A week has elapsed since I last post to say things were looking up.

In that week I have been staying in an amazing illa with friends in Malta, more specifically the island of Gozo.

Malta is a small place and despite the architecture of the Mediterranean it feels like a mix of British and Spanish with a dose of Greek mixed in. Malta claimed independence from the uk in 1964 but still has vestiges of British culture hence the mix.

My first observation about the island was how insane the roads and drivers are. Admittedly this is the second time I’ve driven in five years (the last a few months back in Iceland) but still. The roads wind around pin bends and go from well kept to pot holed in the blink of an eye. Especially on Gozo, the poorer relative to it’s bigger brother. The drivers and pedestrians step out for fun and although the speed limits are low, not one driver was within 20km of them.

Another thing I noticed was how friendly people are. Having been to other ex colonial places there didn’t seem to be any ill feeling about the UK. Admittedly I didn’t talk to many people but everyone we did speak to was nice.

I know your going to curse but the weather has been between 28-32 all week and to cool off all we had to do was jump in the pool. Consequentially we’ve had a few lazy days, interspersed by kayaking, scuba and boat trips, but it’s been most relaxing and everyone has picked up a tan.

I really needed this and haven’t really thought about my Lymphoma since I’ve been here, a welcome change! Only once in the gym did it bother me, but swimming has been fine.

I did find out my next appointment is in two weeks. This will track how things are going, but more news on that later.

Back to Malta the highlight of my trip has been a wine tour. The vineyard owner was really nice and produces a great wine called Gharb, which has won many awards. He is looking for a UK distributor which is interesting… Anyway the vineyard was peaceful, his talk most informative and the wine free flowing. By the end night had fallen and the stars were very clear, beautiful and bright due to the limited amount of lights around.

We have also been making friends with lots of tiny lizards. They run around everywhere and are much too fast to be caught!

We also visited the blue lagoon. Clearly very different to the blue lagoon in Iceland but very pretty. There are tons of very pretty fish and it’s been a real joy to have such an aquatic trip.

We did have a storm one night too. It was amazingly violent with sheets of lightning arching in multiple places across the sky. We were woken by booming thunder, which was almost deafening, and lightning that pierced my closed eyelids. I could almost think one of Greek gods had decided to smite us, but then realised he would have to be quite lost.

Anyway a long journey home tomorrow and then Sunday to recover and back to work.

Malta is well worth the trip and I recommend anyone to visit, if for nothing other than serenity and sun. Active holiday it is not, but sometimes we all need a break!