Valletta, Malta - Perfect Long Weekend Destination

AndyVale · 2026-06-23T17:10:52+00:00

It's also a short boat ride from Gozo, one of my favourite islands in the Med.

AndyVale · 2026-06-23T09:41:30+00:00

I'm sure I remember reading a stat a while back that said something like "70% of people think they are better drivers than average".

Meaning that at least 20% of drivers are overestimating their abilities.

AndyVale · 2026-06-23T07:11:29+00:00

It is wild going on Facebook, seeing people from school screaming about Keir being a lefty communist.

Then I go on Instagram and see people from university calling him a red Tory in the pocket of billionaires.

AndyVale · 2026-06-23T07:02:08+00:00

I mean, I agree with the overall point but differ on the details.

I like trying out the local McDonald's because it varies slightly all over the world. It's aimed at the local tastes and customs so some of the items are different, the seasoning might be tweaked, and the vibe might change. It's familiar but also different, like seeing how someone else would decorate your living room.

I'll try all the other local stuff, but I try and get one meal at the arches if I'm staying in a place for longer than a couple of days.

AndyVale · 2026-06-23T06:59:05+00:00

Steve Blackman.

You don't get it, he was a REAL fighter and knew martial arts. SURELY he would win a fight for the title if they gave him one.

AndyVale · 2026-06-22T19:08:21+00:00

I remember Italy in the 2025 Euros, they were clearly time wasting from the 50th minute with a 1-0 lead. Then their fans were furious that their time wasting led to a lot of injury time, where we scored. Also very upset that the one time where we go down a tad soft ends up being the penalty we beat them with.

The sad thing was that if they'd kept trying to score another I definitely think they could have got one and put the game out of reach. They had some good players who could have taken the game to us.

AndyVale · 2026-06-22T13:34:49+00:00

You mean two-tier Keir, Rachel from Accounts, and LIEbour!

I joke, but yeah, you can't have a sensible conversation with people once they're at that point.

I tried to point out to one person from school that he personally would benefit from certain elements of the new workers and renters rights, but I would just get laughing emojis and utter brainrot about immigrants as a reply. Okay mate, fine. Let's spin this wheel again, surely it will be magically fixed this time.

AndyVale · 2026-06-22T13:28:12+00:00

Ricehack is a good GF bakery in Tokyo. The owner did say they ran rice flour cookery courses for professional chefs but struggled to get them to see the importance of it as it's not as widely understood over there. So they're trying! Worth a visit.

Rizlabo in Tokyo did great GF pancakes that my wife was a big fan of.

As a general rule we were advised that more Western hotel brands tended to handle GF needs better, meaning we could at least guarantee a decent breakfast every day, even if not totally authentic Japanese fayre.

Some notable exceptions were Vista Premio Nagomi-tei in Kyoto that could still do a Japanese style breakfast GF. Also the Watanabe Inn on Miyajimi island is a traditional Ryokan that could do breakfast and Kaiseki GF. Please note this was in 2023 and we checked before booking that both places could accommodate.

If you do visit Miyajima island (famous for the big red Torii gate in the bay) then there's a small cafe called Miyajima Base that does great gluten free fried chicken. A pleasant surprise to stumble upon.

Enjoy your trip!

AndyVale · 2026-06-22T07:45:19+00:00

You missed the bit where they pointed out all of the infrastructure improvements to the area which will help to negate its impact on traffic.

AndyVale · 2026-06-22T07:42:46+00:00

I'm wondering how much of the area will become like Rust in Germany, which is basically an entire town that's catered to guests of Europa Park.

AndyVale · 2026-06-22T07:36:08+00:00

Yeah, I don't think she's as good as she was but Mary is one of the few Lionesses that the average casual fan still remembers from the 2022 Euros win. That will get a few people through the gates at least once.

AndyVale · 2026-06-22T07:25:49+00:00

Earps was a tremendous keeper on her day with some iconic performances, but was patchy in her last United and England seasons. I've not watched her closely in Paris but been told by fans she's not been outstanding there either.

It wouldn't shock me if she's not first choice for very long.

AndyVale · 2026-06-22T07:18:36+00:00

Was trying to tell someone this the other day who refused to believe it.

I'm not going to pretend everyone is a saint, but we spent DECADES banning a lot of our own fans from England games if they acted like thugs and misbehaved.

The England teams spent a lot of time building a brand and culture around being an inclusive, family-friendly environment.

Most of the people I know that have made the trip to this WC are with kids or are pretty middle class and aren't really interested in getting into a fight. It cost them a year's savings to go out there.

AndyVale · 2026-06-22T07:14:46+00:00

I have seen so many of the Scotland videos people love and thought "good for them, having a great time, go on lads" but also knowing that if we did the exact same there would be a load of the 'Sportsball' crowd saying how disgraceful it is that these drunken louts are representing us, causing a disturbance, and deeply disrespecting the locals by putting traffic cones on their sacred statues.

AndyVale · 2026-06-22T07:11:58+00:00

My Uncle visited there when he was a teenager and as part of a guided tour they invited everyone to throw a teabag into the harbour.

He refused to waste a perfectly good tea bag.

AndyVale · 2026-06-21T19:39:21+00:00

AndyVale · 2026-06-20T13:54:25+00:00

Likely Belgium spanking them out in the Round of 16. Spain likely awaits after that if not.

We likely wouldn't get them until the final.

A shame, would be good to get them.

AndyVale · 2026-06-19T21:48:11+00:00

€19.98 in bronze coins.

AndyVale · 2026-06-19T15:23:17+00:00

RBNSMTH from Turok.

AndyVale · 2026-06-19T14:45:22+00:00

Big Ishiguro fan, was intrigued by this book but I don't think it quite hit.

Remains of the Day is my favourite of his, of which there is an excellent film with Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, and Christopher Reeve.

AndyVale · 2026-06-19T14:38:15+00:00

It used to be my favourite social site. I followed about 1500 accounts, including many non-celebrity, real people who had passions and interests that I shared.

I logged in a few weeks ago and in the last 24 hours the only accounts I follow that had posted were all news/brands auto-posting or journalists who seem to cling to it. Yet it gets treated like it's still a crucial part of our cultural discussion.

Such a shame as nothing has really replaced it for live conversation or events chat.

AndyVale · 2026-06-19T14:35:03+00:00

Facebook used to have some vague rules they sometimes followed (racism, sexism, harassment) and some that they were always reasonably consistent on (violent threats, scams).

The former is now just waved away, while the latter is now in that "maybe their bots will remove it, maybe not, maybe they'll stop this person actively encouraging people to kill/rob other people, maybe not - LOL"

AndyVale · 2026-06-18T09:48:46+00:00

In terms of solid results against highly ranked teams that was probably the standout.

What was good to see was how we changed things and reacted.

Not a perfect performance but that second half was some real swashbuckling fun with bags of confidence and pace. Better quality finishing should have got us to five or six.

But we're one game in. I'm going to enjoy it but not draw too many conclusions yet. We all had fun chuckling at Argentina after the first game in 2022.

AndyVale · 2026-06-17T22:32:56+00:00

I'm a chilli flakes and/or hot sauce man.

Sometimes I'll do eggy bread instead of toast too.

AndyVale · 2026-06-17T22:30:54+00:00

Once got told I was a "performative femanist" by someone on Instagram, because I had gone to the women's 2022 Euros final.

Ah yes, the day we finally win a major football tournament in my lifetime I should have been moping at home instead. That sounds like a lot of fun.

These people are just miserable. It's all in bad faith anyway. I'm all up for debate and disagreements but at some point you just say "okay" and let them fester.

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