island about 7 miles long next to Malta in the middle of the Mediterranean somewhere between Sicily and North Africa.

We discovered Gozo about 6 years ago when my nephew got married there. My sister-in-law, Frances, is Gozitan so we have family there; from the day we arrived 6 years ago Frances large extended family have made us as welcome as if we had born there. Not only is Gozo one of the most beautiful places in the world but we really feel at home there. We are having a small celebration in Gozo with the Gozitan family and some friends from Philly on the 19th.

So that's the story behind The Long Wedding we will try and keep this blog up-to-date so that friends and family from around the world who can't make it to the various venues can feel part of each one (without the long flight).