‘The best souvenirs are in your heart’

Name
Trevor Zahra

Age
63

Occupation
Writer and illustrator

My best holiday ever…

Scotland in 1999, without a shadow of a doubt. I travelled with three friends of mine and we had the time of our lives.

Richard planned the holiday as if he was planning D-Day. He booked cottages and farmhouses over the internet; a different place every night spread along the planned route. We rented a car and hit the road.

It was the first and only time I drove abroad and I was dumbfounded when my friends pointed out that I was doing 90 miles per hour. We had a good measure of castles, abbeys, fortresses, castles… and sheep. We never unpacked our luggage, because we only stayed for a single night in one place.

It was simply wonderful arriving in a small village at 7 p.m., finding our cottage overlooking a spectacular loch and the owners waiting for us with warm cups of tea and warmer smiles. We were very lucky because Maltese weather followed us all the way. Only once we woke up to a mild drizzle and the cottage owner told us: “This isn’t rain. We call it liquid sunshine!”

I would never return to…

Luxembourg. Well, I’ll never say never! But I consider Luxembourg to be a drab place, it’s neither beautiful nor dreadful; neither attractive nor repulsive. Just grey! But the people compensated immensely for the shortcomings of the place.

The most dangerous place I’ve visited…

I think it was the Bronx in New York. Both my children were very young at that time and we were advised to keep them close to us and hold their hands very tight.

Usually I stay away from such places. On my holidays I try to relax and that’s why I’ve never visited North Africa, although I crave to explore such fascinating regions.

My favourite city…

If I was asked this question a year ago I would have said Rome. But last March I had my first taste of Venice and it was love at first sight.

I went with my children Ruben and Marija (or I should say they took me there) and this was our first holiday together, just the three of us.

The city has a particular magic which can’t be harnessed into words. The car-free roads, the lanes, the labyrinths, the canals, the bridges and the palaces transform Venice into a fairytale city no Disneyworld can ever match.

My most memorable experience on an aircraft…

I boarded my first aircraft when I travelled to Catania in the early 1980s. It was a very short flight and I had the impression that all the air pockets that dotted the Mediterranean decided to gather into our airspace.

I was sick, I was scared and I vowed I would never fly again, a vow which I gladly broke a couple of years later when I crossed the Atlantic from Heathrow to Boston.

And we didn’t encounter asingle air pocket.

My most treasured holiday souvenir…

I hate shops and I’m not in the habit of buying souvenirs. There was a time when I used to buy dozens of books, but nowadays the internet has made our life easier. Still, I always buy books about the places I visit. I’ve realised that book designers can take pictures much better than I do.

My biggest gaffe abroad…

My Italian is very rusty and I always need a couple of days to adjust. In a Sicilian restaurant once I wanted to order cotolette di pesce spada; but instead I asked for coltello di pesce spada. The waiter was speechless. I’m sure he thought I was some mafioso.

The friendliest people…

The internet is infested with jokes about the Americans, but I found them to be the friendliest people I have ever met. I spent two months in Rhode Island and all the people we met there invited us to their place for brunch or dinner and made us feel at home.

I never travel without...

A good book. The books I read abroad will always bring me pleasant memories of that particular holiday. For example, I still associate Gulliver’s Travels with my US holiday in 1985, and The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat with my Rome-Florence holiday with my dear friend Mario Cassar. My holidays abroad would be incomplete without the company of a good read.

The taxi ride I will never forget…

I arrived in Helsinki at 11 p.m. I was attending a six-day seminar and I needed a hotel for one night.

While I was looking at the hotel information board at the airport, an old gentleman came over and asked me if I would like to share a taxi and a hotel room, because he also needed a room for one night. He was from Frankfurt and he had been to Finland a couple of times before.

I said yes, but while travelling in the taxi I realised my foolishness. What if he was some conman, or Jack the Ripper, or some pervert? But he turned out to be a Lutheran minister and amiable gentleman called Wolfgang.

My all-time favourite holiday photo...

On the Realto, Venice, with Ruben and Marija. There’s nothing better than being with the people you love most in such a romantic city.

An unforgettable hotel...

I don’t care much about hotels. They’re just glorified bedrooms. But I can never forget the super breakfast at the Frankfurt Airport Hotel when I visited the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1995 with my friend Arthur Gruppetta. If that was just breakfast I wonder what their banquets taste like.

I return most often to...

Malta. Yes, this is no joke. Whenever I go abroad for a holiday I actually will be having two holidays in one: when I’m leaving Malta and when I’m returning to Malta. I love travelling but I always miss this little dry godforsaken rock.

My ideal travel companion...

Anyone with a good sense of humour. I still cherish my Scotland holiday because we were a bunch of crazy people. And we did crazy things.

I was driving and we missed a castle. No problem.

I stopped the car, my friends Richard and Joseph ran to the middle of the road and stopped the traffic while I made a U-turn the way the Maltese do. And the drivers thought we did them some favour... they smiled and thanked us.

Country with the best cuisine...

Italy. Every region has its own particular cuisine.

I liked Greek food as well and in America one can have anything.

But nothing compares to Italian food. It’s just genuine.

My next holiday plans…

I never plan anything ahead. I’d like to visit Ireland and Norway, but at my age, life usually makes its own plans. I wouldn’t like to interfere.

My dream trip…

Crossing the Amazon jungle and discovering some forgotten temple, Indiana Jones style. But I guess I’m 40 years too late for that!

I partied hardest in…

Venice. I love Malta and I wouldn’t live anywhere else. But if living in Malta wasn’t possible, I’d choose Venice. I was just seduced by the place. I believe I’ll be returning to that city pretty soon.

My travel tip…

Don’t waste time in shops. Stop at wayside cafes and inhale the aroma of the place.

Talk to people and savour local food.

Your best souvenirs are those embedded deep in your heart and not those wrapped in plastic bags.