Name: Raina Zarb Adami
Age: 30
Occupation: Surgeon, medical director of clinics in Malta and London
My best holiday ever…
My most embarrassing blunder was assuming Maltese people are only found in Malta
I’d say my all-time favourite was with my parents and brother in the Maldives.
However, some trips I’ve enjoyed with my friends deserve a very special mention. The first is a girly trip to Spain with my three best friends when we were 20. We didn’t sleep for a week, and somehow managed to fit in Costa Brava, Barcelona, Girona, Andorra, Port Aventura and Montserrat, partying every night.
Then there is a holiday in Croatia and a short cruise round the Turkish coast, from Fethiye to Olympos, with my amazing Aussie friends, who I miss so much. That was probably the cheapest cruise known to mankind, but the scenery was mind-blowing, second only to New Zealand (Milford Sound has to be the prettiest place on earth).
Skiing with the medical klikka was an absolute ball too.
I would never return to…
Two places for entirely different reasons.
New York is one. It’s my bad luck city.
I’d been dying to visit the Big Apple and finally I’d made plans to go there for my 28th birthday with my then boyfriend. Things between us took a turn for the worse and by the time we were in the concrete jungle, a break-up was imminent and unavoidable.
Despite the city’s offerings and the grandeur of the Waldorf Astoria (really it’s something of an old people’s home, if you ask me, but palatial nevertheless), it was my worst birthday. No one enjoys birthday holiday heartbreak. We’re still friends and laugh about it now, though that doesn’t mean he is forgiven.
Two-and-a-half years later, I made NYC New Year’s Eve plans, thinking it would be quite something to see in the New Year in Time Square. This time we didn’t even make it to the airport. I hope he managed to get a refund on the flights.
Suffice it to say, there will be no more romantic breaks in the Big Apple for me. That said, I’m itching to run the New York Marathon. I guess it will have to be a trip with the girls.
The other place is Istanbul. Touristsare colossally ripped off there at every opportunity.
The most dangerous place I’ve visited…
Kathmandu, Nepal. I was there in 2009 during the Maoist riots. A strict curfew was imposed and tear gas was employed to disperse the activists.
My flight landed out of hours and I was instructed to lie on the back seat of the ambulance (by that I mean a little rickety vehicle, as I was doing voluntary work there) when I was picked up, so as not to draw attention to myself.
However, I loved Kathmandu and would return in a heartbeat.
My favourite city…
To visit, my favourites are Rome and Dubrovnik. Rome is the most beautiful city in the world. It’s like one big open-air museum, with lovely people, places, restaurants, shopping, food, joie de vivre and so on…
I’d choose Dubrovnik for similar reasons. In fact, it was there that I decided to take up sailing, as I promised myself that next time I visited Dubrovnik, I would sail into the city.
My all-time favourite city to live in is Sydney, by a long shot. I miss my life there terribly. It is a buzzing city on a beautiful harbour. That said, I have no complaints about life in London, save for the chronic ‘greydom’.
My most memorable experience on an aircraft…
A friend of mine allowed me to ‘co-pilot’ his private jet. That was pretty awesome.
On our return from the Maldives we had to stop over in Colombo. The flight was turbulent to say the least.
On approaching Colombo, we were caught in a massive storm. I am blessed with the most precious gift of usually being dead to the world after fastening my seatbelt right up until the landing thud wakes me up.
The plane was constantly falling (for want of a better word) and I woke up to a concert of screams and gasps. The pilot managed to land the plane on the third attempt, explaining to us later that he had to come in at an angle due to the winds.
During the pilot’s explanation and apology when the plane was safely on the ground, the air hostess stood up crying, saying “this was the worst flight and landing ever, the pilot has no idea what he’s saying”.
Needless to say people were already a little green around the gills and this did nothing to instil confidence in the passengers who were about to take off again in an hour.
I think the only two calm people on the flight were my father and I. After that, I decided that that must be the best way to die – all of us together (that way no grief), in one thud after an amazing holiday together.
My most treasured holiday souvenir…
I have plenty. I have to bring back something from everywhere. I think my favour- ite is a beautiful oil painting from Uganda showing five women carrying water jugs. It was painted by HIV positive victims to raise money for AIDS treatments.
The video of me bungee jumping in Spain is one of my prized possessions. My mother almost felt sick watching it. The silly things I did 10 years ago…
My biggest gaffe abroad…
My gaffes pale into insignificance when compared to my brother’s. I thankfully haven’t yet managed to land myself in a Brazilian prison cell (for lack of a visa), or lose a passport, or give my passport a spin in the washing machine just before returning home.
My most embarrassing blunder was assuming Maltese people are only found in Malta. I was at Taronga zoo in Sydney (Paula, if you’re reading this, again I apologise) when my lovely travel companion was telling me to get a move on.
I was trying to read the animal write-up, when in Maltese I passed some not so diplomatic comment about the person in front of me blocking my view. No sooner had I finished did this person turn around with “Hi Rai!”
The friendliest people…
The Aussies win this hands down. After you’ve navigated customs that is.
Airport aside, you couldn’t be in a more sociable place. Hence, after five holidays there, I moved to Sydney for a couple of years. A smile and a “How are ya?” are the rule.
On my first day at work, I didn’t know a soul. I was in the doctors’ common room and one girl noticed I was a newcomer. She immediately told me to join in and was at the airport crying when I left two years later.
The video of me bungee jumping in Spain is one of my prized possessions
The minute you look slightly lost, or appear to need help with anything, there is always a willing volunteer.
I never travel without...
A book (I’m a bookworm) and my adrenaline pen as I am violently allergic to something (the offending substance is yet to be elucidated).
I forgot to take it with me to the Maldives. Of course, Sod’s Law states that the toast will always land butter side down. So, resembling the elephant man, my mother and I tried to urgently find a doctor on this remote full moon island.
The genius on call took one look at me and said: “Oh you tourists. Too much sun. Stay in the shade and it will go away”.
With my eyes and lips double their size, it was virtually impossible for me to explain that it was an anaphylactic reaction. Finally he figured it out and it was reversed.
The taxi ride I will never forget…
On arriving in Istanbul for a conference, I must have had ‘I am tourist’ written all over my face. I had been warned of taxi drivers in the city, so I was on the alert.
However, they were much cleverer than me. I took a taxi from a recommended company. The oh-so-friendly and helpful gentleman there convinced me to buy a return journey at a ‘fixed price’, and congratulated me on not picking a metered yellow taxi as they just drive you round clocking up the meter.
A day or two into the conference, a colleague was fuming at how he was taken for an absolute ride by the same airport taxi company, as he had paid more than someone else did. We compared notes and about five of us had been charged stupid prices, all very different.
I was the most gullible and fell for the worst one – I was charged four times more than anyone else. My temper could be described as volatile at the very best of times. When I got back to the airport, I was like a bear with a sore head. I gave the guys at the taxi company a good piece of my Maltese mind.
Mind you, the Turks are a fair match (I don’t even want to think what the Great Siege was like). They tried explaining to me that they provided me with a luxury car. If that car was luxury, my Mini is akin to an Aston Martin.
Finally they asked to see the invoice. It turns out the delightful gentleman who provided me with the service had not only swindled me out of my hard earned cash, but had also double-crossed the company, thus pocketing the money himself.
They then made a whole charade of firing the guy on the spot. I bet my bottom dollar it was just their way of getting the annoying grumbling girl out of there as soon as possible. It worked. I cried and I got my refund.
An unforgettable hotel...
A little lodge in Munyonyo, Uganda. It was a daddy-daughter safari tripfollowing a voluntary work stint close to Kampala.
This little mass of rooms on a hill overlooked the jungle. It was an idyllic, quiet and peaceful haven, miles from anything else. The ideal place to unwind with a glass of wine and write a book.
My ideal travel companion...
The best travel buddy ever is my father – we both enjoying travelling and discovering unconventional places. We don’t mind long-haul flights (as we sleep like babies), are both relatively fuss- and panic-free and are both equally as adventurous with food.
I can be quite a loner and my father is a quiet man of few words, so trips with him are perfect. We are perfectly content in each other’s company with a glass of wine and a good book.
My next holiday plans…
Antigua in the Caribbean with my parents and brother at the beginning of August. Every year the four of us make it a point to travel together.
My father’s only pre-requisite is that we go somewhere where there is nothing to do other than just be together. So far, it’s been Mauritius, Langkawi, the Maldives and Tioman Island.
Prior to that I should be doing the French Riviera before Easter with some friends.
In September my brother and I are running the Marathon du Medoc. The course winds through the various chateaux offering their vineyards’ produce and gourmet delicacies to the “runners”. I have every intention of spraining my ankle at Chateau Lafite Rothschild.
My dream trip…
Hard to say really. I’d love to go to Bora Bora one day.
I’ve never been to South America. Ecuador and The Galapagos beckon.
My brother and I recently discussed walking the Kokoda trail. Our dad spent two years in Papua New Guinea, so we’re curious about the country.
I partied hardest in…
Sydney, where I worked hard and played equally as hard. It is an amazing city.
The best holiday partying was with the girls in Spain and with the Aussies in Croatia. Those holidays should have been followed by a couple of days of recovery and recuperation.
My travel tip…
Jet lag and alcohol tolerance are inversely proportional to each other.