First full day in Malta started here ..

 

Qrendi , where my cousins live..

 

 

 

And I absolutely love it..

FULL of Character and little lanes ..lots to see.

Just what I wanted to see, feels so DIFFERENT TO
THE UK

It has little shops too , Buses to Valetta and other places.

 

Qrendi is a small village in the Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 2752 people as of March 2014. It is located close to Mqabba and Żurrieq. Within its boundaries are two well-known Neolithic temples called Mnajdra and Ħaġar Qim


My cousin dropped me here at St Matthew's Chapel, I 
then looked around and slow walk back to their house ( so more photos to come) 

This little place is worth a visit.  

 

 

The church of St Matthew ..

The church of St Matthew dates its origins to 1674. It is important not to confuse this church with the medieval and smaller chapel of St Matthew located just on the right hand side of the church. The larger church was finished by 1682. The church was blessed by the parish priest of Qrendi Dumink Formosa on September 12, 1683.

On April 12, 1942 the church suffered extensive damage to the point of nearly collapsing as a result of a direct hit by Nazi bombs during World War II, it being so close to the nearby military airfield. The church was repaired by architect S. Privitera. A new facade was built and two small belfries were built instead of the central belfry

 

Always looking for an interesting photo :-)

 

 

Also just look how clean it all is.. ( Amazing) 

 

NOTICE HOW MANY FIREWORK FACTORIES THEY HAVE !!

 

This is just 3 of them.

 

One very interesting fact is that THEY DO NOT SELL THEM

TO THE PUBLIC , LIKE THE UK..

 

SO WELL DONE TO MALTA !!!!

 

 

THIS IS THE BIG INTEREST HERE .. 

 

IL-MAQLUBA

Il-Maqluba

 

"Il-Maqluba" located at Qrendi in Malta means "the upside down" or "upturned". It is a doline or sinkhole which have formed after a natural cave have collapsed. It have formed a hole with a depth of 15m and a perimeter of 300m.

 

 

The cave at "Il-Maqluba" is beleived to have collapsed in 1343 after Malta have experienced one of its most severe winter storms ever, possibly accompanied by an earthquake. This is a natural depression formed by the collapse of the underlying limestone strata, known as a doline in geological language. It is now a sinkhole, collecting rainwater from a three mile radius. This water is much needed to cater the needs of its thick vegetation whilst allowing its access supply to penetrate the rock formation helping to maintain underground water supplies.

This was as close as I could get .. !!!!

 

More photos to come of Qrendi.





Our day out in London started at .....

 

 

 MONUMENT
 

 

 

The Monument to the Great Fire of London, more commonly known simply as the Monument, is a Doric column in the City of London, near the northern end of London Bridge, that commemorates the Great Fire of London.
It stands at the junction of Monument Street and Fish Street Hill, 202 ft (62 m) tall and 202 ft (62 m) from the spot in Pudding Lane where the Great Fire started on 2 September 1666.

 

Whilst googling, I came across a blog post all about this area ..

 The blog is called A London Inheritance Very interesting for

those that love London and it's history.

 

I love the architectural difference between

the old and the new.

 



Skanska developed and constructed The Monument Building,

in the heart of the city of London.

 It creates a stunning backdrop to The Monument,

the famous landmark that commemorates the Great Fire of London in 1666.

 

 

One of the striking features is the twisting fins on its south side,

which are made in Italy from anodised aluminium.

The 69 fins create a signature pattern and

are designed to let in as much natural light as possible,

while shading the building from heat gain.

Old and New

The church below is

St Mary Abchurch

Which  is  Church of England,  off Cannon Street in the City of London.
Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is first mentioned in 1198–1199.
The medieval church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666,
 and replaced by the present building.

We did try and get in but lots of building work going on.

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this little piece of London history.

Jennifer and I had a great time . Still more to come.

 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

At last the Sun Shone ... A little trip to Oxford.

I went and met my lovely

friend Laura, who I have not

seen since before Christmas ..

 

So we met for coffee and a short walk round

Oxford , we didn't have long , but that is fine with us!

 

This tree is in the High street outside The University Church Of St. Mary The Virgin  , I am not sure how old it is , but the truck is huge and as you can see below , they have had to erect a cradle to rest it on before it breaks .



 

Love this view of the Radcliffe Camera and The Spires

 

 



 

We were unsure what to do , not much time and having

fun just chatting and walking in the sun ,

but decided to take look a look

at the Chapel of Exeter College ,

the history is in the link above.

 

 



Exeter is Oxford's fourth oldest college.

It has occupied much of its present site since 1314

 





 

This is just amazing , how did they do it??

Last week I went to another college , which was free to look around,

I have been quite slow on blogging , lost mojo a bit , but slowly coming back.

 

And my postcard collection has grown again today ,, more to come.

Thank you for returning to have a read ♥

Happy Weekend to you all.

More wonderful sights in Paris with Linda ..

 

 

So much to see and so much to do..

 

Linda and I had a great time, eyes left and right,

up and down ..

 

No matter how many times you go to Paris,

if you meet up with someone who lives

there and walk around, you will definitely see

Paris through different eyes ♥

 

 A BIG thank you to Linda of Frenchless in France

for meeting up with me (at last) . We have been trying

to meet up  each time I have visited but timings

didn't match up.

 

Linda has a super blog , please go over and say HI,

you will not be disappointed. ♥

 

 

 

 

Linda and I stopped to look a the menu (below)

the ladies seated in the window , said it was tasty .

One day I might go there.

The list just gets bigger and bigger!!

 

Sorry not the best of photos , you can just see the murals high up!!

 

Anyone for Tea??

 

A beautiful place to end our meet up ..

 

A big heartfelt THANK YOU ♥

 

More to come as my day did not end there!!

 

A friend and a new walk .....

A few months ago I met a lovely girl/lady 

when we were at the a concert in Oxford

and we get on really well.

 

Laura is from Seattle and lives here with her boyfriend,

unfortunately she has to return to the USA due to her visa.

 

So today we met up for the last time before her return .

 

I do hope she can return soon.

 

I was going to take her to St Johns College , where

I take all my friends and visitors but due to the

fact that it was May Day it was closed.

 

Unbeknown to me , I did not know that

May day was celebrated here, but the Students

celebrate ... by jumping off a bridge , and singing from

Magdalen College Tower.

 

If I had lived in Oxford, I would of been there to celebrate with them!!

 

Laura had the idea to go to the University Gardens , which was great

as we passed Keble College on the way.

 

Which was also closed , but we sneeked in through the little door

just enough to take a quick photo of the chimneys ..

 

 

We went over to the University Gardens ...

where you can get these views of Keble College.

 

 

 

This walk was new to me not Laura,

and she remembered the bench in

memory of Tolkien .

 

This the bench we sat and had a chat and a breather ..

unfortunately Laura had a bit of a cold ,, not good

when you are out walking and sneezing ,

 

We had a lovely few hours ... the sun was shining and we just strolled, no hurry,
time was just ours.

(all these photos were taken on my new phone ...amazing)