I remember as a child, the beginning of July was synonymous with our village feast. The church would be dripping with over the top gold ornaments and statues of every saint ever given a mention in the Bible!

The highlight of the festivities is obviously Sunday morning, when the band marches through the streets playing regal marches. The occasional sound of a dissonant trumpet reaches your ears and a quick glance towards its direction draws your eyes to a wobbling young man, under the effect of one too many beers maybe?

Many villages take pride in the best fireworks, best ‘Vari' and the like. I'm not too impressed by extreme fanaticism about whose band club is the better! It's rather ironic when you think about it, grown adults fighting about whose patron saint is the best? I really don't think the saints in question care much about all this agro! Can you imagine St Joseph and Our Lady arm wrestling? or St Sebastian with St George in a headlock? Don't think so!

The fireworks issue is also a very delicate one. While I admire the patient and laborious task of creating original and beautiful fireworks that paint our skies with colourful fiery lights in summer, I am also aware of the negligence of SOME who store them dangerously and illegally in their homes. This has been the cause of one too many tragedies especially this year.

The gentle breeze and sunny days are joyously announcing the start of summer on our island and trips to the beach on the weekend will soon become routine for many of us. I just love walking along the beach, in most typical fashion the foreigners are usually lying on their towels drenched in bronzing oil, roasting under the fierce sun, families serving ‘hobz biz-zejt' and ice cold watermelon and children building sand castles. I still build sand castles myself in the hope of making them resemble some of Roger Dean's fantasy castles, trust me to be as pretentious!

When driving home after a day at the beach nothing beats listening to your favourite music and the cool breeze caressing your tanned salty skin. The incessant traffic jams kind of kills the moment, but Malta tends to be like that in the weekend doesn't it? If every islander decides to go out the streets are mayhem!

The real mayhem however lies in the midst of Paceville. Brimming with locals, English language students and marines, Paceville is the mecca of local entertainment. I love to party hard after a great gig, and am usually left with a few cents in my pocket, obviously I'm starving and I wonder .....what better way to end the night..or start the morning... than with a strong tea and our tasty typical savoury snack?.......pastizzi hmmmm.