The sweet aroma of freshly baked Maltese bread wafts invitingly into the early morning air as the baker delivery man distributes his warm wares from the back of his old vehicle to housewives awaiting on their doorsteps or huddled in small gossipy groups. The old deliver/ van halts at short distances, then is driven again effortlessly along various streets in IJorrni and Siggiewi, with the baker's son - still in his early teens and barely visible in the driver's seat - behind the wheel.

In the annals of psychological medicine, one sometimes comes across the term Savant Syndrome, where an individual develops a deep, comprehensive and uncanny photographic memory for one particular subject. I remember meeting one client some years ago, who had an unbelievable recall for days, dates and numbers-just give him a date from twenty, thirty, or fifty years ago, and in flash computer fashion, he would immediately give you the exact day that data fell on, with no mistakes whatsoever! The seminal film Rainman, starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, gave an excellent graphic description of this condition.

Every country which is collectively conscious of, and cares for, its national culture and heritage makes it a point to develop some forrn of a museum of its transport history. Such facilities gradually establish themselves as an attractive magnet both for the locals as well as foreigners, drawing countless visitors who flock in fora nostalgic taste of how transport was tackled in yesteryear.

Sometimes one is wandering the world, ten thousand miles away from home, in a far flung corner of the universe, in surroundings of a totally alien atmosphere from the air which one usually breathes. There is a completely contrasting culture, vomiting feels different and looks unfamiliar, producing in the individual a sense of anomie, detachment and disconnectedness. Then out of the blue, a sighting, a scene, a sound or a smell gives one an immediate aura of a distinct déjà vu, reminding one of a person, a place or a nonunion one knows very well back home. Suddenly a warrn feeling engulfs the weary traveller, which, if entertained for long, will develop into bushes of home fires burning.