Name
Jimmy Grima
Age
28
Occupation
Artistic director of the Rubberbodies collective and director of Tiny Island studio
My best holiday ever…
I like to travel with a purpose, mostly to visit friends abroad. I do try to escape from this tiny island every now and then, as I think a different environment for us Maltese is always good.
The best ‘holiday’ so far was within Egypt during my nine-month stay. I lived mostly in the city of Alexandria, but made long visits to Siwa Oasis, an oasis of ethnic Berbers 50 km east of Libya. I call it the land of donkeys, olives and dates.
I always saw oases on photos or paintings with a palm tree leaning over a puddle of water and a camel drinking from the puddle.
In Siwa there are no camels due to superstition but it is the land of donkeys, not to mention ‘Cleopatra’s Bath’, which is an ancient natural spring; the oracle temple of Anum (Zeus), where Alexander the Great was told to be the divine and legitimate Pharaoh of Egypt; hot springs, cold springs, the most delicious dates and olives you will ever eat in your life; the Egyptian Sand Sea and the most surreal scenery due to the massive salt lake that surrounds the oasis.
I would never return to…
I have visited Israel twice in my life. The first time I was 16 and taking part in an international theatre festival, where I remember a female soldier carrying a Tavor assault rifle everywhere we went, and a half-hour interview before leaving the airport involving all sorts of questions about what I did and if I had any contact with Palestinians.
I returned when I intended to visit Petra in Jordan and decided to enter the country through Israelfollowing a very bitter experience on Egypt’s Taba border and a very clumsy ferry journey between Egypt and Jordan.
As soon as I left easygoing Egypt I entered the highly arrogant and exaggeratedly secure Israel. All my belongings were scanned and I had another interview about why I was leaving Egypt and where exactly I was going.
As soon as I walked out, I was verbally harassed by a plain-clothes soldier probably no older than 18, who was holding another massive gun. He instructed me not to catch the bus but to take a taxi instead and when I refused, he started to call me all sorts of names while waving his big gun at me. Then a taxi driver forced me into his car.
After this, I decided Israel is not for me, although I have three friends from there and I think that Palestinians are most probably the cleverest and nicest people I ever met in my life, but Palestine is not Israel.
The most dangerous place I’ve visited…
I have never really visited a dangerous place. Having said that, last winter I visited Athens and we were following directions by Google maps on the iPhone to visit the popular area called Monasteraki as we were promised some nice bars and clubs there.
We found it and had a great night, but on our way there and back, we passed some very dodgy areas with heroin addicts sitting on steps, prostitutes in groups of 20 offering sex, people asking for drugs and so on.
After some five nights of passing through these streets with the assistance of Google maps, an Athenian friend told us this was a ‘no-go area’ and considered very dangerous.
My favourite city…
Definitely Berlin, for the most convenient 24-hour public transport system, the exhausting number of clubs and the most ingenious bars, the contemporary art, the fair prices, the multicultural people and the existence of practically every sub-culture you can think of.
My most memorable experience on an aircraft…
On the way back from Sicily I had some stomach and digestion issues which decided to manifest themselves as soon as I was boarding the plane. It was definitely the smelliest, most disgusting and embarrassing experience of my life.
My most treasured holiday souvenir…
Das Buch ber Belt by Carl Hoffman is a book which was printed in 1846 and passed on to me by an Egyptian collector. This book is in German and full of water-coloured etchings.
The old chap gave it to me on one condition – I had to find one of the many books printed in Malta in Arabic in the 17th and 18th centuries. This experienced collector managed to collect all the official papers between the French and the English when Egypt was invaded in Napoleonic times by Nelson. Among them is a set of official documents signed by Nelson with strategies for the Battle of the Nile.
Unfortunately, I never came across any book printed in Arabic in Malta, and whenever I ask people they tell me this is nonsense.
My biggest gaffe abroad…
It involves my pants and the plane journey I mentioned earlier. I would not like to give specific details.
The friendliest people…
I have felt welcome in every place I’ve visited, except Israel.
I never travel without...
IPod, sketchbooks and pens, rolling papers, tobacco and lighters.
The taxi ride I will never forget…
I decided to visit Petra one Christmastime, but first I had an epic journey on a bus which lasted nine hours instead of the planned 11, as we were travelling at around130 km/h.
I arrived on the Jordan side very early in the morning. Petra was some five hours away by taxi along the main motorway that links the south of Jordan to Petra, which to my surprise was closed due to heavy snow. Snow in the desert? Petra was closed!
I went to a tourist shop and asked if there is another way to get there. The shop owner called me a taxi, which was supposed to drop me off where the main road was closed and then his friend from Petra was to pick me up in his off-road jeep and give me a ride the rest of the way.
I paid the taxi, we started the journey and after some two hours I saw an apocalyptic scene, straight out of a film. The desert was white and the motorway was full of massive trucks parked up, with fires set up by the drivers to keep warm. There must have been thousands.
The shop owner’s friend kept his word and a yellow jeep approached us from the side of the road as we passed the trailers. I jumped in and travelled off-road through the white desert for about three hours until I reached white Petra.
An unforgettable hotel...
Recently I visited a friend inFlorence and as soon as we got there he informed us that we were to visit his friend on Isola d’Elba. After a five-hour journey, including the ferry we got to this island, which is pretty much the same size as Malta.
After travelling the winding roads up the mountains and down the hills, we got to the place where we were supposed to be staying: an agriturismo overlooking one of the valleys leading to the harbour, surrounded by trees, birds and flowers.
It was dark when we arrived so I could not see much, but the next morning we were woken up by the smell of coffee and bread. I still have a very sharp image of the view outside our window overlooking the terrace, where a table with a white tablecloth awaited us for breakfast. It was definitely the best accommodation I have ever experienced.
I return most often to...
Paris. Unplanned, but it is the destination I have visited the most so far. I would not mind visiting a couple more times in mylifetime.
My ideal travel companion...
Anyone who is open and ready for unplanned adventures.
Country with the best cuisine...
In Lebanon I had one of the best breakfasts. In Alexandria I experienced one of the best fish restaurants. In France the best wine. In Marseille the best couscous.
However, I think my all-time favourite is Italy. Breakfast in Syracuse of lemon sorbet, goat’s milk cannoli and cappuccino. Three-course lunch in Florence with a carafe of red wine and cassatella and espresso for dessert. And Isola D’Elba for fish and wine. Perfect.
My next holiday plans…
Berlin again. I cannot get enough.
My dream trip…
Antarctica – I would like to see it before I die.
I partied hardest in…
I was in Berlin and instead of returning to Malta after two months, I decided to spend Christmas in Paris. My friends picked me up from the airport at about 9 p.m. and drove me to some town between Paris and Normandy, as there was a dub-step festival.
The venue was a massive council hall and I remember dancing for about five hours. At one point a Frenchman asked for a lighter and after he heard my broken French asked me where I was from. When I said Malta, he told me he knew two Maltese people living in Paris. Obviously I knew them: typical Maltese abroad cliché.
My travel tip…
Never use Google maps as your guide; it’s better to use the old way of asking a lot of questions. And always respect the culture and society, then you will be treated with great hospitality and respect.
When I’m travelling to a new place I always make sure I read a book about it before and visit Wikipedia. If you are young, book a one way ticket – you never know who and what might be waiting for you on the other side of the sea.
Rubberbodies will present Lore of the Sea – Immemorial Waters on September 9, 10 and 11. More information:info@rubber-bodies.com.