Always Have a Plan B

We were to do a SCUBA dive this morning, but circumstances conspired against us. We plan to rent masks and fins and snorkel on our own another time. So Marty came back to the room, got dressed, and attended the day's conference events, and I took a walk around the town if St. Julian's, where the hotel is located, and took pictures of this'n'that.

This view was taken from the porch of a dilapidated and unoccupied building up on the hill. I found a "mall" and bought a couple of things to bring home, and continued walking around the Paceville area and the Hilton. Additional photos are at Flickr - click the Flickr "badge" in the right sidebar to get to the Malta album.

I probably should have taken the bus and gone back to Valletta, but since I didn't have a well-thought-out "Plan B", I spent about 3+ hours exploring the area around the hotel. There are a lot of run-down buildings, trash in the streets, and abandoned storefronts. No homeless, though! and everyone is friendly and helpful. The Hilton is in a newer area and has well-paved sidewalks instead of the 10-inch cobbled walkways along most streets. There are also no street signs, so maps are useless in that respect. Scaffolding from the construction sometimes completely blocks the sidewalks, and you have to walk in the streets, dodging cars and trucks that come charging around blind corners at high speeds.

Had major problems with my phone! I tried calling home, but didn't hear ringing; Marty called me and the phone didn't ring - but it did vibrate. I couldn't call his phone nor pick up the voicemail he left. I couldn't play any ringtones - thought my phone had died! However, after I turned it off and then back on, all the sound came back - so it just needed a hard boot after finding the local phone network. I think I'm back in business.