Seasonal Paradise

Toasting at Tatitas

Tatitas Restaurant Review

Tatitas is in San Lawrenz about 10 minutes walk from the Kempinski hotel in Gozo. In the summer Tatitas is swarming with people and up to 100 seats are set up outside right in the church square. Off season we were one of three sets of diners for our Sunday lunch. the manager served us directly and the service was faultless and excellent. Our guidebook ranks Lt-Tmun as superior to Tatitas but we beg to differ. Prices were comparable but the seafood was clearly better. I had the special with a local fish that I forget the name of and Irena had the calamari. Both were beyond excellent. We didn't realize calamari could taste so good. We toasted through a half bottle of Veuve Clicquot, enjoyed a dessert of home made apple pie and finished withvtwo cappacinos for a bill of 100 euro all in. Our weekend escape was almost complete after visiting Tatitas. Now on to Mdina.

Lt-Tmun Victoria Lounge Review

We took in our first Gozo island meal at the Lt-Tmun Victoria Lounge in Victoria ana Rabbat, the capital of Gozo, in the middle of the island. the service was good, the food very good and the surroundings relaxing and homely. My sea bass was a let down for being a tad bland. Irenas veal was just perfect. She later admitted to me that she had pointed at something else on the menu and that she didn't actually like veal, until this meal. Now she likes veal. All in all, four stars.

Sleepy in Gozo

We wish we could sleep like this. Sasha does siesta.

Gozo Kempinski

The Gozo Kempinski from our balcony. Alas the outdoor pool is not heated. The indoor pool was a perfect 32 degrees and quite the match for the outdoor pool. The indoor jacuzzi was only 34 and the steam sauna was also not quite hot enough for our tastes. The restaurant and cafe balconies had similarly spectacular views but the food was horrendously overpriced compared to equal or better class local restaurants. We had a nice surprise with the Kids Club free daycare. The service was first class and faultless and Irena enjoyed a flower laced bath and a facial and mask at the spa on Sunday. We'll be back.

Comino Island

On the way to Gozo we ferry past Comino which is THE hotspot during the summer with it's incredible blue water beach. It's pretty dead during the winter when the water is too cold to swim in.

Gozo Ferry Family Pic

We so need a break. No laptops allowed on this trip. A full weekend of exploring and adventuring with nothing digital.

Gozo Happy

On the way to Gozo Sasha was continuously saying baba baba. Not Mama, not Papa. She's trying to keep us both happy. She's also standing now, with some assistance. But she's not learned to crawl. She's 7 months and 2 weeks old.

Heading To Gozo

On the ferry to Gozo from Malta. Taking a weekend adventure to the teeny rural island of Gozo, North of Malta in the middle of the Mediterranean.

Guess What

Sasha is gorgeous. We did good. But she could do with a companion.

Beachcombing

There are a couple of small but top notch beaches in Malta. One is at Golden Bay in the NW of the island. The other is by the Corinthia and Intercontinental North of Sliema and Valletta. The rest are solid rock beaches with ladders dropping off into the water. The sand is coarse and peppered with tiny sea shells.

Coffee and a Poodle

We took in a coffee on our favorite terrace at the Corinthia hotel in Malta and were presented with a balloon poodle for Sasha by the friendly hotel staff. Sasha was ecstatic.

Tampa to London

Flying back to Europe with Sasha in a babybox, a batman watch that beams the time onto the wall for nephew Martin, a whiskey and coke, and a book on our shiny new Kindle. Flying is the only time we sit still and do nothing.

The Other Wozniak, Supermemo and Pimsleur

  
You all know Woz, but do you know Piotr Wozniak, the Polish memory whizz?  Piotr Wozniak created the program Supermemo which is a handy little piece of software that helps people remember things.  i.e. new languages.  Its not very user friendly, but I'm buying a copy anyway.  He has discovered that there's a certain optimal time delay for reviewing things that you want to memorize.  Ideally, you should review an item that you want to remember just around the time you're about to forget it.  Who knew?  If you review an item that you want to remember at that optimal point in time, you'll be more likely to remember it longer.  

This explains why the Pimsleur language system works, I think.  I can't recommend Pimsleur enough. The Pimsleur language system consists of CD/mp3's that you listen to.  As you listen, you repeat back sentences.  One new sentence, two sentences that you've heard before.  One new sentence, three or four that you've heard before.  One step forward, a couple back.  All the time, something new mixed in with older items.  The review sequences seem quite optimal because provided you repeat things back, you learn.   

Anyway, Piotr Wozniak gives this piece of good advice in this excellent article in Wired magazine written by Gary Wolf.  "You must clarify your goals, gain knowledge through spaced repetition, preserve health, work steadily, minimize stress, refuse interruption, and never resist sleep when tired. This should lead to radically improved intelligence and creativity."

If you're interested in learning a new language, check out these sites...

VoxSwap, LiveMocha, Busuu, Myngle and Babbel 

Sashas 1st Mail at 6 Months Old

Air Malta sent us air miles info addressed to Mrs Alexandra Anita Brooks.

Mark & Irena, a.k.a Mom & Dad

Cheaky Sasha

Smile Please

Easy, Sasha smiles a lot.

Sasha

Sasha is 6 months old here, less one day.  The pictures were taken on Feb 1st, 2009.  She was born August 2nd, 2008.  The blanket in the background was handmade by Brenda Cook. Thanks so much Brenda. We'll treasure it.

Goober Girl

She's A Daddy's Girl

Sasha

World meet Sasha.

Mi Familia

Our Dream Girl

We're so lucky.

Vulcan Welcome

There was a Star Trek marathon at Xmas and Sasha actually remembered the Vulcan welcome wave

Boo!

We have the same temperament, and the same hairline. The photographer was trying to make Sasha laugh and I think he startled her just a little, in this picture.

Butterbiscuit Head

She just smells so good. Can you spot Sasha's eye-booger? We had it edited out of the final pictures. :-)

Milacci

Milacci (Czech for darlings)

Sombre Sasha

She loves the camera.

Gorgeous Mom and Sasha

Gymnastic Rings Training, Lesson 1, Holding On

Sasha starts her training for the gymnastic rings

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Sasha Smells Like Butter Biscuit

Snoozing In The uSpace

The Brookstone uSpace massage chair is cozy for one and a third.

We sat in this chair about a year ago and thought it was quite unique with its sensory deprivation approach to massage.  The hood comes over, the chairs slides down, and a light band provides a hypnotic effect in combination to music piped in from an ipod or alternative music device.  I like the calf massage, although one of the air bags has broken already, which results in my foot being pressed against in the wrong direction and hurting.  

My bad, I bought a recondition unit for $3100 instead of the $6k list price.  Its under warranty and we have an extended warranty so it will be fixed shortly.

I used the excuse of a tweaked back, and a post Xmas treat to buy the uSpace.  Alas, my back is still tweaked and the massager hasn't helped.  Now I'm using a Chinese masseuse and heat lamps to get the tweaked ligament in my back fixed.  Its not the fault of the chair.  The ligament needs rest, not pounding by mechanical massage balls.  And thats a key difference between massage au naturelle and these automated machines.  The machine is great for routine massage, but if you need something fixing or have a particularly achey back, you'll probably need a more authentic touch by a trained masseuse.  Don't count on these machines for your sports injury recuperation.  They'll probably do more harm than good.  

The massage routines are varied and thorough, yet we can set the machine to work a particular zone in a number of ways.  Vibrating, kneading, pounding, warming.  There's lots of options with this machine.  The foot massage is surprisingly hard, but not varied.  Air bags simply press the foot into a fixed ball.  The calves get a good squeeze.  I'm not sure what the bags under my derrier are supposed to do.  They're kinda useless.  But the back massager is top notch, as best an automoton can deliver.  I'd recommend picking up a reconditioned unit with ane extended warranty, but don't pay the $6k list for a uSpace.

The Moment Of Truth

Irena managed this balancing act on our Segway tour of Tampa on Valentines day. This is the moment she stood hands free for the first time. We rode along the Tampa Bay waterfront and even piled into an elevator. We went 10 floors up in a parking garage to ride around on the rooftop after dark, looking up at the Tampa skyscrapers. Magic Carpet Glide provided our tour from Channelside. $50 each for a couple of hours tour. The 2nd generation Segways were easy to operate and so smooth to ride.

Our Favorite Bagel Lady Celebrates Valentines

The bagels are good at Einstein Bagels but a smile from Barbara is what we really look forward to when we take in our morning coffee.