We never know what life’s rich pattern is going to offer us next, good or bad. Well, two weeks ago it was something very pleasurable which took me to Portugal with my young one. No direct flights to Lisbon at this time of the year from here so I stopped in London and I met up with her at Gatwick to fly to Lisbon together. No waiving of the Maltese departure tax although I was going strictly to attend a religious ceremony. But Dun Gorg had nothing to do with my trip, so we shall all be looking forward to August when the travel tax will at least be halved. But Labour will no doubt remove it completely Yes, my young one was going to be godmother for the first time in her life and wanted me to be part of the ceremony.

We stayed at the charming Hotel Inglaterra built along the lines and splendour of a late 19th century Portugese mansion. I loved the classical ambience, the bevelled glass everywhere and it is a stone’s throwaway from the famous and très mondaine Casinò d’Estoril. And of course the Atlantic Ocean from where the Portugese get the knowledge and spirit that distinguish maritime populations. Let us not forget that they were the first nation to discover maritime routes to India, Brazil, China and Japan.

The baptism ceremony took place in Estoril at mid-day on the Saturday of our long-but-not-long-enough weekend, in the church of none other than St Anthony, to my utter delight. This is a church fed by the Baroque flame in decoration, no doubt with money earned from Brazil’s wealth of gold and jewels. I loved it.

The Portugese are 95 per cent Roman Catholic, on paper at least. Less than one per cent of the population is anything else and there are very few Jews as the late 15th Century Inquisition forced them to either convert or emigrate – what could be more Catholic than that! It is hard to believe that this sea faring nation who had so many overseas territories like Mozambique and Angola is now one of the poorest nations in Western Europe.

There aren’t enough priests in Portugal, we were informed, so a deacon conducted quite a long, private ceremony. I looked around at the international gathering: my young one and myself a mixture of Maltese and Mauritian (and even this means many things); the baby’s father who is Dutch; someone’s Belgian girlfriend and another girlfriend who is half Japanese and half Portugese and most of the children half this and that, including a half Brazilian one. All this is excellent for the gene pool. The Maltese proverb which says that good cows are sold in their own country, or something of that nature, is certainly no longer taken seriously by any of us these days. Our families are becoming more and more international and our children are opening new avenues for us to explore. I am now happy she will not be marrying a fisherman from Marsaxlokk. Portugese fish is so very much better even if one has to travel further for it!

Everyone spoke excellent English even grandfather who is almost 80 years old.

We mustn’t forget that Portugal is often described as Britain’s ‘oldest ally’. This goes back to 1386 when England allied itself permanently with Portugal after English archers helped to secure the Portugese throne from the Castilians. The alliance was solidified when Catherine of Braganza married Charles II of England and then Charles played a part in achieving Spanish recognition of Portugal’s independence.

Spain and Portugal have more or less ignored one another until now when they form part of the same economic and military alliances – Nato and the EU – and Portugal no longer feels threatened by its neighbour. ‘Neither good winds nor good marriages come from Spain,’ is still a popular Portugese saying and every armchair footballer must remember how jubilant the Portugese were when their team knocked Spain out of the 2004 Eurocup.

There was much excellent food and wine during our long weekend, this being my second visit to Portugal. The fish is truly excellent and our host, a gourmet and wine lover, knows exactly what to recommend. Wine is the ubiquitous table beverage and we were spoiled with an excellent selection including white Port wine which I had never tasted before.

We only ate bacalhau or salted codfish once in a delicious kind of soufflé, with bechamel, spinach and bacalhau. There are hundreds of bacalhau recipes and although most of it is imported the Portugese consider it their national dish. I was taken to the department store El Cortes Inglés where I bought some 5 kilos to bring along with me. It is lovely and thick and a far cry from the sort one gets here, which is not the least bit tempting.

There was an engagement announcement which was exciting but I do not dare say more about this or I shall be turned into salt. We went up to Sintra, which everyone loves, just because it is so beautiful. There were many cyclists there all of them dressed in appropriate gear, something one rarely sees here.

This was a lovely long weekend and a friendly and warm family get together. The hospitality was tremendous and we loved every minute of it.

And this eventful weekend was followed by a short visit to London to see Harry James and his parents.

Have a very Happy, Holy and Colourful Easter…unlike this black and white page…