We flew back into Moscow at 4:30am this morning. Not such a fabulous time for a flight with two children aged three and under!
Considering how tired they were though, they did pretty well. However I'm jumping ahead!
Friday the 2nd, the kids and I were getting ready for a walk to the park before having dinner when Baba Sveta comes flying down the stairs with a piece of paper and speaking to me very quickly in Russian. I looked at Billy for a translation but he looked more confused then I did. Upon inspection of the piece of paper it turned out we were flying to Malta Friday night not Saturday night.
I would like to think it was a controlled chaos that broke out in our household after that, but others may use different words. We fed the kids, packed their suitcases, packed our own and headed to the airport. The next morning we were eating breakfast in Malta.
The island of Malta is smaller then the city of Moscow, it is tiny! Despite it's small size, I loved it! It was so normal.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Moscow isn't normal... it's just not my kind of normal.
In Malta they drive on the left hand side, and they don't drive like maniacs.
They all speak English! It was fabulous.
I also found Vegemite and Tim Tams, really, what more needs to be said?
The other fantastic thing was the heat. While the rest of the tourists seemed to be melting, Billy and I were loving it.
The kids and I went swimming nearly everyday and our resort had a fantastic kids club. We hung out there for a few hours most days. Grace was more then happy reclining on a deck chair next to me, with her sun glasses on. Admittedly her sunnies occasionally ended up being chewed on as she is teething, but generally she looked the part of a glamorous girl.
Malta doesn't have sandy beaches, just big rocks. Not like pebbles, actual huge rocks. I'll post pictures on facebook tonight and put the link up.
We did the touristy things, like harbour tours. I found myself with Baba sveta and billy on a Russian tour through Mdina... I found an English tour going in the opposite direction and was tempted to tag along with them but it was more fun oohing and ahhing with the Russian's, and pretending I knew what was going on.
The first week went by and week two began with a house call from a doctor for Billy who had a temperature of 40 and a stomach bug. He was sick for two days and despite my best efforts Grace got sick for two days as well. And what kind of nanny would I be if I didn't get it too?
So for the last two days in Malta I was either in bed or hugging the toilet bowl.
Despite our tummy bug, we had a great time.
The best night was the night of the world cup final. All of Malta was cheering for Spain. After dinner Billy and I headed out onto the streets to join the crowd. We wandered through the packed streets found a spot to see the big screen and cheered along with everyone else. For a three year old, that boy knows how to party! He clapped and yelled "Go Spain GO!" for a good hour.
As we all know though, all good things must come to an end. We headed to the airport with our sleepy, cranky baby and hyper billy. I decided to take Billy for a walk through the airport to use up some of his energy. We ended up playing "security guards" in a book store, using books as phones. Unfortunately the book shelves where only chest height, so everyone could see me talking into my "phone" and no one could see Billy!
As we were taking off, out of our window we could see a huge fireworks display which made for quite a send off. We finally settled down and were almost asleep just to be woken up again and given the most dreadful aeroplane food ever. If you ever fly Air Malta, take your own food!
So now we are home again, and will be back to our normal routine tomorrow.
I was excited to be coming back to Moscow, but was disappointed not to have that "yay I'm home" feeling. I guess I will only feel that when I land in Australia again.
I really loved Malta, but there was one thing not quite right with it, it wasn't quite paradise. It was bugging me that I couldn't figure out what it was that was letting Malta down. Once we got back here I realised straight away. Malta isn't green enough. There aren't enough trees! That is the sole thing I can fault Malta for.
Well I have washing and unpacking to do, and I must search for that packet of Tim Tams that I bought....
So until next time,
Dasvidanya!
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