Medieval Mdina Festival

Every year in Malta, on a weekend in April, the town called Mdina, transforms itself into a Medieval town.

Built on the highest spot on Malta, Mdina has great views over the island. It is a well preserved medieval town with narrow winding streets, lined with tall limestone houses. It takes you back in time... when people's lives were so much different from today...

...And with this in mind, Malta re-lives the past for one weekend every year...

This year, for the first time, I have participated as a re-enactor. I dressed up as a peasant, with the Anakron Living History group. We had our own spot in the Mdina square, and we were cooking Medieval food as well as selling wine.
 

*No make-up was allowed during re-enactment.

 Might I say, that I loved this experience, and I urge you all to attend next year. It is an event for all the family, where battles are conjured again, and medieval music is echoed throughout the city.

During this festival, all museums in Mdina also have special prices.

For more information visit: www.medievalmdina.eu
All photos in this blog entry are mine, except the portrait which was taken by Jimmy Borg.
Should you like to share any of your photography work or videos, kindly leave them in the comments below.

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! ;)

British Comedians, Bands and Theatre

Whether you are a music fan, love to have a good laugh or appreciate theatrical events, you are pretty much spoiled by choice in the UK. I could say, that since i’ve moved here, my personality has changed in a way that I started to appreciate art more than ever before.

I’ve always been a huge heavy metal / rock music fan, and living in the UK gives me the opportunity to make my dreams a reality. In the past months I have seen some of my favourite artists performing right infront of my eyes in my town, in Wolverhampton and in London. Watching skilled bands playing their music and all the fans screaming the song lyrics and jumping up and down with the drum beat is such an adreline boost to me. I never fail to smile when I remember. The first batch of bands I went to see live were Revoker, Sylosis and Cavalera Conspiracy. 

The Crowd  / Cavalera Conspiaracy / Dream Theatre

When it comes to Stand-up Comedy, you are also in for a treat. With the major British comedians touring all major towns every year, and even tours from American and other European comedians, you are rarely disappointed. May I say, that I’ve finally managed to watch Jimmy Carr and Sarah Millican, who are currently two of my favourite comedians. And I’ve already bought Jimmy Carr’s 2012 tour ticket, as he’s going to be in Stoke 3 days before Christmas <3 Clips from last year's Jimmy Carr shows taken by yours truley: here and here.

Jimmy Carr / Sarah Millican

Other comedians which I’m dying to watch are Michael McIntyre, Russel Howard, Alan Carr, Bill Bailey and Lee Evans. I’m gutted I won’t be able to watch my all-time favourite George Carlin though :( May he rest in peace.

Drama here in Stoke as well as many other towns, is also of huge popularity. Although I have not yet been to the local theatre, I have been to London ones, and I have never been disappointed. Currently there are two shows which I would love to see, and I’m considering getting tickets for. One is called ‘Horrible Histories’ and it is a satire about the Tudor reign. Anyone who knows me, would probably tell you that I’m a sucker for anything Tudor, being King Henry VIII, his way too many wives, Tudor houses etc. Though I’ve seen alot of historical Tudor armour and jewellery in London, I’ve never had the opportunity to laugh about what happened in that era. The other performance which I would love to watch is a British Classic... The Full Monty. Whoever is not a fan... You are not my friend anymore ;) 

And one can never forget the football and pubs here.................. Grab a beer, fish and chips and watch the game!

Meet the Gal.

The plan was, to start off a blog the first week I move to the UK, but back then, I had no idea of all the procedures that needed to be handled in order for me to have internet in my house, and a telephone line. But all's well that ends well...

Meet the girl, behind the blog: Steffi.

Red Haired

Well, I would never say that I'm a stereotypical girl from Malta, because I'm not. I might be rather shy, I might be too nice, or too good to people... but I don't consider me as one of the traditional Maltese girls. I don't listen to hiphop or dance music; I listen to rock, metal, gothic and industrial. I don't follow fashion, but create my own style. I'm not sun-kissed skinned but rather pale for a Mediterranean girl; I actually despise hot weather! I've had my hair dyed black, brown, red, blue and even with golden streaks! I'm a geek, love memes and other internet puns; I'm a programmer and as they call me: an SQL Goddess. Some people tend to label me as a rock/geek-chick, but in the long run, I tend to label myself as unique. I am my own person.

My dream of parting Malta and move to the UK has been lurking in my mind since I can remember. Having travelled to the UK since the age of 6, and being more amused by parks, mountains, forests, lakes and the general greenery, I knew that Malta, beaches and drunken night outs weren't the kind of life I wanted to lead.

And so, at the age of 23, roughly mid January 2011, I decided that I wanted to start a new life, leave the country for good, live with like-minded (or, openminded) people; where looks didn't matter, where people cared enough, but could leave you at peace, minding their own business. 

Red & Blue Hair

As such, I decided to look at various locations, and I knew that as tempting as it is to go live in London, I should probably stay away, as I didn't want to share a house, I wanted my own house with yard. I wanted to live near cities, but far enough to enjoy the parks and quiet. After much deliberation, I applied to the one iGaming job I could find (in my expertise), which wasn't in London and near the Peak District. The next day I got an interview... By end of March, I was looking for a house, and making my final arrangements....

It all felt like an illusion, or a dream... But on the 12th of May, 2011, I landed in the land of the Brits... and the journey started....