Must try food in Malta

If you really want to get a proper taste of Malta, I'd suggest not only visiting touristic areas, but also trying out Maltese food. Mediterranean food is considered to be one of the best in terms of taste and variation.

Today, I'm going to tell you what is essential to try out when in Malta -

Food

1. Twistees: If you have relatives in Malta, I am pretty sure you have heard of this snack before. If not... Twistees is by far the favourite savoury snack of Maltese people. You can find this snack from just about anywhere: supermarkets, bars, confectioneries, petrol stations... Just look for a red and yellow packet, and it's probably Twistees.

The snack itself is made from rice and maize grits, and the taste is VERY cheesy. Only try this at your own risk, because if you enjoy it - it is most probably going to be very addictive!

You can find these snacks for sale in the UK under the name Tastees from www.tastees.info  (I just discovered this jewel myself!)

2. Galletti: These are most of the time found in a round shape. Essentially they are water crackers. Nowadays you can find these plain (original format), or even with flavours and herbs. My favourite is galletti with salt and black pepper.

3. Gbejniet: These are small round cheeslets which are made from goat's milk (also sheep's milk). These cheeslets are used in several Maltese dishes, ranging from starters to main dishes - salads, pasta, pizza, soup... You name it! Gbejniet are incredibly delicious with galletti and in summer, it goes well with Maltese bread.

Maltese bread with kunserva and other toppings

4: Mmmmmaltese Bread: Whether you love bread or you don't - you must try Maltese bread! Especially bread bought directly from a bakery - fresh and warm! Also ask for a 'ftira' - this is simply divine with the following toppings: Kunserva with gbejniet, canned tuna, olives, capers, gbejniet and olive oil; especially at the beach!


5. Kunserva: This is the best sauce to go with Maltese bread. The taste is rather sweet, but go on... try it! Just spread it on the bread, and add olive oil to taste! The kunserva is also used with red pasta sauce to increase texture and taste. Ideal with that pasta Bolognese we all love so much!

Bigilla (the brown paste)

6. Bigilla: Bigilla is eaten all year round, but it is perfect for summer. This goes well as a dip with galletti, and also as an ingredient to a cold salad. The main ingredient in Bigilla is Djerba beans. I know, it doesn't sound apetising - but a lot of people grow fond of it.

7. Pastizzi: Pastizzi - fattening, but delicious! Also know as Cheesecakes / Peacakes by tourists. It is a savoury snack which have a filling of either ricotta or mushy peas. Eating these, while drinking a cup of tea is a must! Great for breakfast or as a snack.
They are available in two shapes: diamond or round. They are folded differently depending to the filling. These are usually baked on metal drays and are available from cafes and pastizzerias all around the island.

8: Mqaret: Commonly found in feasts and Valletta. These are delicious daimond shaped pastries stuffed with dates and deep fried. Again, these are not for people who are on diet, however you can buy healthier version of these from the supermarket. Most of the time available frozen - and then you can always bake them instead. Taste wise, the deep fried ones are much better. Mqaret is the plural of maqrut. The word maqrut derives from an Arabic word meaning a 'diamond'.

Drinks

9. Cisk Lager: This is the best beer you can find locally. Also you can find a 'light' version of it called Cisk Excel. Other variations are Cisk Chill which contains a lemon flavour, and Cisk XS which is extra strong (and very sweet!)

10. Kinnie: This is the soft drink Malta is known for. It has been created in the early 1950s, and it's taste is of bitter oranges and aromatic herbs. It sure quenches your taste!

If you are visiting the islands in Summer, make sure you always carry with you a bottle of water, otherwise you're risking dehydration due to the heat!

Have fun.

Maltese Recipes: Qaghaq tal-Gunglien

When I miss Malta, one way of feeling closer to Malta and its people for me, is not through a telephone call or a chat conversation, but through cooking a maltese dish. As such, I thought I'd share a recipe with you all.

One of my favourite tea-time biscuits coming from Malta are 'Qaghaq tal-Gunglien', which translates to Sesame Seeds Ring Biscuits.

Please find below the ingredients you require, the recipe itself and also photos I have taken whilst cooking these biscuits:

- 500g Plain flour
- 200g Castor sugar
- 200g margarine (ideally, no trans-fat)
- 1 x 11g packet dried yeast
- ½ tsp aniseed
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp vanilla (ideally, poweder)
- Grated zest of 1 lemon lemon
- 180ml luke warm water
- Lots of Sesame Seeds

Put all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and sift.
Mix into it the lemon zest.
Using your fingertips, rub into the mixture the margarine, until the mixture looks sandy.
Add the water a little at a time, until the mixture is turned into a dough.

~~~

Leave the dough to rest for more than 2 hours. Ovenight rest is ideal.

Close view to the pastry.

~~~

Flour the table top you will be using, and take the dough out of the bowl.
Cut a small piece of the pastry and roll it onto the flour, to form a long pipe.
Cut and twist the pipe around to create a ring and place it on a baking tray.

~~~

Once you have used all the pastry, leave them to rest for yet another hour.
The rings might puff up and end up touching each other. Nothing to worry about here.

~~~

Brush up the top of each ring with water and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.
Preheat the over at 160C and then bake the rings for not more than 15minuted.
You will know they're down once the rings are brown on top, yet still rather soft  when you touch them.

~~~

The finishing should look like this:

If you skip the 1 hour waiting time before putting them in the oven, the biscuits look like this:

Either way... they are very tasty.

Store in an air-tight containter and consume within 2-5 days.

Sun or Rain - Only God knows when.

So, 

One of the main reasons I left Malta, and decided to live in the U.K. is due to the fact that in Malta we get approximately 5 months of Summer -  starting end of April and lasts until around mid September. 

Though summer is nice, it's very humid and sweaty in Malta; with a temperature averaging 35 Degrees Celsius and during heatwaves, over 40. Though in the offices or at home, it's nice and cool thanks to airconditioning and fans, as soon as you go outside it feels like you just walked into an oven. 

In contrast to this, summer in the UK has been horrible this year. In the past month, I can hardly remember any days rain-free. Even though it is a nice change to summer as I know it, I’d rather have last year’s English summer. I think summer here will have the highest rainfall since record.

Hoping August will bring more sun to this summer-less island...

A day in lovely Gozo

During my last visit to Malta, less than a month ago, I took Mark for the first time to Gozo. For those who never heard of Gozo, this is the sister island of Malta. It was mid-June, and the temperature on the islands is around 25 Degrees Celcius; Sunny, with the occassional breeze. Gozo is smaller than Malta, and is less populated and it tends to be more quiet, and greener.

I think that the perfect time to visit Malta is either in June or in September, when the weather is good and yet not too hot and humid.

My dad offered to drive us to Cirkewwa, and so it didn't take long until we were waiting for the Gozo ferry. Mark and I managed to find a seat outside, and so we could appreciate the views better.

When in Gozo, we visited Rabat (also known as Victoria), the capital city. I took Mark to my favourite cafe in Gozo (and Malta too!), called Cafe Jubilee. Although Cafe Jubilee is also available in Malta, the first shop was open in Gozo, and as such the owner is Gozitan. If you ever have the opportunity to go to this cafe, I suggest you try their Rikotta pastizzi, which are home-made. Their bread is also a must-try - especially the 'ftira'.

After a nice snack and chilling at the cafe, we took a bus and made our way to Marsalforn, which is one of my favourite spots in Gozo. The beach was so inviting and it was a shame we didn't have our bathing suit on! There were barely any people around...

However in the bay close to Marsalforn we encountered my biggest enemy... the Jellyfish...

It was a shame that we could only stay for a day.

I would love to live in Gozo one day. It's just so beautiful and quiet.

Dreams

Have you ever had one of those dreams, which feels SO real?
Which wake you up in the middle of the night?
So intense, that you feel like whatever happened was not just an illusion... and your mind keeps wondering about it for the rest of the day.... irregardless where you are or what you're doing?

If yes... read on....

I for one, am not a person who remembers their dreams every night. I tend to only remember the disturbing ones, or the intense ones. Last night was one of those nights, and the worst part is, that I woke up countless of times during the night... and the dream yet continues, as if it never even stopped... It was one of those dreams, that if I didn't have to go to work the next morning, I'd just get up and not sleep at all.

 

Do you believe that dreams are trying to tell us something?
Do you think it is a reflection of our life, or our worries? 

I have always believed that when we are asleep, we enter another world, and it is totally separate from life as we know it... But even though I say this... I can't help thinking about certain dreams... They just change my mood, either for the better, or for the worse.

Share your thoughts with me, go on.

Malta's decline in tourism

I was looking at a few articles on the Times of Malta website today, as I try to keep in touch with what is going on in Malta and about the general current affairs.

From what I read today, and yesterday, I think I can come up with a few reasons with regarding the decrease of tourists to Malta.

The most obvious reason seems to be the recession that most of Europe is going through. Everywhere I go, people seem to be struggling to make ends meets. Even here in the UK, I came across an article which says that families are eating food even after they're expired, as well as keeping left overs in the fridge for a longer time period. Needless to say, this is happening in several other countries, even in Malta.

This brings me to the next point, which is: foreigners cannot afford to travel as much as they used to, or their budget is less than it was a few years ago. Even though Malta, in comparison to other European countries is rather cheap to live in (food, accomodation, transport), the flights to Malta are alarmingly expensive. I think this is a disadvantage which cannot be overlooked. Furthermore, since to my knowledge shops do not need to have items tagged with a price by law, some shop owners tend to take advantage of tourists. This is due to the fact that tourists would not know how much they are expected to pay for a bottle of water for instance. I have seen this happening with my own eyes, and in the past it also happened to me, even though I am local.

In a way, I am glad that less tourists are visiting Malta, because most of Malta is going through roadworks. Too many main-roads are closed down because  of this, and traffic is alarmingly worse. It is bad enough when there are no road works! I think roadworks are very repulsive, and closing down such roads during summer, which in Malta is the highest tourist peak is more or less insane. Having said that, I would also like to mention that such work on the roads creates an increase in probability when it comes to trafffic accidents. Traffic accidents involving tourists will only give Malta a bad name.

Having said all the above, I still think that Malta is a great holiday destination, especially during summer time, when the weather is pefect for the beach, when nightlife is at its best... And who can forget those marvellous historical places and the delicious food?

All Seasons in 1 Month

When living in England, one of the advantages is to live on island, yet you wouldn't endure the heat the summer brings. But it is also a known fact, that weather in the UK is very much depressing for any Mediterranean peeps living there, due to clouds and rain during the majority of the year.

This is true.

I would say that I enjoy the fact that I don't sweat like a pig 24/7 for four recurring months, but at times - not seeing the sun for weeks makes me want to go hysterical. It is not the heat that I miss, it is the opportunity of wearing summer clothes, sandals, and not carrying a jacket wherever I go.

Since the first of June, until today the 25th of June, I could say that here in Stoke we had weather from all seasons. It started off really cold with drizzle, freezing nights with temperature just above 0 degrees and hail during the days, and for the past 5 days, a heatwave with temperature of 20 to 25 degrees during the day. Last night the temperature at 1am was at 18 degrees, with no sign of breeze.  It was pretty much pointless leaving my bedroom window fully open all night. But, no mosquitos - yay! It was so warm, that I thanked my lucky stars that I do not share my house with anyone else and I could run about wearing (or not wearing!) anything I want.

Though I am complaining about the heat, I must admit that it is a lovely change to see a constantly blue sky, and wearing summer dresses. As such, I'm planning on taking advantage of the situation and visit a park this weekend :)

So, fingers crossed on this... and prepare yourselves for some blog posts with photos... Not just from this weekend, but also London and Holland.

Steffi xxx

What's the point?

I have just returned from Holland last night and I'm trying to get back into the whole mood and routine of work and rainy weekends. The weather in the UK has been wetter these past weeks, than during the actual winter, although less cold. I don't mind this weather when I don't have any plans, but as of late, I've been making plans only to see them ruined by rain and mud.

But this is not what I wanted to talk about today...


My question today is, what's the point of life?



We work for the most part of our lives.... becoming slaves of desks, factories and what not... only to have a few days a year of pure pleasure. And the rest is just a struggle to make ends meet, with bills, cleaning, cooking, health recovery and relationship drama. And when we are old enough to stop working... We're just too old to do much with our lives, other than sitting on our asses watching TV or reminiscing about our past... What's more, technology further distracts us from what life and human comfort is all about.



We shut down to the real world, and live in a virtual, non-existent world...



I don't know about you, but this is not the kind of life I wanna lead... But unfortunately things are so imposed on us, that there's nothing we can do. Being out of touch technology wise and financially, will only destroy us further... and ironically, screws us further as we will look like complete idiots in other people's faces...

Ranting. Cos that is what I do best.

Just a basic rant today, peeps.

I've been having crappy days lately. Struggling with most things, be it emotionally, work and life in general. I know I am writing this and showing it to the whole world, and I know it sounds pathetic, but I know that if I write it down, I will feel better in the long run. Hopefully I will look at this in a week or month's time and realise that things are so much better. And then, feel better. That all this struggling on the verge of insanity, was worthwhile.

I know that things happen for a reason, that life is a cycle of ups and downs and all those cliches.  But right now I'm missing the point of everything. My brain is so overloaded with stuff and thoughts that I  can barely relax, let alone sleep and not having nightmares. Deadlines aren't helping either. And the fact that my neighbours are noisy bastards and I can't find a furnished place which I actually like, is  further sinking me into the whole feeling annoyed and like shit.

Have you ever found yourself laughing when you're so damn stressed? That is me right now.
have you  ever found yourself feeling so alone even when surrounded by people? That is me right now.
Have you every found yourself feeling like you wanna break and smash everything in sight? That is  me right  now.

Have you ever found yourself expecting things from people who always say they care? That is me right now.

Have you ever found yourself feeling like your luck is just bullocks? That is me right now.

I am very  patient, and in general a  loving and giving person... But right now, I'm just below the boiling point.... and some day soon, I'm gonna break and do something which I know I will totally regret.

This is me trying to keep it all together for the 2629814746576th time.

God help me.

Money

Money buys us happiness, or that is what we try to believe.
We are all slaves of monies; willingly or unwillingly.

Two thoughts, one meaning.

Most of us, since our sixteenth birthday, or the legal work age (even not, sometimes!), we make our way to a recruitment agency to find a job, even if it is the most shameful and humiliating. Just to fulfil our desire to own stuff... cars, house, computer, clothes, shoes, booze, cigarettes, games, cameras... you name it!

When buying things within reason, there is nothing wrong with it... But living for the sake of having material objects is ridiculous. Even if it makes us happy for a while, we all know that sooner or later, we'll have to get something new because our other stuff is no longer satisfactory or fashionable. We hide our sorrows by dressing up, going out and getting drunk, rather than coming into terms with things, talking them out, learn to deal with them and become a better person. And what happens the next morning after the drunken episode? We feel brain-dead, a little more broke... and the problems are still there. So, what's the point of it all, really?

Lets face it, when we strip all the materialism off our lives, and have just the bare necessities, we end up realising that we are so alone. Why do we try to impress people and look the best through money, rather than making someone likes us for who we really are?

Even though money is an attraction, and people will like you for it.... In the end you are still as powerless as the rest of us... Money doesn't buy you real love and heart-warming happiness. Money helps keep yourself *look* younger, but you're still as old and you will die too... And most probably, no one will remember you other than for your money.

Make a difference in life by your actions, not by your stupid money!

This is me

Sometimes, I wish that I'm less human and more of a machine.

I'm sick and tired of being vulnerable, but then again... I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all...

No, this is not me being emo... This is me venting; letting it out... before I start screaming.

Day 2: St. Patrick's Day!

So, day two in Malta was St. Patrick's day. The sun shining as always, and barely any wind.

Mark and I woke up not as early as planned, however we managed to follow all the plans we had. Or rather, all the plans I made.

First task was to go to the supermarket which is approximately 5mins away from my parent's house. We bought a few ingredients Mark needed for this epic dessert he does, and in additional to that, I bought a lot of Twistees, Tastees, Crix (peanut flavour), galletti and Kinnie to stock up in the UK.

When the dessert was nicely done and put in the fridge, we made our way out to Floriana. There we went to see a Model's Exhibition which was rather good. But then my expectations weren't too high. There were a number of Warhammer models painted, as well as scenes from the World War, planes, ships and the sort.

After eating a few pastizzi in Valletta, we made our way to Msida, where we visited the Forbidden Power shop for some geeky moments and then relaxed a bit in the Msida Marina. For me, it meant, taking a couple of photos of the surroundings. For Mark, it meant sitting down on a bench and enjoying the sun (and the annoying pigeons).

Later on in the night, we also went to Paceville to celebrate St. Patrick's the way it should be.

All the people!

We didn't get home until it was around 5am.

Day 1: Sun-kissed Malta

It is true, what they say... That absence makes the heart grows fonder.

St. Julians, Malta

Last week, my boyfriend and I visited Malta, after not being there for over 5 months. The least I can say is that I was plenty excited of being in sun-kissed Malta, of sitting on the shore watching the waves play and tease each other, of seeing my family and friends once more.

We didn’t have a terrible winter in the UK, and Spring has been sunny, partially cloudy, but I yearned for those bright blue skies and a little breeze. Being in the UK,  all I see is canals and lakes, which I do love.  But I missed that salty smell the sea brings to the plate.

First day in Malta, Mark and I spent it in St. Julian’s, being lazy at the beach. I’ve tasted Cisk XS again, and I have to say, that nothing tastes better in the sun. No, not even ice cream! We’ve also been to the cinema  and watched Intruders. I do believe that it was a low-budget movie, but we both enjoyed it and I’d suggest it to anyone in the mood for a thriller movie. For those of you who are interested in knowing who starred in this one, the main actors are Clive Owen and Carice van Houten (apparently a rather famous Dutch actress).

Later on in the day we also met Carly for a drink. Being the eve of St. Patrick’s Day,  I celebrated it by drinking a pint of the beloved Guinness. And for those who are wondering, no I am  not an alcoholic, but I do love beer. And wine. And Jagermeister. And Jack Daniels.

Stay tuned for more updates and photos from our long weekend in Malta!

Monty Python's Spamalot 2012 - Review

Spamalot : UK Tour 2011/12

Promo:

 

Monty Python’s Spamalot is the story evolving around King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Eric Idle, the creator of Monty Python wanted to give a comic twist to the British history. At the start of the show, we meet King Arthur doing his best (and mostly failing) at recruiting his knights. I mean, King Arthur was made a king by receiving a sword called Excalibur, by a Lady in the Lake. And what’s more? His horse is invisible, however Patsy – his faithful servant creates the sound effects of horse’ hooves with two halves of coconuts.

One way or another, King Arthur manages to recruit enough knights and through a divine intervention from God they started off their first quest – that of seeking the Holy Grail. This leads the actors through various ridiculous settings and random challenges. My favourite would be when the team encounters the French taunters. Typical of the French, they do not pursue a good grip of the English language, and thus end up abusing the King verbally. A few quotes….

"You don't frighten us, English pig dogs. Go and boil your bottoms, you sons of a silly persons. I blow my nose at you, so-called "Arthur King," you and all your silly English K-nig-hts."

"Your Mother was a hamster and your father smells of elderberries!"

"I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction."

Another scene was the challenge of finding a shrubbery to avoid the wrath of the ‘Knights who say Ni’. By the time King Arthur finds the shrubbery, who was going to be thrown away by an elderly lady because of her cat pissing in it, the ‘Knights who say Ni’, became known as the Knights who say ‘ekki-ekki-ekki-ekki-ptang zoom-boing z'nourrwringmm’ or something of that sort.

The Stage. Regent Theater is a strict theater and I
could not take any photos during the show.

Other LOL factors would include Lancelot rescuing Prince Herbert and turning gay, the courageous Black Knight who still wants to fight King Arthur despite having his arms cut off (and ends up impaled on a doorway) and the cute white rabbit who turns psycho.

Might I add that Spamalot includs a number of songs which were hilarious and full of puns, such as the Fish-Slapping song, Not Yet Dead, All for One and obviously Bright Side of Life.

Over all this show has exceeded my expectation. I was giggling throughout, and I managed to sing a couple of songs too. I wouldn’t mind watching this again if I had the opportunity, and I would suggest all Monty Python fans to buy tickets to this show. It is worth every penny!

I shall leave you with a couple of videos from the show. These are however not ones of the current tour. Enjoy!

Bright Side of Life

 

All for One 

Not Dead Yet

Live now.

Hey guys,

Just wanted to share with you a couple of photos I found online. Thought they could inspire some of you. They made me think of my life, and my future.

Take care all xxx

 

40 Things to do before I turn 40

So last weekend I was reading online and I came across a blog post, which was about things people wanna do, before hitting a certain age. As such, I started thinking what I wanna achieve in life. These are the things I came up with, some of which I've already done. Target year will hopefully be, 40.

1. Own my own place, rather than rent
2. Own a Canon 5D Mark II
3. Get permission to be an official photographer for a gig
4. Visit Germany
5. Learn more about WW2 and the Holocaust
6. Have a family
7. Dye my hair blue
8. Visit Cotterstock Manor/Hall in Peterborough
9. Ride a rollercoaster
10. Sky Dive
11. Live abroad
12. Own a dog, or a cat
13. Own my own website
14. Live alone
15. Organise a festival / gig
16. Cook for more than two persons
17. Go to the cinema by myself
18. Do a LoTR marathon
19. Raise money for the poor
20. Do volunteer work with animals or for a good cause
21. Learn to use a touch-phone with no keys
22. Own a 4-screen computer
23. Go to Transylvania
24. Learn how to dance (the kind people dance in wedding parties)
25. Have friends from all around the world
26. Write my own book (even if this is just an online version)
27. Go camping in a woods / forest
28. Shoot something
29. Get a Degree
30. Go to Cornwall
31. Meet a famous person
32. Get my driving license
33. Go on a safari
34. Win an award
35. Collect all of Anne Rice's Vampire books
36. Visit Auschwitz Memorial Museum
37. Ride a camel and go to the desert
38. Have a BBQ for Christmas in Australia
39. Don't go over-weight
40. Be proud of who I am and what I stand for

The numbers are not rankings, it's just how my mind flowed from one subject to the other, to create this list.



What about you, have you ever made this list? If not, I dare you! ;)

What I miss the most...

If you ask me, what I miss the most from Malta, I would answer without hesitation that it's the food. You would probably be in awe and assume I'm heartless. Why don't I miss my family, and my friends the most?

Well, I could answer that in a heartbeat. The people I care about and love, I stay in touch with as much as possible, and furthermore they know that whenever they want, they could always come visit me.

However, when it comes to Maltese food, until a couple of weeks ago, it was impossible for me to enjoy it, unless I am in Malta. It is true, I do visit Malta almost every other month... But sometimes the cravings are too much to bare. My mission impossible started one evening, when my friend David mentioned pastizzi. I realised that I couldn't take it any longer, and as such I had to do something about it.

I searched and search, and when I was about to give up, I came across a website with an interview with Alan Camilleri; a guy who lives in Manchester and who has his own shop, selling traditional Maltese food and drinks. I figured, I could be on a train from Stoke to Manchester in 50minutes. But to my astonishment, Alan delivers around the UK once every month, for a maximum fee of £12.50.

That very moment, I placed an order, and last week it was delivered to my house. I spent quite a lot of money to make up for the delivery cost, and I'm sure this wouldn't be the last purchase. Alan has been very helpful, even provided me with cooking instructions for the 'hobza tal-Malti' (traditional Maltese bread). The photo in this article, of the pastizzi, are from this very order. 

I have never thought that I would be enjoying the traditional Maltese pastizzi and tea here in the UK!

Place an order here: Mediterranean Pastry, and if you actually make an order after reading this brief review, please do let me know. :-)

Snow here, there and everywhere!

After much wait and anticipation for me and all those who LOVE snow, and after much wait and dreadfulness for those who despise it, last weekend was a snowy weekend here in Stoke.

Mostly due to the excitement of seeing snow again since last December, I found it hard to sleep on the Friday night. It was forecasted to start snowing at noon on Saturday, so the plan was to finish off the errands beforehand and then go somewhere nice and cosy to enjoy the view of snow. Needless to say, my plan fell apart, and when it started snowing at 12:03pm, I was in Knutton waiting for a bus. Freezing my ass off, was the least of my problems though as I was pretty much enchanted with looking at the hail, which soon enough turned into snow. What a beautiful view!

The snow kept going through the afternoon, evening and night. At some point I went for a walk close by to home. By the time I got home I was full of snow. Some photos of my night brief adventure can be found here:

Furthermore, on the Sunday when it stopped snowing, I went to a park close by and took some photos. It was a misty day, and a cold one too. The lake was frozen, the sky white... the photos I took looked haunted, and I probably fell more in love with snow...

I don't know if it is just me... but I find snow to be calming; for that moment in time, I forget all my troubles and I'm stress-free.

Note: All the photos in this article belong to me, and were taken in Porthill. Please get permission should you require to use any of them.