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During my trip to Malta, I visited Mdina in the evening as well as during the day. During the evening, Mdina held a fireworks show outside of the city walls, and that was spectacular. The town is completely different in the evenings, with fewer people and quiet streets lit by faint glows of lamps. 

I hope you enjoy the photographs below of my trip to Mdina. I found it to be a picturesque place with prime opportunity for photographs at dusk, when the lamps begin to glow and before it gets to be too dark.

Our first stop was Rabat. As it was a Sunday, some of the tourists attractions were closed, but we were able to visit St. Paul's Catacombs and have a quick look around. We were able to see the cathedral and glimpse through the doorway, though it and St. Paul's Grotto were closed to tourists. I wanted to visit St. Agatha's Catacombs, which are meant to be better than St. Paul's Catacombs, but they were also closed. Despite some places being shut on Sundays, we were able to have a look around. The town was busy, particularly outside the cathedral, and there was a street market set up not far from the cathedral.

After visiting St. Paul's Catacombs, we had a quick look around Rabat before continuing to Mdina, the ancient walled city, which is a short walk away. 

I recently spent a long weekend in Malta. Gozo, an island off the northern coast of Malta, is about twenty-five minutes away by ferry. A much smaller island, Comino, sits in between Malta and Gozo, and this island is famous for its Blue Lagoon. Although the ferry does not go too close to this island, you can see flashes of bright blue water on the way to Gozo. Gozo is beautiful and more relaxed than Malta, and spending a day on the island is quite easy. Gozo has a sandy beach, many caverns and sea caves with rock formations, excellent views, and quiet towns.

The only way to get to Gozo is by ferry, and there are plenty of these each day. It's an interesting journey because the islands are so close together, and it's a short trip. After arriving on the island, we were offered a journey by a taxi driver to see the popular areas in Gozo, and this allowed us to see the island on the short time we had. We visited the wonderful rock formations, including the Azure Window, which is one of the highlights. We also visited the capitol of Gozo, Victoria (named after the queen), and saw excellent views from the citadel. The whole island is virtually visible from Victoria's citadel. Afterwards, we visited Marsalforn Bay and village; we had dinner here (fresh fish) before continuing on past the temple ruins and taking in the view of Ramla Bay from Calypso's Cave.

We took the ferry from Malta to Gozo, glimpsing the Blue Lagoon in between the rocks surrounding it. We had a windy journey, but it was nice to feel the sun. I stayed up on the top deck and too photographs and enjoyed the sun. It was a slight chilly with the breeze.

I liked the colours of the ropes on the ferry and the ferry itself. I watched the men sort the ferry out for sailing into the Mediterranean.

The taxi driver passed several small villages, and I snapped this photograph of a flower shop in one of the villages. I love the different sizes and shapes of the plants on display.

Malta's and Gozo's buildings are built from golden stone. Victoria, Gozo's capitol city, boasts many quirky and winding alleyways and side-streets with stone stairs leading up to and around the citadel. I love the texture and colour of the stone, and colourful flowers are a nice touch.

We stopped at the "Azure Window" to snap some photographs. You can get an idea of the scale of the rock formation by looking up at the couple stood on top of the stone. The water here is beautiful (it's so blue), and you can also get a ride in a small boat. (Boats were not operating when we arrived due to windy conditions, but they apparently stop at sea caves. The boats can be obtained a few yards from the "Azure Window" at another formation, known as "The Inland Sea".)

The photograph below shows the extent of the formation, with a small figure on top. This is an impressive structure.

The citadel walls are also made of golden stone, and some of the stones have been weathered. This makes an interesting texture, which reminded me of a sponge.

Malta and Gozo are filled with many different species of flowers, and there were many of these yellow flowers in the citadel at Victoria.

Miles of beautiful blue sea fill the horizon. I captured this photograph from Calypso's Cave. There are amazing views from here of the sea and of the island's only sandy beach. Unfortunately, the cave is shut to visitors because it's not safe; it partially collapsed. For those who do not know the story behind the cave, read Homer's tale, "The Odyssey".

We had a delicious meal in Marsalforn. The restaurant was literally on the seafront, and our table was a yard from the edge of the water. The views out to sea are amazing here, and we got there just after the lunch rush, so we had the restaurant pretty much to ourselves, despite a couple of cute cats that came to visit us. I had the chicken dish, but you could pick out your own fresh fish before it's cooked.

Tiled building names are common, and I appreciated the decoration and embellishment of the following one.

Many of the clocks looked similar, and street lamps are also a common sight. I love the golden stone architecture.

Another winding street, climbing up to the citadel, and it is very romantic.

Christianity and religion is an important aspect in the lives o the inhabitants of Malta. (There's always a spire of a church to be seen, and building names always have some relevance to Christianity. Many also have depictions of religious figures, such as Mary.) The following building name is more modern.

Traditional Maltese boat colours are bright. The following boat is named after the small island, famous for its Blue Lagoon.

We took a trip on a private boat across from Gozo, via Comino, back Malta's mainland. The Blue Lagoon is stunning and clear, and the sea caves around Comino are impressive with turquoise-blue waters. Blue Lagoon was not too busy when we passed by, but it was early evening, and late April is slightly outside the prime tourist season.

Our private boat tour passes a sailboat that looks about like it is ready to flip. The wind was so strong; I am sure that it takes much talent to operate these sailboats in such windy conditions.

At the end of September, I went to see a modern play ("The God of Soho"), which I thought was pretty good. I was able to get a discount on the tickets through my last workplace; the discount included free cocktails, but I would not recommend the bar at 'The Globe' as the cocktails are not very nice. (We also had to wait for at least thirty minutes to get served as it was so busy.) 

Until this spring, I used to work across the river from the Globe and often look upon it from the office. I also often walked across the river to the South Bank as it is a nice area to walk along. There's been much redevelopment of this area in recent years, and it was an enjoyable walk to take during my lunch break.

At some point, I wanted to see a Shakespeare play in the theatre.

The cafe was fairly empty when we arrived shortly after mid-day, and after we were shown to our seats, we were treated to two miniature ice cream cones (chocolate and vanilla). The ice cream is delicious, and we ended up having ice cream at the end of our meals. (Note that the ice cream portions are generous, and the "ice cream flights" we ordered with the selection of three flavours came in its own cone. This was enough to share.) There are many flavours to choose from, and I had the coconut, pistachio, and a lemon sorbet. The pistachio ice cream is divine.

Mrs. Kibbles' Olde Sweet Shoppe is located in Christopher Place, around the corner from Selfridges department store in London. This is a narrow and pedestrianised street with many small shops and hidden gems, and I love the welcoming and colourful jars filled with hard-boiled sweets in the window. Mrs. Kibbles' first opened its doors in 2006.

In fact, sweet shops are popular in the UK right now, and the numbers of them have greatly increased in the past few years. Most smaller cities now have a sweet shop, and they also sell American sweets in addition to British favourites. Why have they gained popularity over the past few years? Perhaps it is due to a slow economy and the cost of small 'treats' are still in demand to make people feel better in rough times. (This was what one shop owner explained to me, stating that sweet shops are more popular in times of economic problems.)

It's not just companies that sell sweets that are doing well right now. Recently, Krispy Kreme announced an increase in its profits to about 26% in the past year, and they have expanded to various outlets in the UK (1).

Before you reach for your next lemon sherbet, view the photographs of the sweets on display below.

1) Iain Laing, NeBusiness. Sweet Success for Doughnut Chain Krispy Kreme. http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/business-news/latest-business-news/2012/03/07/sweet-success-for-doughnut-chain-krispy-kreme-51140-30475271/ [11 March, 2012].

I last visited Camden Town nearly twelve years ago. At the time, I was living in north London and spent my weekends exploring the city. I remember browsing through old magazines, newspapers, and records at the back of a spacious warehouse. I much preferred Camden Town market to the too-busy and over-priced Portobello Road market. Also, Camden Town had much better 'finds'. Portobello Road was more touristy.

While I recognised and remembered some of the market area, I also noted just how much Camden Town has changed in the past twelve years. It is much busier and popular today, and it's grown in size. The High Street shops have grown, and there are more popular and chain brands and more sellers in the High Street area. The market area has expanded significantly. (The indoor maze of stalls reminded me of a souk in Marrakech; there are stalls also selling items that you would find in Marrakech.) Not only has the market expanded, but every possible floor space has been used to accommodate more area to vendors, making the walkways extremely narrow.

The market is also more cultural than I remember it; there are goods from all over the world for sale and plenty of Hookah cafes. The market also contains many food stalls and a seating area now. Bronze horses and stable statues also feature in one of the markets, and I am pretty sure that these works of art (and other ones scattered throughout the market) did not exist in the past. I also do not remember the locks, but the "Camden Town" bridge painting was familiar. Unfortunately, all of my old photos of Camden Town are not accessible to me at the moment as they were taken on my non-digital SLR. It would be great to look at these old photographs.

I noted that many visitors to the markets were tourists; while some tourists did visit inevitably in the past, but many more are visiting now. Another reason if may be more popular now is due to the music scene. Camden Town was where Amy Winehouse lived. Also, the atmosphere in Camden Town is completely different to anywhere else in London.

I enjoyed my trip, and the market has a wide variety of products, although some 'cheap' and touristy areas are inevitable with its popularity, and the crowds were annoying. However, there's still many stalls that sell items that you wouldn't be able to find elsewhere. I've uploaded a few of the photographs that capture a little bit of what Camden Town has to offer.

Although the market was busy, I found a gap in the crowds to take a nice photograph.

This horse statue is at one of the entrances of the covered market area.

This mosaic statue is located in the markets.

Camden Locks are busy on a Saturday.

A canal boat is steered down Camden Lock.

A canal boat is steered down Camden Lock.

Graffiti is painted on a wall near the locks, and the one on the left features singing legend Amy Winehouse, who was a famous resident.

Racks of clothing are displayed at Iverness Street market.

Statues are scattered around the market.

Statues are scattered around the market. 

This is one of the small alleyways leading from the stable market.

These Hookah pipes are famous in the Middle East, and there are a few places you can get them in Camden Town now.

The famous Camden Lock bridge and advertisement does not seem to have changed since my visit many years ago, although the two 'painters' on the sign may have been added since.

I visited the city of Exeter on a cloudy spring day in March. I had been near and through the city before, but I had never really stopped to explore it. The city is not too far from where I live, so a day trip was adequate to have a look at Exeter Cathedral, to explore the Exeter Underground Passages, and to have a leisurely walk around the centre.

One particularly-interesting sight is "The house that moved". The timber-framed house, now a wedding shop, was moved on rollers in 1961 to its present location after city and road expansion; in fact, the house was moved just in time as there was a possibility that it would be demolished. Sadly, other monuments in the city, such as some of the gates and conduit, were destroyed to make way for road expansion and to ease traffic flow. The following two photographs show this house with its sign.

The following photograph was taken of a few buildings in the Exeter Cathedral close. The close and the Exeter Green is beautiful.

A walk down to the quay, only a few minutes from the High Street, is pleasant. The quay is lined with several shops, cafes, and restaurants. There's also an antique shop and several craft shops to visit. The views around the canal are beautiful, and the following photograph shows one of the lamps on the side of the quay, with Exeter's city emblem.

This cannon was photographed on the quay.

I discovered this fancy dress shop on South Street.

In the 1960s, Carnaby Street was the place to visit, and the street was frequented by the Beatles and other musicians and the public seeking the latest fashion trends. Carnaby Street was well-known for its popular fashions, and these fashions became popular all over the globe. Today, Carnaby Street still retains some of this heritage, though the shops are mainly chains. (It's still well worth a visit, and there's many nice shops here as well as an indoor shopping centre.)

The famous Liberty building (the timber-framed black and white Tudor-style building housing the Liberty department store) is at one end of the Carnaby Street shopping area. Particularly around the Christmas season, it is well worth seeing the window displays. There's also a florist at the middle shop entrance (facing Argyll Street), and they sell the most beautiful flowers that are reminiscent to flower shops in France.