I just couldn’t say goodbye to blogging about Malta without posting a few of these memories from my mornings.

I always get up early when I’m traveling. I watch the sunrise with a cup of coffee and write in my journal.

The mornings are usually my quiet moments before full days of sightseeing and I savor each one.

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 I went to Malta with First Choice Holidays as part of being chosen to be a First Choice Out of Office Blogger, which has been a fab way to see some new parts of the world.

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With a Rock and Stone: A Story about Malta’s Limestone Heritage

I could not stop taking photos of the detailed limestone carvings. After my third or fourth question about the soft honey-colored rocks, my attentive guide made a phone call and added an unplanned stop to our itinerary.

“I haven’t been here since I was a child,” Jeremy explained as he reversed out of a wrong turn. He soon found his way to The Limestone Heritage, a retired limestone quarry that now serves as an interactive museum and living history of the role the sun bleached stones play in Maltese history and architecture.

As in many places, for thousands of years, stones were cut, lifted and carried out by hand all over Malta. Limestone is softer than a lot of minerals, so with proper pressure applied by a hammer to metal plates, the huge bricks break free. This process was used to carve out a few large bricks a day before the introduction of machinery in quarries in the fifties increased production to 2500 stones a day.

Quarries began to empty out much faster and when drilling and cutting reached the layers of stone that were embedded with bits and pieces from the sea the quarry would be abandoned.

The seashells in these rocks are over twenty million years old. Fascinating though these layers are, these pieces are not suitable as building material.

Disused quarries are turned into gardens and citrus groves.

The Limestone Heritage has a few goats and bunnies and other animals to tempt children to play a little longer in the garden.

The day after I visited The Limestone Heritage, I went to the megalithic Ggantija Temples on the neighboring island of Gozo. These two structures are old. Like older than Stonehenge, older than the Pyramids.

The crazy part about the fact that these giant rocks were stacked up on top of each other around 5000 years ago is that this predates the wheel. And also metal.

So the feat of cutting, carrying and stacking these rocks without the use of axes and wagons is pretty awe inspiring.

Apparently, the oldest legends are tales of giants. Ggantija means giant, and you can imagine that it might take an awfully large human to use building blocks this big.

You can walk along boardwalks inside the temples, and look at the clues that hint at their original use. Altars that were presumably for sacrifices line the walls of some of the chambers.

When I saw this large stone table broken into pieces, I thought of Aslan and Narnia and sacrifices finished. Debts fully paid.

The stones were the first detail I noticed about Malta and after my short visit, my brain was filled with stories and pictures from ages of gathering rocks. I noticed which buildings were made of the smoother, machine cut stones and the older ones made from the rougher cut bricks.

I loved the stone walls made from the rubble gathered out of quarries in baskets, the smaller discarded rocks being used in the countryside by farmers.

I remembered the characters in the Spanish novel Cathedral of The Sea, individuals laboring together to build something grand.

My guide gave me a small piece of stone from the disused quarry to keep.

At the risk of stating the obvious, stones are grounding.

I often take small stones away from places I visit in an attempt to ground myself to destinations.

I still carry two tiny pebbles in my backpack that I picked up at the start of the Coast to Coast and carried all the way across England. My windowsill is lined with stones gathered on various North Sea beaches in Scotland.

Like my boys’ pockets, my fists fill with rocks, tumbled round by ocean waves. And the odd seashell, still in tact, discarded by its slimy dweller.

I always think I will remember the origins of the rocks that we bring home, but they blend together. I know each one is precious but I don’t always remember why.

But this yellow stone. This one stands out from the beach pebbles and river rocks. It’s color betrays that it is from another place, a sun soaked land by the sea, where the people are as warm as the sunshine.

Lots more photos of Limestone in Malta over on Google+

I went to Malta with First Choice Holidays as part of being chosen to be a First Choice Out of Office Blogger, which has been a fab way to see some new parts of the world.

The post With A Rock and Stone appeared first on Alison Chino.

Anytime I’m near the water, I try to catch the sunrise, which is a lot easier to do when you can see it from your balcony.

I first glimpsed this city on a hill on my ride from the airport Tuesday night. In the dark, the fortress glowed in the distance and I asked my driver what it was.

“That’s Mdina,” he told me, “It is called The Silent City because cars are not allowed within the walls except for those owned by the people who live there. You must go there and visit. It is very old.”

The next day I walked the quiet streets of The Silent City, taking photos of the limestone carvings against blue skies.

I brought a lemon home from this tree. Just because I have never picked a lemon before.

Brightly colored boats bring fish to a market that happens right in this harbor, so of course we had platters of seafood for lunch.

This is part of a garden in Valletta that overlooks the main ship harbor in Malta.

The holiday flats of Xlendi in Gozo are mostly empty this time of year but are full in the high season.

Our lunch at Sea Shells in Xlendi was as gorgeous as it was delicious.

The Azure Window on a windy day. I felt a little more of this cold spray than I meant to.

Gozo is just a twenty minute ferry ride away from the main island of Malta.

A parting shot of Mellieha Bay Hotel just before I left on Friday morning. I need to go back for a little more time on one of these sun loungers!

I went to Malta as part of being chosen to be a First Choice Out of Office Blogger, which has been a fab way to see some new parts of the world.

The post Snapshots of Malta appeared first on Alison Chino.

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I hope you’ll excuse me for getting just a little out of control on Instagram last week while I was in Cape Verde.

Sunshine has a way of making me slightly giddy.

I also took my big camera along to Cape Verde, and these were my favorite seven shots.

I stayed in a gorgeous resort with First Choice Holidays called Melia Dunas. The resort has eight swimming pools and they all have bars conveniently located right next to the pools. A sun lounger and a cocktail is about all I need to be happy on holiday.

Follow the volcanic cobblestones to the beach at Melia Dunas. It became a kind of game for me to spot all the ways this stone is used on the island. Locals break it down into these stones and then load them up in trucks to sell to the new resorts being constructed around the island.

I watched three sunsets from this beach. Each one was beautiful in its own way. I don’t ever get tired of watching the sunset and I always stay way after it has gone down, enjoying all the pink remants streaked underneath the clouds.

Hop in a Land Rover for a tour of the island of Sal. Touring a salt mine (and floating in the lake), seeing a mirage in the desert and visiting the small towns were some of the highlights of this excursion. But I really just enjoyed riding around and talking to our guides.

I always ended up back down here for a little more beach time. Can’t. Get. Enough.

This corridor of palm trees ran straight down the middle of the resort and was lined with restaurants and shops on both sides. There was even a gelato shop, which of course, I had to sample. (Pistachio please!)

More to come from my short break to Cape Verde!

I went to Cape Verde as part of being chosen to be a First Choice Out of Office Blogger, which has been a fab way to see some new parts of the world. I’ll be going to Malta with First Choice in March!

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Back in June, I shared some of my favorite images from our trip to Mauritius, but here are a few more of my favourite shots + animated GIFS from this exceptional getaway that Simon and I took in May to the tropical paradise of Long Beach. Before I move on to blogging about the rest of our amazing summer, I wanted to share these images + a little round up of all my Mauritius posts just in case you want to read about every possible detail of our trip!

If I had to use only one word to describe Mauritius, it would be colourful. Or colorful. Either way you spell it, it sums up being in this corner of the world.

I think the best moments of a beach holiday might be the view of a beach umbrella or a palm tree that you have when you are lying on a beach lounger. These images remind me of being completely relaxed.

These boats were on our beach and we could check them out to use whenever we wanted as part of our resort package, which I included in my list of reasons to go all inclusive with kids.

I might have an alarming number of photos of beach loungers, but I was just smitten with all the lovely corners of the resort where you could relax with a view.

There were so many spots to choose from each day and we made a point of trying out as many as possible.

This outdoor setting was one of the restaurants in our resort. We ate here several times because of its proximity to both the beach and the pool.

Just this week I got to re-live our catamaran trip to the Ile Aux Cerfs by writing about it for First Choice. {Happy sighs.}

Also, I did a piece on this dreamy spa and I wrote A Story about Yoga on the Beach, because you know how I love yoga.

This is the sun hitting our room at our resort. I took this picture when walking back one morning from watching the sunrise and I loved how the sun was flooding all the porches.

This is the pile of shells and coral that Simon brought home from Mauritius. I love collecting these treasures on a beach holiday, but I’m never quite sure what to do with them when we get home.

I love how these little animated memories make me feel like I am still in the moment, watching these guys have the time of their lives! Watching Simon and his new friend, Flea, was one of the greatest delights of the week.

When I look at these pictures, I am incredibly grateful that Simon and I had this amazing escape this spring. It was the first time I was actually warm in a very long time, and we both caught the sun on our faces and in our hearts!

Simon and I went to Mauritius, along with Sally and Flea, as part of our role this year as First Choice Out of Office Bloggers. 

The post {More} Snapshots of Mauritius appeared first on Alison Chino.

“Hi, I’m Flea.” she said as she sat down next to me in the airport.

“Hi! I’ve been so excited to meet you! I’m Alison.”

“And this is Simon.”

“Simon, can you say hello?”

“Hi.” (small quiet voice)

I’ve mentioned before that Simon and I are introverts. In fact most of us Chinos fall on introverted side of the scale.

Sometimes when I meet someone who is truly extroverted, I think that they must be faking it. The notion of being truly comfortable talking to strangers is so foreign to me that I feel like it must be some sort of a show.

But then every once in a while I meet a truly extroverted child, and I’m reminded that some people are truly born this way. Some people really and truly, have never met a stranger.

Flea, who is nine years old, is one such child, and Simon and I had the sublime pleasure of her company on our recent journey to Mauritius. Watching Flea make friends with Simon will forever be one of the gifts of 2014 to me.

Like Harry and Hermione, Simon and Flea were fast friends, so inseparable after only a couple of days that Sally and I were scrambling to rearrange meals and excursions so that we could all be together.

Sally and I are both bloggers who love to write about travel. We were assigned to travel together as First Choice Holidays Out of Office Bloggers, and I was not at all worried about traveling with her. We met briefly in London at a pre-trip event, sans children and we both have experience with going on holidays with strangers as part of publicity campaigns. However, adding children to the mix is always a bit of a gamble. Simon and I were ecstatic about going on a sun-soaked holiday together, but I was not sure how he would get on with Sally’s little girl.

As soon as I met Flea at the airport, I knew we were going to be just fine. Sally warned me that she was chatty, and I was completely taken with her ten-minute-answer to the question, “What book are you reading?’

Simon watched me talk to Flea for a little while before he joined in, but it was not long before the two of them fell into their own little world, without any need for me.

Of course it helped that they had an awful lot in common. A mutual love for Lego and Doctor Who proved to be the breeding ground for what blossomed over the week into a sweet friendship.

They played together in the crystal blue swimming pool and on the long stretch of beach at our resort. Invented games and imaginary worlds ensued. And Sally and I relished the hours by the pool in our loungers. It was bliss.

On our excursions, they sat together on the bus rides, heads together over one of their devices, laughing at the Lego Movie or reading Big Nate. They chased monkeys around a Holy Lake, seeing who could get the closest to one.

Flea is a bit of an adventure addict, which turned out to be great for my little cautionary guy. When Simon was hesitant to come out on the deck for the catamaran ride, Flea persuaded him that the best place to drink a glass bottle of Lemon Fanta is directly underneath the sails. She also talked him into going tubing behind a speed boat. They confused the boat driver because Flea was signaling to go faster while Simon was signaling to go slower.

However, when Flea went parasailing, Simon was content to go along and just watch. But they celebrated together with fancy drinks at the pool bar afterwards.

At meals, they would head to the dessert case, tasting different offerings each night. Then they would go back to the ice cream bar to chase down their chocolate cake or macaroons with their favorite, vanilla ice cream.

Flea and Simon sat together on the flight back to London and after we parted ways, Simon told me that he was really going to miss her.

I absolutely loved watching them all week, and I was grateful that my older children were not around to taint it by teasing Simon about ‘having a girlfriend,’ which they most certainly did when we got home and Simon talked and talked about Flea.

I delight in the thought of their paths crossing again one day.

Simon and I went to Mauritius as part of my role as an Out of Office Bloggers for 2014. I’m super thankful to First Choice Holidays for such a lovely trip and for partnering us up with such fab folk! And I’m grateful to Sally and Flea for being extroverts and for jumping in and helping to make the week so much fun!

The post A Story about Making New Friends appeared first on Alison Chino.

A Story about Yoga {On the Beach}

It was that time of day when the light is so magical you can hardly bear to tear yourself away from staring at the horizon, except that there are young children with you who do not care about the color of the sky. They care about making it to the climbing wall before it closes.

And so we were walking towards the gym at the resort where we were staying in Mauritius, and we passed a gentleman who was carrying a roll of yoga mats under his arm.

I stopped him to ask about yoga and it was starting in ten minutes. On the beach. At sunset.

Sally graciously allowed me to leave our party and follow Roj back to the beach.

I have an up and down relationship with yoga, which is strange because I enjoy it immensely. If I charted my yoga frequency, I’m pretty certain it would look something like this:

Winter: Almost Zero
Summer: Lots

I know that my muscles need yoga (and exercise) in the winter but it just feels better in the summer.

Yoga clothes are summerish. Beachy.

Sun salutations work best for me when there’s a sun to salute.

So being in Mauritius where the breeze is warm and the air is soft opened my heart wide up for yoga. And for all that yoga on the beach in Mauritius has to offer:

Breathing in the sea air.

Balancing in the warm wind.

Walking barefoot on crushed seashells as a form of acupuncture for tired feet. (Yes, really)

Soft light and softer voices.

Kicking sand on your mat and brushing it off again.

Slower than slow sun salutations. Light, simple movements that remind you that you never want to be in a hurry again.

No rushing. Just being.

Receiving praise for doing something so simple. Taking time to stretch. To pull yourself wide and just be still.

Falling over from your tree pose into the sand and being put at ease by a new instructor’s soft guidance. A kind reminder to take your time.

I love to meet a good yoga teacher. I have done some yoga teacher training myself and I have so much awe for instructors who can lead a class and maintain an air of relaxation themselves. A good yoga instructor’s voice draws you in to their circle of peace, their good vibes are part of your experience.

Roj was definitely all good vibes. You would never know it, but by day he is a headmaster of an all boys’ school. Practicing and teaching yoga is an outlet from the stress of his daily life, and he teaches classes at Long Beach three evenings a week. They are free to attend for guests or private sessions can be arranged as well.

What a gift to get to practice yoga in such a magical setting!

Simon and I were sent to Mauritius, along with Sally and Flea, as part of our role this year as First Choice Out of Office Bloggers. First Choice has chosen five bloggers to visit their resorts in 2014 and blog about them. I’m feeling super thankful for the privilege and already looking forward to my next trip Out of Office!

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