Wow - I suck at all forms of journaling. Sorry.

We survived Ramadan, made our first visit to Malta and are now finishing up our first of two weeks in Dubai before heading out to Doha again.  :)

Dubai is all the same, hot, hazy and a little bit rock-n-roll.  Sans the rock-n-roll part :).  Actually the city isn't too bad.  I want to ring the next of most of the staff here in the hotel but after days of analyzing my frustration and painful irritation with the place this time I've realized that the root of my problem is the fact that none of the staff give a shit about my problems with their lack of service and lack of standard amenities and thus, will not work with me at all to fix the problems (aka-move me to a different room).... uggghhh - my blood pressure is rising just discussing it again - I thought I had a handle on this.  I need to take up yoga again.  Blah!
Actually the past couple days have been crazy hazy and still pretty warm but the evenings are getting better, almost pleasant.  Something weird I've noticed this stay is there are A LOT more 'burkas/niqabs' {{haha - found this looking for a link for the niqab - I guess it's bound to happen occationally}}  (ie: females with full face coverings)  We've always had our fair share here but whereas it used to be maybe 1 out of 5 covered their face, now its more like 4 out of 5...  wonder what that's all about?  I miss our usual glitz up ladies.

Anyways - the trip to Malta was fabulous!  Too short but I guess we will have plenty of to really get to know the island.  It is a wonderful change from where we have been the past 3 years.  Mark is so giddy he can hardly stand it.  He has a big case of short-timer-syndrom and is trying to close his eyes and bully thru the rest of the year.

The great news is that we found an apartment in Malta and put down a deposit!!!  It is a little further north than we had planned but the whole island is so small it shouldn't be too big of a deal.  And if it is, the apartment and the views are worth it!  We will be living in St. Paul's Bay.  Here are the pics of the apartment:

On the way

we are at the top, above the white balcony

water access right down the road

outside looking right

outside looking left

when we first walked in- WOW!.  The door is right next to the phone you see on the wall.

Oh yeah - this is the kitchen we've been looking for!

guest bath

guest room (bed coming)

Master bedroom (laundry room is in outside closet on balcony)

view from master bedroom

from master bedroom looking into living room

amazing view!  

outside dining

view of apt from balcony

We are both SOOOOO happy!!  We can't wait to move in!  We are now taking reservations!!

We are now working on the logistics of how to get our stuff there and making a list of all the things we need to figure out once we get there.  It's always an adventure with us!  

I'll post some pics of the island in a bit - lots to do today and this has already taken up more time than it should have.  :)

Love to all!

xoxoxxo