Lady Omega

Every time i say “i’m back” on my blog, something happens - so, i am not going to say it again, because it’s become a curse I’ve been sick for quite a while, but that’s not so interesting, so i will just get on to the nice things that happened in the last month.

Smashing Magazine textures contest

I participated in Smashing Textures contest - i didn’t win, but i got featured in 2 galleries of the best textures the Smashing crew selected in the end of the contest, and i’m happy about that. Two of my textures got featured in Sand and Earth gallery and in Stone, Walls, Brick gallery. Here are some textures i submitted + the ones i was considering to submit, but since there was a limit of 5 only, i couldn’t include all of them:

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You can download these textures here, if you like.

Dimmu Borgir and Behemoth show

We went to Dimmu Borgir and Behemoth black metal show at 9:30 club, Washington D.C.

It was a cool show, i enjoyed it - both bands played well and had a great image and stage show. The sound in the club was perfect. It was nice to hang out a bit with Nergal, since Zhyin has toured with him back in the Ancient days - so they had some fun stuff to remember.

Miami

We went to Miami for 1,5 days to check it out , since we’re going to be moving there soon, for a year. I liked it because i love hot weather and hate cold. Can’t say more than that, because it was only a 1-day visit, but it seemed nice. We even managed to find a very nice place to live already, which we didn’t expect. ( the following photo is not the place we found  - it’s just a pretty view from the hotel we stayed at )

We also visited the World Erotic Art museum, which is a collection of approximately 4,000 objects and antiquities dating to as early as 200 B.C. and hailing from lands as distant as Asia, Africa and India. Among the sculptures, the museum has the original phallic prop from Stanley Kubrick’s classic A Clockwork Orange. The collection belongs to Naomi Wilzig. Unfortunately, no photos allowed, only in the shop.

Sanatorium Altrosa

I bought the limited collectors edition of Sanatorium Altrosa - the new creation of Sopor Aeternus. Besides the cd itself, this edition comes with lots of fancy things - a bag, a shirt, a book with photos, etc. Well, i liked the fancy things the most. And sadly, this would be the first time i am saying something like that about Sopor Aeternus.

I haven’t been writing in my blog for quite a while, because we went on a trip to Europe. So, whoever was desperately waiting for my next post - sorry about that.

Malta is a 7000 year old island, which is situated 93 km south of Sicily. Though it’s a small country, it has a very rich historical past. It has been invaded by several cultures - Sicilian, Phoenician, Roman, Byzantine, Turkish, Arabic, French, Spanish and British, hence the variety of styles in Maltese architecture and their peculiar language. Maltese language is considered a Semitic language, however it’s the only Semitic language which uses Roman alphabet.

The climate in Malta is great - when we arrived to Malta from Germany, we were wearing winter clothes, but we had to take them off immediately, since it was very warm and some people were even sunbathing on the roofs of the hotels. I was very happy about that, since i dislike cold weather very, very much. We stayed in Sliema, one of the cities on the coast. The day we arrived, we decided to go for a walk and check out Sliema, but by walking around for about 3 hours we ended up going through 3 cities - Sliema, St.Julians and Gzira. Malta is small but very beautiful.

Sunset in Sliema

Kinnie - a maltese drink

I like trying new food and drinks. So, one of the first drinks i tried in Malta was Kinnie. Some people may like it, but i thought it was pretty nasty. Kinnie is a non-alcoholic drink, made from bitter oranges and aromatic herbs, and it was too bitter for me. It was invented by Mr.Cisk, who produces Maltese beer.

Gzira - Immortal cat

They sure do have cats in Malta, and plenty. This particular one is obviously a fan of Immortal. And i think, it looks more evil than Abbath.

The next beautiful city we saw was Valletta - the capital of Malta. Valetta has amazing Baroque architecture and is also full of history. The city was found by the French Jean Parisot de la Valette in 1566, who fortified the city to maintain the hold of the Knights of Malta. The city was planned to be a refuge to care for injured soldiers and pilgrims during the Crusades in the 16th century. Most inhabitants of Malta preferred to reside in Valetta, since it was strongly fortified.
Nowadays Valletta is one of the main tourist attractions, with its amazing view of the Grand Harbour, the Barrakka Gardens, cathedrals and various places of entertainment. You can take a ride on a horse carriage around Valletta and feel like you are in the middle ages.

Valletta walls

Lower Barrakka Gardens

Lower Barrakka Gardens offer an amazing view of the Grand Harbour of Valletta.

The Grand Harbour

The Grand Harbour of Malta has been used since the Roman times.

Valletta street

Valetta is the “new” capital of Malta. The old one was Mdina. Mdina is truly a medieval town, with narrow streets and amazing architecture. Mdina has been there since 4000 BC, and was fortified by Phoenicians in 700 BC. Mdina is called “The Silent City”, therefore you are not allowed to make noise, especially after the sunset. It is an unforgettable experience to walk in Mdina at night.

Mdina walls and orange trees

Medieval horse ride

The horse may not see what’s around it, but it can still make faces at you.

A fountain

Mdina alley

Mdina walls

You can view almost the entire Malta from Mdina walls, since Mdina is in the centre of the island. Many brave young people go on top of the walls, lay there and relax, enjoying the great view.

Mdina, of course, is full of things to see - there’s chapels, cathedrals, a natural history museum, a benedictine monastery, and Mdina dungeons - the museum of medieval torture. We surely visited it, but that will be a whole new post