‘Travel to discover yourself’

Name
Immanuel Mifsud

Age
44

Occupation
Lecturer/writer

My best holiday ever...

I travel a number of times a year, but almost never on holiday. Mostly I attend conferences or literature festivals. Christmas is an exception. I think my best holiday ever was the first time I travelled on my own to Budapest, right after my final exams at university.

I would never return to...

Naples. I had one of the worst experiences in my life, although in the end it was somewhat rewarding. My impression of Naples is so negative that I really can’t imagine myself going back there.

The most dangerous place I’ve visited…

Naples, and this explains why I wouldn’t go back there. I was in that city for a month when I was 17 together with a small group doing voluntary work in a house run by the Sisters of Mother Theresa, where all the dropouts would gather: schizophrenics, rapists, criminals, drug addicts, illegal immigrants...

I remember before going there we were told not to carry anything that shines (be it gold or tin) and to avoid wandering about after sunset. It was a very depressing experience, not only because we were working in that particular place, but, worse, because the city felt so hostile.

Basically, we spent one month working in the mornings, and locked inside a monastery full of huge chiaroscuro paintings of saints and devils in the evenings.

However, on a brighter note, I managed half a trip to Capri (I got seasick so I had to stay on the shore), and visited the place where Neapolitans believe the first ever pizza was baked.

The rest was filth, and a general feel of criminality and social depression.

My favourite city...

Prague, without a doubt. Krakow is a very close second. When I was still a student I was head over heels for London. However, my first visit to Prague in 1997 was a revelation and since then I have developed this silly habit that wherever I go for the first time I have to compare to Prague.

Prague was also the place where I met my wife, at Malta Square to be precise, very near the most romantic bridge in the world. We met there one very early August morning and the rising sun was casting a huge shadow of the Maltese cross on the building facing the church of St Mary.

I visited Prague a number of times since then, and despite the sad fact that it has become more expensive and more commercial, the city still captures me with its magic.

Krakow is another city which mesmerises me each time I visit it, especially the main square on sunny days and fair evenings. The largest medieval town square in Europe is really a magical place.

At times it turns a bit melancholic, but that is Poland of course. I don’t think there exists a more beautiful square than thisin Europe.

My most memorable experience on an aircraft…

I have a great fear of flying. I start sweating as soon as I arrive at the airport and on the plane I become a totally different person. Each take-off is a most scary experience, and although by now I have lost count of how many trips I’ve had, I simply can’t overcome this fear.

One of the scariest flights was coming back to Malta from Lisbon via Zurich on a very windynight, and the aircraft simply wouldn’t land. I thought we’d never make it.

My most treasured holiday souvenir…

I make it a point to buy all translated poetry books available from each country I visit, plus collections of local folk tales. These are the souvenirs I treasure most. I’m very happy with my collections from Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Czech Republic, and Bulgaria, and the collections by great poets from these countries and the others I havetravelled to.

Along with this sizeable library I would add a tiny music box I got from Vilnius, a small toy train from Nowa Huta (Poland), and a pen from Berlin.

My biggest gaffe abroad…

Once, at 2 a.m. I had to catch a train from Vrutky to Bratislava to get a bus to Vienna from where I had to fly to Malta.

Instead, I got on a train heading east towards Ukraine. Obviously, the ticket inspector spoke no English and it took us quite some time to understand eachother.

I got down on the next stop some 30 minutes later and got another train back.

Luckily, I managed to arrive in Vienna on time to catch the plane.

The friendliest people…

I’ve never really felt unwelcome anywhere.

I never travel without...

A little soft toy which Jana, my wife, gave me some years ago. It’s a small dog which travels with me always, in my hand luggage. Last June, I was in Istanbul for a conference and the hotel chambermaid always tucked the soft toy under the bedspread. I found that really cute.

The taxi ride I will never forget…

In Edinburgh, together with my Teatru Marta Kwitt colleagues, when we were performing at the Fringe in 1999.

A taxi used to pick us daily to get us to the theatre.

We felt like VIPs. Actually I don’t remember who was paying for those taxi rides.

My all-time favourite holiday photo...

The one of Jana and our sonNikol in Slovakia, at the lake Richnava in Banska Stiavnica. It was Nikol’s first trip to his second country and he enjoyed every minute of it. Today he is five and he goes there three times a year. It is his second home after all.

An unforgettable hotel...

The first time I visited Ljubljana I stayed at Hostel Celica, which was a former prison. Each room served as a prison cell for political prisoners during the Communist rule in former Yugoslavia. You literally sleep behind bars.

The cells were renovated by a team of architects and interior designers, and the staff encourage guests to spend a night in different cells. On my first night I discovered that my bed was one metre below the ceiling and I had to literally climb a metal ladder to get into bed.

I return most often to...

Slovakia. I’ve been spending Christmas holidays there since I met Jana. We stay in Martin, her hometown, in the Northern part of the country.

The town itself is not that attractive but the Velka and Mala Fatra Mountains and the forests surrounding it are awesome. And it is only two hours away from the Tatra Mountains.

I spend a lot of time staring through the kitchen or bathroom windows, from where I can see the forests and the mountain tops. When the snow covers the whole place, the temperature can go down to -10˚C, but a walk through the nearby forest or across the snow-covered meadows which separate Martin from the surrounding villages makes you feel strong and healthy.

The whiteness and the silence give you a sense of peace,cleanliness and calm.

My ideal travel companion...

Ideally I travel alone. Travelling alone has helped me discover myself and I don’t mind thesolitude.

Country with the best cuisine...

I’m not fussy about cuisine. I like the Eastern European dishes, but they aren’t very healthy and mostly based on meat. I very much enjoyed the Spanish cuisine when I was in Cordoba last summer.

The fish was exquisite and the sweet wine was heavenly.

My next holiday plans…

I wish I had time for a holiday!

My dream trip…

I have to visit Srebrenica. I’m trying to find the time for that.

I partied hardest in…

I am not the partying type, and when I’m abroad I tend to retire by sundown since night is the best time to write. So I’m not interested in nightlife.

I had one very interesting and unforgettable experience, however, when I was in Lisbon for a two-day conference. On the last night I was taken to this fado club in the heart of Lisbon, the Clube de Fado, the very place where the greatest interpreters of the genre, such as the legendary Amalia Rodriguez and Mariza, started their careers.

We ate different dishes ofbaccalau (cod) and other delicious sweets, but the most important thing was the live fado, sung in sombre red light and in perfect silence. That’s a night I will never forget, especially since I had been in love with fado (together with tango) since my late teens.

My travel tip…

Try to make the best out of each trip.