Caravage Collection by Diane De Malherbe

Last Friday I had the immense pleasure of visiting Diane De Malherbe's pop-up shop in Sliema to view her Malta-inspired collection entitled Caravage. But before I dive into the collection, I wanted to share some insight on this talented designer with a fresh take on fashion in a bid to build a sustainable and environmentally-friendly approach in a realm that is constantly demanding change.

Diane De Malherbe hails from France and is in fact based between Paris and Malta. She used to work and design clothes for established designer labels such as Celine and Givenchy before launching her own namesake brand in 2018 which produces luxury womenswear and bridal gowns. Her take on luxury fashion is quite distinct from what we may traditionally perceive as luxury. She uses high-quality materials such as silk that is sourced from sustainable environments and aims at producing garments that will stand the test of time and last in the wearer's closet for a lifetime, possibly even more. Her collections are adorned with unique handmade embroideries and interchangeable wrists, for example, to enable the wearer to switch up the garment to suit the occasion and give it a different look each time.

All embroideries in Diane De Malherbe's collections are handmade

I noticed her collections are named after artists and I think this couldn't be more apt! She is an artist herself from her approach to her design concept and materialization of the garments, I think she has it all!  Now let's explore the Caravage collection so you can see what I mean.

At a Glance - The 'Caravage' Collection by Diane De Malherbe

As I already told you, the Caravage collection is inspired by Malta - our position between the orient and the west, our heritage from the times of the Knights of St. John, most notably, the baroque jewel in the heart of the capital - St. John's Co-Cathedral and of course, the Caravaggios adorning some of its walls as well as the sea surrounding us.

The colour palette of this collection explores rich jewel hues of fuchsia, saffron, emerald and red which are complemented by silvers, gold and opulent black and white. The collection features ready-to-wear pieces and bridal looks, all of which can be made-to-measure. The black jacket and white blouses come with removable and interchangeable hand-embroidered cuffs to suit different tastes and occasions. The materials are exceptionally high-quality and you can tell from afar that all pieces are well-made with fabrics of the highest quality.

 Embroidery and interchangeable wrists are distinctive and prominent features in Ms De Malherbe's collections

I couldn't pick just one favourite from the collection but the star of the show is definitely this ivory silk dress with a hand-embroidered removable cape. The arabesque motifs are all inspired by the motifs in St. John's Co-Cathedral and it is a guaranteed show-stopper!

Apart from the Caravage collection, Diane De Malherbe also has her Cocteau collection on display at her pop-up shop. This collection was inspired by the garden of the designer's house in France and again, here we get that ethereal feel through the soft fabrics and colours of the collection.

I invite you to make an appointment with Diane De Malherbe to go and witness her exquisite collections with your own eyes and if you're planning to get married anytime soon, I highly suggest you have a thorough look at her bridal designs!

Diane De Malherbe pop-up shop will be open till the 1st November 2020 in Sliema from 10am to 9pm by appointment. Book yours through this link: https://www.dianedemalherbe.com/booking

Exploring Budapest | Part 2 - Bars, Cafes & Restaurants

Catching on from Part 1 of the Exploring Budapest mini-series, today I have a post that was specifically requested by so many of you on Instagram. It's going to be all about food! It's not going to be long but I will mention the ones we dined at and really liked.

I'm starting with something light-hearted, the Szimpla Kert ruin bar. This, I think is the most popular of the ruin bars found around Budapest's Jewish quarter. It's a kitsch place and there's not a single piece of furniture like the other! Upon entering, there are some stalls selling jewellery, vinyls and all sorts of small antique goods, then as you venture further, you get to explore the ruin bar experience. When we visited there was a trio playing some songs and we sat there for a drink. Prices are not cheap, but it' not like we're not used to that in Malta.

If you've never been to one, I suggest you go check out the IceBar Budapest. This was my first experience and I loved it! You will not spend a lot of time here and I suggest you skip eating here. The food is nothing special albeit cheap. We did the mistake of eating here because we were hungry but we regretted the decision as soon as the food was served - it was totally different to what was pictured in the menu.

My favourite bar for a nice drink is the High Note Sky Bar. Of course, it is a bit on the expensive side but going before sunset is truly a magical experience. We went for a couple of drinks before our river cruise with dinner. You get stunning views of St. Stephen's Basilica while sitting comfortably in a posh environment. The bar is part of the Aria Hotel and the lobby is something to behold!

Langos is a very popular snack in Budapest - it's like fried bread dough topped with sour cream and cheese and various other toppings according to your taste. You can find this at pretty much every corner, just like goulash (traditional Hungarian beef stew) but the best one we tried was at Szentendre, Alomlangos. To get to this place, there's a small sign in the town's main square and you have to go through a very narrow passage to get to it. Well worth the trip in my humble opinion!

Langos from Central Market Hall. This one had multiple toppings but the best ones are the plain ones in my opinion.

The langos sign is located next to a cute ice-cream parlour, Lavendula. Go ahead and treat yourself to a refreshing ice-cream from the various flavours they have available and don't forget to take a picture with the bike they have out front!

In continuing with the theme of pretty spots, I cannot not mention Vintage Garden! We went there for breakfast on our last day and both the food and the place didn't disappoint! It's truly a vintage lover's dream and I really enjoyed taking pictures with the pretty decor!

I'm leaving the best for last - the most beautiful cafe in the world, the New York Cafe'! Stepping in here is like stepping back in time and you can take pictures all around the cafe too! The ornate interior is truly something to behold and the food, especially the desserts, will send your tastebuds to heaven instantly! A definite must!

And while you're there, don't forget to try traditional Hungarian dishes such as Goulash (left) and chimney cake (right)! Goulash is the traditional Hungarian beef stew, sometimes you even find it served with beans while chimney cake is one of the most delicious desserts (and calorific) I have ever tasted! It is basically sugared pastry that is cooked on a furnace and sugared again when it's done. You can opt to have it filled with ice cream too but we decided it has enough calories on its own 🤣.

See you for the final part of this mini series, all about the other fun places to go to!

Exploring Budapest | Part 1 - Historical Places of Interest

Following my poll on Instagram stories, you said you would be interested to read a little bit about this fabulous destination, which with good reason, is commonly referred to at the Pearl of the Danube. I will devise this series into 3 posts, the first one tackling historical places of interest, the second cafes and restaurants and the last one will be all about the fun, unusual places you can go to for an alternative holiday.

Without further ado, let's dive right in! I'm going to start with my absolute favourite spot - the Fisherman's Bastion. Located on the Buda side of the city in the first district (or Castle District), the Fisherman's Bastion, apart from being an Instagrammer's dream, offers fantastic views of some of the most important landmarks in the city - the Hungarian Parliament, St. Stephen's Basilica and the Szechenyi Chain Bridge to name a few. It was built between 1895 and 1902 in a Neo-Romanesque style and it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It gets its name from the fishermen who inhabited Watertown, a city right under the bastion's walls. I clearly couldn't decide which pictures to choose so here's a fraction of the best ones from this gorgeous site.

Right next to the Fisherman's Bastion is Matthias Church. From the tiled outer roof to the panoramic tower and the jaw-dropping interior, this church is a must-visit. This Roman-Catholic church originally constructed in 1015, was reconstructed in the late 1300s and restored during the late 19th Century. Its historical importance lies in the fact that 2 Hungarian kings were crowned in this church. One tip, buy a combined ticket for the tower and church online before you go to skip queues and secure a spot as the number of people who can go in the tower is limited per time-slot.

   

View of Fisherman's Bastion from Matthias Church panoramic tower

                                                                        

The last major building in the Castle District is Buda Castle. Take a walk along the castle's immaculately manicured gardens and enjoy views of the city. To go down and continue exploring the city, it is worth getting the funicular, and with COVID in play, we managed to get a cabin all to ourselves so we could enjoy the view to the full.

View from Buda Castle funicular

Crossing the bridge to the Pest side and moving on to what is probably the most important site in Budapest, the Hungarian Parliament Building. Go during the day to see the grandeur of the building from the outside and the inside (you have to book a tour beforehand online) and go in the evening to see the building all lit up at night. It's a magical sight to behold and the inside of the building is like nothing I have ever seen before! I felt jealous when ours looks like a cheese grater on the outside and a classroom on the inside. Unpopular opinion I know but that's the truth.

Just a short walk from the Parliament is a rather saddening sight - Shoes on the Danube Bank. Literally, shoes sculpted in bronze in memoriam of the Jews who were killed during World War II. The memorial was installed in 2005. 

The most important religious building in Budapest is St.Stephen's Basilica. Again, it is a Roman Catholic church and it is dedicated to St. Stephen, the first King of Hungary, whose day is celebrated on the 20th of August and it is a National Holiday in Hungary. Another important religious building is the Great Synagogue on Dohany Street. This is the largest synagogue in Europe but because of COVID, it is closed for visitors for the time being. It is still worth going to see the building from outside though. The last church I want to talk about in this post is Blogovestenska Orthodox Church in Szentendre (about an hour away from Budapest by train). I have been to Orthodox churches before but this one is really beautiful and worth going into. The photo here doesn't do it any justice, you just have to see it with your own eyes.

You cannot visit Budapest and not go to Heroes' Square at least once. The sculptures here pay tribute to the Hungarian heroes who helped shape and found the city while the central one is Archangel Gabriel. This square is truly one to behold and I would recommend you take your time to appreciate the detail in the sculptures.

Right behind Heroes' Square is Vajdahunyad Castle. This castle was built in 1896 as part of a millennial exhibition that celebrated Hungary's conquest of the Carpathian Basin in the year 896. It is located in City Park and walking around the gardens and admiring the Gothic style buildings can prove to be a very good start to your day! Hint: it's very close to Szechenyi Thermal Baths which I will talk about in an upcoming post, so you might want to combine these 3 attractions.

Speaking of castles, we ventured out of the city once more during our trip to go to the nearby town of Gödöllő, in Pest county to see the Royal Palace of Gödöllő; the country house of the Hungarian Royal Family which is more famous for being Queen Elizabeth's (or Sisi as she was affectionately known) favourite home. You can opt to tour the palace with or without an audio guide. We ended our time here with a slice of cake and tea in the palace's garden.

Out of the 8 bridges that connect Buda and Pest, perhaps the most famous two are the Szechenyi Chain Bridge (the first one ever built) and the Liberty Bridge. Of course, the best way to get to see the bridges is by walking the distance and admiring the structures up close. There are passageways for people and bikes on either side of the bridges while cars pass in the middle so you'll be perfectly safe. I am fascinated by bridges so I always have to take pictures of them wherever we are, no matter how small, big, plain or ornate they are!

Liberty Bridge

Chain Bridge

Chain Bridge lit up in the Hungarian flag colours for their National Holiday on 20th August

Lastly, for a magnificent (and free!) view of the city, head to Citadella, the highest point in Budapest. I recommend you take the uphill hike up Gellert Hill just to make it feel that bit more adventurous and you can stop at various view-points for pictures too. It's only 20 minutes and the view is absolutely breath-taking! On your way down, make sure to pass by the iconic Hotel Gellert and let the architecture transport you to grander times!

That's it for Part 1 of this mini-series about Budapest. I hope you enjoyed reading it and hopefully, it will come in handy if you decide to visit this magnificent city yourselves. If you want to know my thoughts about travelling during this time, check out this post here. 

Travelling in the time of COVID-19

Travelling and COVID-19 don't really go together in the same sentence, do they? If you've been following my recent posts and Instagram stories, you know we have just been to Budapest for a week-long trip. It wasn't the usual summer holiday you plan in winter and count down the days to, it was more like a change-of-plans-but-let's-still-go trip. Read on for a little background story on why we decided to go ahead with our plans and how it all turned out in the end. Grab a cuppa and enjoy!

Why we still chose to travel

As promised, here's a little background story into our travel plans for this year. So, basically, we were meant to visit Budapest last May to celebrate our first wedding anniversary, but, like the rest of the world, COVID-19 had other, very different plans for us and instead, we spent our anniversary at home with sushi take-out. At the time, Malta International Airport was closed for non-essential travel and only repatriation flights and cargo-carrying flights were allowed in and out, however, Ryanair claimed many a time that our original flight was operating as usual and since it wasn't canceled, they couldn't offer us a refund or a travel voucher. Instead, they offered us the chance to postpone our trip to July or August, where they waived off the flight change fees. In the end, we opted for August since it is Mario's birthday month and we hoped that by that time the situation would be better. 

In August, locally the situation was far from better and the total number of cases in Malta spiraled upwards within a few weeks and as a consequence, many a country were imposing total travel bans and restrictions for travel to and from Malta. I am not going to go into the merits of who is to blame for the spike in new cases for each and every one of us has a responsibility towards the people around us and our country. But, alas, the saying holds true, that common sense is not so common. And here I appeal to you all again, do not wait for the authorities to tell us what is good and bad. What was good (and the results show) in March, still holds now, so, please keep wearing those masks and practice hand hygiene and social distancing. It pained me to see my country going from the best to almost the worst in managing the epidemic and it pained me, even more, to feel safer if I traveled to a foreign country rather than if I staycationed in Malta. To cut a long story short, I was on the edge till the very moment we touched Hungarian ground for fear of a ban being imposed on tourists from Malta to Hungary.

View of Budapest from Gellert Hill

Those who know me really well, know how much of a control freak I am and I am big on planning ahead. In the case of traveling, for example, as soon as I book the flights, I start looking for a nice hotel to stay at and within 24 hours, I would have drafted an itinerary (which I then go through a gazillion times to make sure it's perfect) for the whole trip. You see, planning ahead lets me be in control and it allows me time to make changes if I have to and it also offers me peace of mind. However, if something happens and my plans go haywire, I tend to take quite some time to re-focus and re-adjust to the new reality. This is exactly what was happening to me at the beginning of this whole COVID-19 shenanigan. I can't stand the idea of planning a trip/party/outing only to have it canceled because of this stupid virus, but, at the end of the day, our health matters more and I have now sort of gotten used to this whole planning, canceling and re-scheduling thing. 

With travel, it's a bit of a different story though. Holidaying abroad is the only time I can switch off and unwind. It's like pressing the reset button and I can then return to my normality with a more tranquil and fresh outlook. This time, we knew it was going to be somewhat different; we knew that travel during a pandemic caused by a highly contagious pathogen imposes a higher risk of contracting the disease but we still wanted to go ahead with our plan and made sure that we take all the necessary precautions to safeguard our health and that of the people around us. 

A new normal calls for a different approach to what we are used to so, both me and Mario took the necessary precautions to safeguard all those around us. For example, I booked an extra week of leave so as not to be a risk to my colleagues (and their respective families), and yesterday we both took the COVID test, and thankfully, they both came out negative. We agreed that we were not going to visit our parents or any relatives after our arrival until we get the all-clear so as to be 100% sure that we were not contagious. It was a sacrifice we were willing to make, primarily for our sanity. I'm not ashamed to admit that in the beginning of this whole nightmare, I was literally counting the seconds, minutes and hours until the daily press conference by Prof Gauci and sometimes, this was all too much to bear and I would break down and cry. Now, like the majority of us, I have adapted to this new normal and I intend to still my life without being a danger to others of course.

Did I feel a 100% convinced of our choice to travel? No, of course not but to tell you the truth, now that we did, I am glad. I needed to rest my mind from all that is going on in the world. Hungary did a really good job in battling the Coronavirus pandemic and compared to other countries, it was a relatively safe choice and this was also one of the reasons why we decided to still go on with our plan.

Safety Measures at the Airports and onboard the aircrafts

Rant over, I wanted to highlight the safety measures in place at both Malta International Airport and Budapest Airport as well as the measures in place on Ryanair aircraft. Basically, you have to wear a mask all time while at the airport and for the whole duration of the flight. If you are going to travel any time soon, I wouldn't pack a visor if I were you as some airlines have banned them, so pack multiple masks to be safe and it's wise to change them frequently. Sanitizers are available in mutiple stations and both airports are spotlessly clean including the bathrooms.

Mask on, ready to go!
Mine is from Sef Farrugia

As for the planes, we traveled with Ryanair, and to tell you the truth, I was really skeptical about the airline maintaining standards with it being low-cost and all, and I also heard a few stories about their planes being dirty. Luckily, both coming and going, the planes were clean, at least our seats. I still wiped everything down with Dettol wipes (I recommend you pack some with you) to be extra sure though and I was pleased to see members of the crew drawing the attention of any passengers who disobeyed the wearing-a-mask-at-all-times rule. What I would have liked to see though, was more enforcement of social distancing as both flights were almost fully booked.

Would I do it again?

In hindsight, the short answer is yes. It all turned out well and even better than we expected! Budapest is a wonderful city with lots to see, do, and explore at every corner. Who knows when our next trip will be and I'm so glad we managed to go to this gem of a city, one that will forever be imprinted in our hearts and memories! 

Mavex CalluspeelingⓇ Pedicure at Claire Beauty Basics

Someone once said 'your hands and feet never take a day off, so take care of them'. I say truer words have never been spoken and thus, I always try to have them both looking perfect. Today we are going to talk specifically about feet and a Mavex Calluspeel pedicure I had done at Claire Beauty Basics. 

This was my first time hearing of the treatment so of course, I was really eager to have it done! I treat my feet to regular pedicures, however, the Mavex CalluspeelingⓇ promises something else - callus and hard skin peeling in just 15 minutes. Too good to be true? Read on to see the results for yourselves!

Let me introduce you to the brand first. Mavex is a Swiss brand that manufactures products and treatments that are free from parabens, formaldehyde, mineral oil, and paraffin. They are formulated with a synergistic complex of plant extracts from alpine herbs and plants such as Gentian, Blueberry, Spruce Fir.

The Mavex CalluspeelingⓇ is an excellent treatment to complement a traditional pedicure in a professional setting, thus it cannot be done by yourself at home. It consists of 4 patches soaked in a peeling solution, that are applied to the soles of the feet (2 on each foot) and left to act for 15 minutes before dead skin is scraped off and filed away. You'd be really amazed at what comes out but what is more amazing is how soft my feet felt immediately after the treatment. The results are seen immediately after the first treatment and no blades, drills or harsh tools are used - just a scraper and a regular foot file!

My feet with the treatment patches, wrapped in cellophane to help the treatment go further into the skin and prevent the patches from falling.

Left, BEFORE - My feet had small superficial cracks and dry skin. The bottom right picture is the dry skin that fell off when the patches were removed.
Right, AFTER - My feet are free from dry skin and they look much nicer and softer. The top right picture is the scraper with all the dead skin and treatment remnants.

To further extend the effect of the Mavex CalluspeelingⓇ, the Mavex Foot Cream is an exceptional accompaniment and while it helps care for the feet, like I said, it also serves as an at-home care and maintenance of the CalluspeelingⓇ results in preventing the formation of calluses and cracks. I found this cream especially useful while travelling last week as we did a lot of walking and its refreshing effect was very welcome at the end of the day. I also use it at home before I go to bed to care for my feet after a long day. 

Your feet should not only look good in summer, so go ahead and contact Claire on her Facebook page and book your pampering session. All safety protocols are in place at Claire Beauty Basics and all treatments offered are of the highest standard with high-quality products.