Name
AnneMarie Camilleri Podestà
Age
29
Occupation
Harpist
My best holiday ever…
I recently went to Cyprus with my family and it was terrific from beginning to end, starting with the fantastic flight on Emirates and followed by the wonderfully luxurious resorts we stayed in: Pafos, Ayia Napa and Nicosia, among others.
The weather was great and for the first time in a really long while I felt I could unwind and rest.
What made it all the more special was the fact that I got to spend time with my gorgeous baby niece Chloe.
I would never return to…
Azerbaijan – it was a work-related visit and the people I happened to meet were really unhelpful.
The most dangerous place I’ve visited…
I’ve never been to a really dangerous place but when I was a child, I visited Ireland with my parents in the early 1990s – just after the worst of the unrest in Northern Ireland had subsided.
It was a fantastic trip and the people were extremely lovely and warm, but I could still feel the tension bubbling beneath the surface in Belfast and I was on edge most of the time we spent in that city.
My favourite city…
Vienna – for the culture, the concerts and the Sacher Torte. It also reminds me of several performances I gave there over the years.
My most memorable experience on an aircraft…
It was on a work-related trip. We were travelling on a tiny American-registered plane with no toilet for several hours, flying over Iran to go to Dubai from Azerbaijan. Thank God nothing happened during that flight – we could easily have been shot down!
My most treasured holiday souvenir…
I don’t really buy souvenirs apart from clothes and jewellery. However, they still serve as a fond reminder of the place I was in when I fell in love with them.
My biggest gaffe abroad…
A few years back, I had to go on one of my long visits to Portugal. However, a week before I left, I was dancing barefoot at a barbecue and slipped on some wine that I accidentally splashed out of my own glass while in a tipsy twirl.
Long story short, I broke my foot and ended up in plaster and on crutches; so my trip started off, quite literally, on the wrong foot.
While there, one of my closest friends came to spend a week with me and it just so happened that it was time for my cast to be removed, so we went to the closest hospital in Lisbon and I had to invent a stupid excuse to get itX-rayed, to make sure it had healed properly.
When the orthopaedic surgeon told me it was fine I removed the cast, spent an entire day visiting places and by the evening my ankle was the size of a melon.
The friendliest people…
Italians are by far the friendliest. They are so very warm andwelcoming.
There is one particular woman with whom I have become very close because she was my harp mentor and teacher for many years and used to host me at her house in Piacenza for a month every summer to help me further my studies.
I made friends with her children and we used to go out partying in Milanese clubs every weekend. That’s where I realised that the reputation of young Italian men is not unfounded.
I never travel without...
Visa card, make-up and heels.
The taxi ride I will never forget…
There was this one time when GPS was not as commonly used by taxi drivers in eastern Europe and our driver from Prague had to take us to a hotel which was quite far away from the city.
The drive itself lasted around 40 minutes and he had no clue how to get there, so I gave him directions by reading the map myself.
As you can imagine, his English was as bad as my Czech, so between the two of us, we sounded rather like two extras on Mind Your Language.
My all-time favourite holiday photo...
A shot of the Alhambra in Granada. I loved its exquisitely ornate rooms, soothing fountain courtyards and aromatic gardens. I was also really impressed by the grandeur of Versailles, with its Hall of Mirrors, embellished with fine art and chandeliers, and its immense and beautiful gardens.
An unforgettable hotel...
Two places still make their presence felt strongly in my memories, so to speak.
The first was an old converted castle in Finland which was beautiful to stay in but also very creepy for a 10-year-old girl.
What had seemed like Sleeping Beauty’s castle in the daytime turned into Dracula’s castle at night. It creaked and sighed and I kept hearing spooky noises and voices whispering in the shadows – my sister and I were terrified.
We slept in the same bed to comfort each other but we didn’t really get much sleep.
More recently, just last month I shared an apartment in Amsterdam with friends. It had very steep stairs and was on the fifth floor, so you can imagine what a problem we had trying to crawl back up the stairs after a night out.
This was one of the times that I regret wearing heels – I ended up stumbling along with my sling-backs slung over my shoulder.
I return most often to...
Italy for harp performances and master classes, while the UK comes a close second because I have to go regularly for courses and conferences and to visit friends.
My ideal travel companion...
Someone who is practical, not overly fussy and doesn’t mind waking up at the crack of dawn to make the most of the day. I’m a culture freak, so they’d have to at least enjoy it enough to put up with me traipsing all round museums, churches and historical sites for a good part of the day.
I have an obsession with making the most of my time abroad to see as many things as possible and explore the place fully. Concerts, clubs and local cuisine together with the local art scene are things which make my stay all the more special, so they’d better be adventurous too.
Country with the best cuisine...
Definitely France – I was staying with a friend in Paris, who took me to the best restaurants and we were invited to dinner to several of her friends’ houses where I was treated like a queen – which is always nice.
My next holiday plans…
I’ve just returned from Amsterdam and Edinburgh so I haven’t made any. Since I’m going to be in Belgium for a year I plan to travel a lot, hopefully, since flights will be better priced. A trip to a far-off destination will be in order: New Zealand or India perhaps.
My dream trip…
Take a year off work to travel and follow my whims.
I partied hardest in…
Madrid with a very close friend – we never went to sleep till after breakfast.
We went to parties every night, and followed those up with after-parties, dancing the night away with a group of handsome Spanish men.
My travel tip…
I always pack a few minutes before I leave for the airport which means that I’m bound to accidentally-on-purpose forget something, giving me the perfect opportunity to do some shopping abroad.
I visit as many friends as I can abroad – it’s a great way to catch up and meet them again. They take me to the best places to visit, show me around and give me the local perspective on things – they always know the best restaurants and you get a fluent interpreter and free lodging.