![Al Hamra](Al Hamra_April 2019_web.jpg)
The Alhamra, Granada, Spain - April 2019
Malta - March 2019
![Trito Fountain Valetta](Triton Fountain March 2019 Valetta.jpg)
Triton Fountain, Valletta, Malta
Another of our regular trips to visit sister 3/4 and her lovely family in Malta. Clair was able to join us and we visited St. John's Co-cathedral in Valletta to have another look at two paintings by Caravaggio, who despite being a renowned thug is one of my favourite artists.
![St. John's Cathedral_Valetta](St. John's Cathedral_Valetta_web.jpg)
The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (Caravaggio) St. John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta
We took the ferry to Gozo, predominantly to have lunch at our favourite seafood restaurant at Mġarr ix-Xini. Gozo has other great sites including The Citadel (also known as The Cittadella or the Castello) and Ta' Pinu, a neo-romantic style basilica built between 1922 and 1932.
![Ta’ Pinu Basilica Gozo](Ta’ Pinu Basilica_Gozo_web.jpg)
Ta' Pinu Basilica, Gozo
Step-father's 80th Birthday, Luton Hoo - March 2019
We returned briefly to England for a big family reunion for our much loved Step-father's 80th birthday. This was held at Luton Hoo the former home of the Werner family and the daughter of a member of the Russian Imperial family, known as "Lady Zia". She bought with her a great art collection including works by Peter Carl Fabergé, which made the house famous. They were on display until the 1990s, when some of them were stolen. The Saxon word, Hoo, means the spur of a hill. It is now a stunning hotel and spa within a 10 minute drive of Luton Airport. Well worth a visit for lunch or afternoon tea if you are in transit.
![Luton Hoo](Luton Hoo March 2019_web.jpg)
Luton Hoo
![](GrandStan_80th_March 2019_2_web.jpg)
80th Birthday celebrations
![](GrandStan_80th_March_1 2019_web.jpg)
80th Birthday Celebrations of a very special man (photo by David Vokes)
Orkney Islands - March 2019
Edward and I were up early the next morning to get a train to London and a connection to Edinburgh and finally a flight to Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands. The main purpose was to visit Skara Brae, which has been on our bucket list after seeing it in the opening episode of Simon Sharma's brilliant TV series, "A History of Britain".
Skara Brae was occupied between 5,200 to 4,500 years ago. This makes it about 600 years older then the Great Pyramids. The inhabitants were further from the time of Aristotle than we are. It is a small settlement, but what makes it so compelling is that it is so well preserved, so you can see clearly how the inhabitants lived. It is a recognisable village of 12 or so dwellings that would have housed 50 to 60 people. The centre piece of each dwelling is a stone dresser, that is placed facing the front entrance. This was used to show off stone art pieces and ornaments made from bone and ivory, showing they had a sense of style and culture. The dwellings had in-built stone furniture, including cupboards, seats and storage boxes. A stone hearth is at the centre for cooking and warmth, although there is controversy over what was used as fuel. The stone beds look uncomfortable but if lined with heather, straw and fur would have been quite snug. There is evidence of internal drainage systems under some of the houses, so they even had internal toilets! They ate well too. They kept sheep and cattle for food and dogs for hunting and company. The air and sea were warmer in 3,000 BC and excavations of oyster and mussel shells, red bream fish bones and barley seeds is evidence of a good and varied diet.
![Skara Brae](Skara Brae March 2019_web.jpg)
Mock-up of a 5,000 year old neolithic dwelling
![Skara Brae](Skara Brae_web.jpg)
Artist's Impression of Skara Brae Habitat
![Skara Brae](Skara Brae 2 March 2019_web.jpg)
5,000 year old Skara Brae dwelling today
![Skara Brae](Edward Skara Brae March 2019_web.jpg)
Edward and I have had this on our bucket list for a decade.
The inhabitants of Skara Brae were not isolated and must have been part of a larger community that together built the nearby stone circles, such as Brodgar and burial sites, such as Maeshowe. These stone constructions were built at around the time of Skara Brae. At Maeshowe we can see evidence of some of the more sophisticated construction skills found at Stone Henge, which was built around 800 years later. The setting sun lines up perfectly with the tunnel entrance of Maeshowe and lights up the facing wall of the burial chamber every year during the winter solstice.
Maeshowe was used by the Vikings in the 12th century (nearly 4,000 years after it was built) as shelter and a private place for the seduction of women. A famous piece of Viking graffiti carved inside the structure reads "Thorni bedded. Helgi." carved. Thorni being a woman's name and Helgi a man. Actually, he didn't carve "bedded". Official guidebooks have toned it down! Another Viking man was more respectful of Ingigerth, who he describes as "the most beautiful of all women", but carved beside it a rough drawing of a slavering dog. Well, the rape-and-pillage Vikings are not renowned for their political correctness!
![Brodgar, Orkney](Brodgar Orkney_March 2019_web.jpg)
The Ring of Brodgar
To learn how little technology progressed on Orkney after a promising start, we visited the nearby Broche of Gurness. This was an Iron Age settlement built about 2,500 years after Skara Brae, but whilst still impressive and more expansive doesn't obviously look much different.
![The Broche, Orkney](The Broche_Orkney March 2019_web.jpg)
The Broche of Gurness - 500 to 200 BC
No visit to Orkney would be complete without a visit to it's world class whisky distilleries. We were visiting during the off-season (many hotels and restaurants were shut for the winter) so the Scapa Distillery was closed. But we were able to visit The Highland Park Distillery having made a prior booking.
![Highland Park Distillery](Highland Park Distillery_March 2019 _web.jpg)
The most northerly distillery in the UK by a mile (literally)
![Highland Park Distillery](Highland Park Distillery Peating March 2019_web.jpg)
The old methods of whisky making are still used
The secret to a good single malt is the maturation of the spirit in wooden barrels. This is where single malt whiskies get their colour and flavour. Better still if the barrel has previously contained bourbon, sherry or port. One thing that stands out on this distillery tour is the enormous attention to detail in getting the barrel right. Highland Park own the barrel throughout the whole whisky making process. They choose the oak trees to make the barrel, which must be at least 80 years old. They are then sent to Spain, for example, to be filled with sherry. Much of the sherry is subsequently discarded as the demand is lower than for Scotch. The empty barrels are then sent to Orkney to be filled with the raw spirit before being stored for at least 10 years for the absorption of tannins, lactones, aldehydes and vanillins, to name a few. They are most proud of their 18-year-old whisky. This is an outstanding Single Malt, but so is the Scapa 16 year old.
Kew Gardens - March 2019
![Kew Garden Flower](Kew Gardens March 2019_web.jpg)
Brugmansia (Angel's trumpet) Kew Gardens
A family trip to Kew Gardens for Mother's Day.
Granada, Spain - April 2019
I had a single business trip to Granada in 1998. Partly for it's beauty, its steep narrow cobbled walkways and it's situation, having a backdrop of the Sierra Nevada mountains. But mainly for the Alhambra, a fortress palace that was originally Roman but has predominantly Islamic architecture representing nearly 800 years of Islamic rule in Southern Spain. Having lived in the Middle East, and at the time living in a compound in Riyadh bearing the same name, it made a great impression on me. It was later adapted slightly with a Christian influence. It's a series of impressive buildings and gardens. I won't say much about it here, other than it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is on a par with Petra, Stone Henge, The Grand Canyon and The Great Pyramids for places to see before you die. I'd now add Skara Brae to that list.
![Granada](Granada_April 2019_1_web.jpg)
Granada, Andalusia, Spain
![Granada](Granada_April 2019_web.jpg)
The Alhamra, Granada Beautiful Granada
![Al Hamra](Al Hamra_April 2019_web.jpg)
The Alhamra
Faro, Portugal - March 2019
We had an appointment in Truro, Cornwall and were able to fly to its tiny provincial airport from southern Spain. We stayed a night and researched to where we could fly from the same airport the next day. We decided on a two-and-a-half hour flight Faro, in Portugal, which is the gateway to the Algarve.
![Nesting Crane](Nesting Crane Faro Portugal April 2019_web.jpg)
Nesting Crane
The Algarve needs a further visit, but we enjoyed the sunshine, fabulous architecture and a wonderful boat trip around the local islands to see the bird-life and enjoy one of the best seafood meals we've had. Loule made a good shopping trip, just outside Faro.
![Faro Portugal](Island Boat Trip Faro_web.jpg)
A holiday island, near Faro, Portugal
![Fruits de Mer Faro](Fruits de Mer Faro_web.jpg)
A boat trip followed by a fabulous sea-food lunch.
![Cafe Q Loule](Cafe Q_Loule_Portugal_web.jpg)
Cafe Q in Loule, Portugal
Seville, Spain - March 2019
A €15 bus trip took us back to Spain, so we could enjoy Seville during Easter, famed for its extravagant Easter Parades. Edward and Verity flew from England to meet us. We enjoyed beautiful architecture, great food, unremitting sunshine and surprisingly large crowds to witness men in pointy hats marching around the city.
![Seville](Seville April 2019_1_web.jpg)
Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See, Seville
![Seville](Seville April 2019_web.jpg)
Seville
![Seville](Seville April_2019_3_web.jpg)
Lunch, Seville
![Seville Cocktails](Cocktails Seville April 2019_web.jpg)
Cocktails, Seville
![Easter Parade, Seville](Easter Parade Seville April 2019_web.jpg)
Easter Parade, Seville
We got another bus back to Granada, so Edward and Verity could witness the Alhambra and I could enjoy it again free from taking photos. Then flights from Granada to Dubai to start a new job.
![Dubai Beach sunset](Dubai_May 2019_web.jpg)
Back to Dubai - April 2019
![Canal villas Dubai](Canal villas Dubai_web.jpg)
Canal Villas
I really enjoyed Jordan, but it's good to be back!
![Cat](Tibert Jul 2019_web.jpg)
Our cat is released from months in a catery and flown to Dubai.
August 2019 - Malta for Sister 3/4's birthday.
![Lija Festival Malta August 2019](Lija Festival 1_web.jpg)
Lija Festival August 2019
November 2019
With cooler weather comes a flurry of sporting and leisure activities.
![](Race to Dubai Nov 2019_1_web.jpg)
Race to Dubai professional golf - Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy
![](Clair Putting_web.jpg)
Clair Putting
![](Dubai Sevens 2019_web.jpg)
Dubai Rugby Sevens 2019 - Bryan Habana, Danielle Waterman, George Gregan.
![](Canal Walk boxing Day_web 2019.jpg)
![](Mercure Hotel Jebel Hafeet Dec 2019 web.jpg)
Jebel Hafeet, Abu Dhabi
![](Mercure Hotel Jebel Hafeet Dec 2019 3 web.jpg)
Sunset Jebel Hafeet, Boxing Day
![](Mercure Hotel Jebel Hafeet Dec 2019 2 web.jpg)
Sunset Jebel Hafeet
![](Dubai Beach Seagulls Jan 2020 web.jpg)
Dubai Beach Walk
![](Dubai Cinema Jan 2020 web.jpg)
Reel Cinema in Dubai Mall to see the WW1 film 1917