27th June The longest day


You know the old saying ' don't speak too soon' Well at one point today I happened to think that today, the day we flew back to the UK, wasn't as long and hadn't dragged as much as I thought it might have done. Silly me.

So the end of what has been a fabulous, whirlwind two week jolly across the Medterranian on Azura and we are back in Malta. The day started off on a positive as we woke to discover that the bags / cases we had left outside our cabin before going to bed last night, were not there, meaning that they had been collected and we would next see them just after 10pm in Manchester.

But it also meant that we needed to be out of our cabins by 8am so that the on board team could do their magic and transform it all ready for the next lucky couple who would occupy E325. So we tried to make breakfast last as long as possible, and tried to read for a bit before headign back into Vallette for a walk. Now cast your minds back a week ago when on our first trip we hadn't found a great deal to do. well let me tell you that 7 days hadn't changed that a great deal. 

It was in essence an exercise in killing time that involved slow walking, slow drinking and slow chatting. We did think we had managed to find the pub in which renowned drinker Oliver Reed literally drank the bar dry before dying but an internet search back home reveals we were in the wrong place.

Back on board we found some cool and comfy seats down near the Glass House and just waited; waited because unfortunatly we were booked on the very last cohort of people to depart the Azura at 4.50pm, ready for a 7.30pm flight. If we had known earlier that there were three earlier flights I think we would have liked to have been on one of those. Unfortunatly even before we had left the ship we heard the rumour that our plane home had not even left Manchester yet!!!

And God bless it but Malta airport is not the place you want to have to wait for a plate that would finally arrive nearly two and a half minutes late. Thankfully there was a sense of cameradarie amongst those stranded and we passed the time trying to spend all our loose change in the limited number of shops selling food.

Finally we arrived back in Manchester and the Ibis budget airport hotel we had booked at 1.40am on Friday morning. The end of a long long day, at the end of which I can't even recall getting undressed before collapsing into bed.

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