Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Arcadia

Sitting in an internet cafe in a shopping centre in Rabat (Victoria) the capital of Gozo. Regular readers will know this is our holiday haunt notwithstanding the news that Gary Neville has joined the ranks of holiday home owners here. Haven't seen him yet, but it is a small island.

What news? Well the spacebar has to be hit with some violence, the @ is in a strange place (for me, it's above the 2) and there is some serious grime between the keys. Liz has gone to find a bookshop having read everything. At breakfast today she was reading the bottom of saucepans.

It has been very hot but our farmhouse has a nice breeze across the patio and seafront restaurants in the evening become just divine. I have OD'd on pasta marinara.

Yesterday we took our little car (I have been driving it for ten days and still have no idea what make it is) to the more obscure parts of the coast. We drove along rutted cart tracks to the top of some breath-taking cliffs. We found a place which appears to be only occupied during the migratory bird season when the locals lure the little creatures on to baited stone platforms and then shoot them from hides. Needless to say this is illegal but not any easy place to get a cop car to.

5 comments:

Alastair Gregg said...

I used to have to program java at University with keyboards that had a @ above the 2. Which is very annoying, as the " marks are vital to programmming.

When it comes to the space bar not working, i think that's a tradition or an old charter or something (at least in my expierence of internet cafes.

anyway hope your having a good holiday

- Al

Emma said...

I went to Germany for 3 weeks a few years ago and was in the internet cafe every day - they don't use the letter y much at all and use z more often so they are swapped on their keyboards - incredibly irritating! But after 3 weeks I had got used to it, came back to england and was writing zs into everything - annoying!! I think the @ sign was also with the 2 on those keyboards too.

Anonymous said...

Try tying an e mail on a japanese keyboard. Even if you set it to appear in English you have to try to remember the position of the keys!
Pauline

Mike Peatman said...

Mac keyboards also have a different layout, which is a bit disconcerting when you switch from one to the other. Currently getting used to the new Viglen provided for the Chaplaincy.

Steve Tilley said...

Late news. The car was a Hyundai Getz. Best bit. The aircon switch.