I have
written about Iceland before, and I guarantee that I will write about it again
mainly because it was the greatest adventure of my life to this date. Not only
do I write about it, but I find myself talking about it in any situation where
travel becomes the theme (which for me, it does in most cases), and I tend to
gravitate towards people who have also been there. So, it was because of
Iceland that I was able to cross TWO adventures off my bucket list in one
weekend!
In the army,
we conduct what is called a PAI, or personnel accountability inventory, where
we show our ID tags and ID cards, and update any paperwork that may be
delinquent in regards to admin. As easy
as this sounds, the army has a tendency to make anything and everything more
difficult than it needs to be. While
sitting waiting for my turn to go through the ringer, I started talking to Lea,
the Major sitting next to me. It started off pretty basic- talking about work
and regular army stuff. She asked what I
do and I mentioned that I am in the process of getting out of the military to
start the next path of my life, although I have yet to figure out what that
path is. I have been contemplating a few different options to include
traveling, moving to Australia, or staying in the Reserves in Germany. What I
want pretty much changes every other day, so who knows how I will feel next
week. During the timeframe where I was speaking with her, I was leaning towards
joining the reserves. But I am getting a
little off topic here. I never know how
or when it happens, but eventually every conversation turns to travel, and this
was no different. After a few minutes, we were trading stories on our most
recent excursions when she mentioned a trip to Iceland. This, of course, caught
my undivided attention. I sat in awe listening to her tell of glacier climbs,
and jeep rides through the country. We both sat reminiscing about how Iceland
is the most beautiful country we had ever seen.
When two
women find something in common, we form a bond. It is a natural reaction and
one that allows us to form friendships in the most unlikely places. And I promise,
a PAI is not the most common of places to make a new friend. This being said, we formed a bond and Lea
gave me the name of a friend of hers that is currently serving in the reserves
in Germany. “You should definitely call
her,” she told me as her name was called.
“She can give you some tips on the reserves, and she also loves to
travel!” And with that, my new friend had opened the doors to my next great
adventure.
That
afternoon I decided to call the reservist, a First Lieutenant (1LT) named
Shawnee. We planned on meeting the next day for lunch at the German Cantina on
post. We sat and talked about the reserves for a while, and she gave me some
very interesting tips. But as with everything else in my life, the topic
quickly turned to traveling. Just as we
were finishing up our lunch, she mentioned her next big trip was going to be to
Malta over the April four day. My excitement began to bubble in my chest,
causing my pulse to increase and my cheeks to flush. Malta?? I had been dying
to go there ever since I saw a picture of the Corinthian hotel in Valetta while
staying at a sister Corinthian hotel in Lisbon, Portugal. After drinking like a
fish until 0700, and waking up 2 hours later in order to catch a boat tour
(where I proceeded to vomit into the boat toilet for the majority of the ride),
I ended up spending the remainder of the day holed up in my hotel room watching
“Click” with Adam Sandler and ordering room service. During a commercial, I
decided to flip through one of the magazines on my bedside table and saw, for
the first time, a picture of Malta. It was love at first sight, and from that
moment on I had made a vow that I would visit one day. So when Shawnee
mentioned there was room for one more in the villa they had rented and asked if
I wanted to go, I screamed “YES!” as quickly and breathlessly as a woman who
has been dating a man for 14 years when he finally asks her to marry him. “Yes! A thousand times yes!”
That
afternoon, I was added to the facebook event and I saw where we would be
staying. A beautiful villa, called The Chataeu, located in the south-east part
of the island near a picturesque fishing town called Marsaxlokk. You can rent this villa yourself, which if
you are going with a group- I highly recommend: http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p326753.
Our Villa
The most
amazing part, if you are there over a weekend, is the fresh fish market on
Sunday mornings. Since you will have a fully stocked kitchen, you can buy fresh
fish and cook up a feast fit for a king! But I will talk more about that later.
If you stay at the chateau, I would suggest renting a car, since it is a little
out of the way. Even if you end up staying in downtown Valetta, I would still
rent a car since the beauty of Malta can fully be experienced as you drive
through the countryside. Small rentals cost around 85euro for four days, which
is worth every cent.
As I perused
the facebook thread detailing the trip, I noticed there was a lot of talk about
scuba diving which was also on my bucket list. Could there be a possibility to
kill two birds with one stone and sign up for scuba lessons?? There were 10
people on this trip, 4 of which were certified scuba divers, and one other girl
named Annie who wanted to learn.
Shawnee’s
husband Steve was the trip planner for this weekend, and a master diver to
boot. When my interest in scuba was noticed, he did some digging around and
found a dive shop that would be able to get me certified in two days, if I was
able to complete the PADI online elearning course prior to my arrival in
Malta. Although I plan on talking in
great detail later in this article about the amazing adventure of scuba and the
unforgettable people at Neptunes diving in Balluta Bay, I would like to add the
website link here so you all can begin your cyber stalking of the greatest dive
shop in the world! Yes I am a bit biased, but the crew at Neptune’s deserves
all the accolades that I can provide (not to mention Martin, one of the shop
owners, has received the Star Performers Award on numerous occasions for being
voted the number one tourist site in Malta).
So, here is the link, and you can also find them on facebook: http://www.neptunesdiving.eu/.
My
excitement for this trip tucked neatly away in the back of my head, I began the
12 hours online PADI course. At this point I am not going to lie…it was tedious!
Because I am a nerd, and I don’t like to fail, I decided that I would take
copious notes throughout the course. I continued hour after grueling hour,
almost developing carpal tunnel, to ensure a study guide for any reader that
would like to earn a scuba license. These notes, all 25 pages and 10,647 words,
are available for anyone who asks for them in the comment portion of this post.
You’re welcome.
Finally with
the PADI elearning behind me, and my proof of accomplishment printed out and
tucked neatly away in the hot pink documents carrier that I have been traveling
with for the last 15 years, I began to pack. And yes, I am a procrastinator and
did not finish my online portion until the day prior to departure. I am lucky I
finished it that fast, and didn’t have to spend two hours the first night in
our villa on the computer! Congrats to me!
I will not
bore you with the details of our travel to the airport, or the flight to Malta,
but I will mention that upon arrival on the evening of 3 April when we picked
up our rental cars, I discovered that we/ I would be the driver of our car and
that we would be driving on the left side of the road. When I approached our
little silver bullet I, of course, went to the left side of the car. When I
realized that there was no steering wheel, my heart began to race. No, I did
not think someone stole it. I am not a complete moron. However, I began to have
flashbacks about the first time I had driven on the other side of the road.
The year was
1997. I was 17, a junior in high school, and my varsity basketball team had
spent the summer on the other side of the word in New Zealand and Fiji playing
basketball. It was a glorious summer/ New Zealand winter. I went skydiving for
the first time, got my first tattoo, met a boy with whom I would write to for
the following 5 years…and drove for the first time on the wrong (yes, I said
wrong) side of the road. It shouldn’t
come as a surprise that I had some difficulty, since I had only had a drivers
license for just over a year and we all know how teenage girls drive! My first
accident was when I was 16, when I drove my car onto a curb because I was
singing and dancing while driving and apparently couldn’t dance without losing
control of the car. But I digress yet again. On this occasion, it was a roundabout
that was the culprit. In the normal world, we approach a roundabout with the
intension of turning to the right, which is what I did. Wrong decision! I was
supposed to turn left, and at that moment I found myself driving headfirst into
oncoming traffic! So I did what any 17 year old would do, and drove the car off
the side of the road and blew out 2 tires. Welcome to New Zealand!
So you can
understand my panic when I hoped into the driver seat at the Valetta Airport in
Malta. Luckily, we made it to the villa
safe and sound that night, without accident or incident. I can’t say the same
for another member in our group who side swiped a parked car. I would like to
high five myself here for being an excellent driver while laughing mercilessly and
pointing a finger at the girl for hitting another vehicle 5 minutes into our
trip, but I ended up doing the exact same thing the following morning, which
put in me in my place and kept my ego in check.
Our scuba
lessons were scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, so Friday morning we made a
recon drive into Balluta Bay to meet with our instructors, fill out paperwork,
take our PADI written exam, and get fitted for our wetsuits.
No one ever
tells you when describing a scuba experience, the graceless dance required to
put on a wet suit. Instead, we jump straight ahead to images of a snuggly fit
second skin as only the backdrop to the full diving ensemble. You also expect
them to keep you warm, but that is another topic all together. But what I have recently discovered, is that
there should have been some preparation, some “how to” class on stuffing the
extra rolls of fat and skin (the result of far too much wine and chocolate
cake) into what I now like to call “the suit of death.”
Annie and I
Nail polish
ruined and nails broken, Annie and I sat down to take our PADI exam. Being the
type “A”person that I can be at times, I took pleasure in comparing our correct
and incorrect responses, doing the “I am the Greatest” dance when I scored one
point higher than she did. Yes, I am a total ass.
Once we
completed all prerequisites for our dive the following morning, we set out to
start exploring the island. Since this was the only full day we would all have
together, we decided to drive to the northern part of the island, and hop a
ferry over to the island of Gozo in order to see the Azure window.
I had only
seen a picture of the Azure window on pinterest (where I tend to spend the
majority of my days while at work in total and utter boredom), and was ecstatic
to be able to cross that off my Malta “to see” list.
The drive
out was breathtaking. Although the countryside of Malta is beautiful, Gozo was
beyond words. The sprawling landscape, dotted with churches that graced even
the smallest of villages, had me in awe.
One of my
favorite things is to take pictures of doors. I am not sure why, but there is
something about a beautiful door that can brighten my day. What we found, was
Gozo was one beautiful door after another. When we first drove off the ferry,
we found we were stopping every few minutes to take a picture. Realizing that
we would never make it to the Azure window if we stopped at EVERY beautiful
door we saw, we began to limit our pictures which allowed us to make it to the
coast 30 minutes before the sun was setting.
Azure Window
Annie and I enjoying the sunset
The next
morning was our first day of scuba school, or death by hyperthermia as I like
to call it. When I picture Malta, I imagine the beaches and the hot sun beating
down. However, this was not the case for us. It was the first weekend of April,
and the scorching heat of summer had yet to make an appearance. It was sunny,
but windy with temperatures in the low 60s F (around 15 C). For someone that
gets cold as easily as I do, this was NOT ideal. I figured that once we got in
the pool and began our training, I would forget the cold and get lost in the
instruction. This did not happen. I spent the entire day running in and out of
the bathroom, jumping in the shower and running hot water over me between dives
to warm up my frozen hands and blue lips.
Annie and I- Buddy Checks complete!
The pool day
was hilarious. My friend Annie and I were doing a private class, which was
perfect since we set the pace. Aside from us both freaking out a little during
our first 30 seconds breathing underwater, we eased through the training. Although the lessons on removing our
regulators and clearing our masks were obnoxious, the biggest roadblock we
faced was attempting to maintain buoyancy. It wasn’t just the buoyancy, but the
fact that we both kept rolling in laughter while watching the other attempt
control which caused some issues. I remember two distinct times where I almost
peed in my wetsuit (on accident- I won’t lie and say that I never happily peed
during our open water dives in an attempt to warm me up- because I did). The
first was in the pool where we removed our weight belts underwater and then
had to put them back on. Annie went first. We both sank to the bottom of the
pool and watched as Dora, our amazing instructor from Hungary, showed us the
steps. Like any instructor, Dora made everything look easy. Annie, on the other
hand, made it look like the most difficult thing in the world. I ended up
having to clear my mask three times in about 3 minutes due to my excessive and
uncontrollable laughter while watching Annie try to reattach her belt. She
literally was doing barrel roles while Dora tried to hold her in place. She
would put it on her lower back while facing the bottom of the pool, and get
dragged around 180 degrees. It doesn’t
sound all that funny while I write this, but you have to trust me when I say
that she looked absolutely ridiculous! I won’t say anything more, since I
experienced the same embarrassment during my attempt.
The second
time I almost peed myself was our first open water dive. During our initial
descent, I sunk pretty easily to the bottom (the one and only time I went down
smoothly). Annie, on the other hand did not. As she began to release air from
her vest she began to sink tank first, feet pointed directly up towards the
surface and out of the water. I am not exactly sure what she was doing, but I
got a good laugh at it. Again, I can’t make fun of her too much, since I did
the same thing the following day.
With our
first day of diving behind us, Annie and I set out to explore a little of
Malta. We spent the evening driving around Valletta, stopping to take pictures
along the way. It is hard to describe the beauty of the city. Annie and I
pulled over at one point, and stared at the harbor for a good 30 minutes. I can
only describe it as a feast for the eyes, for wherever you looked you were met
with rich architecture and deep blue water. I have taken some photos, although
they do not fully articulate the beauty of the city.
Valetta
The next
morning Annie, Lea and I set off for our final day of diving. If all went well,
Annie and I would have our open water cert, and Lea would have her advanced
open water cert. We arrived at the dive shop and began loading vans with all
our equipment. We all piled in and drove along the coast for about 25 min to
the area where we would spend our day.
Malta is not
necessarily known for its Marine life, but more for its shipwrecks. Being
strategically located during the Second World War, there are various shipwrecks
for eager divers and historians to explore. For our three open water dives, we
would be looking at the HMS Maori. According to Martin, the dive shop owner,
the Maori was one of the first ships sent to Malta and it played an integral
role in the destruction of the Bismarck in 1941.
Before I go
into the details of our dives, I need to make one important announcement that,
like my fear of heights, is rather embarrassing. For any normal human that is
excited about diving, getting out of the pool and into the open water would be
a source of excitement. This is not the case for me. I have an irrational fear of
sharks. I tell people this fear derived from my previous life as a mermaid, a
lie I have repeated so many times that I am now beginning to believe as truth.
Too many hours spent watching Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” as
a child molded this belief. But the truth is…I was never a mermaid. My fear
comes from my older sister being a complete ass.
Every summer
during the 1980’s and 1990’s, my parents and I would spend our summer vacation
camping in Lake Shasta, California. We would rent ski boats, jet skis, banana
boats…you name it. Water sports and s ‘mores were the backbone of our summer!
At six years old, my body was too lanky and awkward to succeed at water skiing,
so riding on the banana boat on the back of the speed boat was my greatest joy.
I would laugh out loud as we hit rough water, causing all riders to bounce up
and down.
In 1986, two
days before leaving for Shasta, my older sister Aleta asked if I wanted to
watch a movie with her. Aleta and I are 10 years apart in age, so she NEVER
wanted to hang out with me. So when she asked to watch a movie, I almost pissed
my pants in excitement! The movie of the
day was “Jaws: The Revenge.” If you have never seen this particular gem, there
is a very vivid scene where a bunch of people are riding around on a banana
boat when the devil creature Jaws comes up behind the boat, and attacks a girl
riding on the back of the banana. He locks his jaws around her legs and mid section,
dragging her bleeding body underwater while she helplessly punches him in the
nose, trying to escape. I didn’t get on another banana boat until 2008, when I
rode one in Korea. Since that fateful summer, I do not go in open water. I have
been to Bali, Thailand, Hawaii, and Greece…and you will never see me get in
passed my knees.
The only
reason I agreed to scuba dive, aside from me putting it on my bucket list, was
the promise that there have been no shark attacks in Malta in 100 years. It did take a great deal of courage before I
closed my eyes, and took that first step into the freezing cold ocean.
Our first
dive was simple, going over skills and exploring close to our entry point. I remember
finding a pair of goggles on the sea floor and hoping that when I took a closer
look, there would be the words “P. Sherman 42 Wallably Way, Sydney” written on
the band. The second dive, we went a little farther out, and ended up swimming
through a wall of jellyfish. I was terrified of getting stung and having to ask
Annie to pee on my leg, but due to the freezing water, we were fully covered
and able to swim directly through their tentacles. Our third and final dive was
the shipwreck of the Maori.
Me chillin'
Annie and Dora
Lea, Dora, Annie and I by the Maori
With our new
PADI certs in hand, the three of us decided to celebrate by visiting the silent
city of Mdina and the popular café “fontanella” which is known for its
chocolate cake. Mdina is a medieval walled city situated on a hill in the
middle of a valley. It is truly one of the quietest towns I have ever visited,
the only real noise being the sound of the wind as it bounces off the
buildings. It is rather small, but you can spend a lazy afternoon getting lost
in the alleyways and taking in the slick architecture.
Mdina
On our last
morning Annie, Lea and I explored Marsaxlokk, ending our trip with a delicious
lunch by the water.
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