Oct 2015 - Week 1

Thursday 1st to Sunday 4th October 2015

Thursday we went shopping in Sliema. While there we went to Georgio’s. The cappuccinos were good but the room was hot and incredibly noisy; not a good experience. We drove on to HomeMate and the Atrium and on the way it rained. We have had the car for six months but haven’t needed to use the windscreen wipers yet so I didn’t know how to turn them on! By the time I’d worked them out, it had stopped raining. We had left over chilli con carne with chips for dinner.

Friday morning was still a bit wet so we didn’t get out until later. But in the evening I had my first Italian lesson, the start of a weekly course that runs until next June. It was held at the local junior school so we sat in a classroom with little desks and chairs, walls festooned with kids’ paintings and cuddly toys at hand. The toilets were tiny! A real Lilliputian adventure. It was more comfortable than it sounds though, and the three hours lesson passed quickly enough. There were three very tough-looking tattooed (even on their necks) women there with shaved heads and bad attitudes. They refused to stop talking and said they didn’t want to be there and after some debate with the teacher they were given written permission to leave. Clearly they were there on condition of parole or by order of the court or whatever. It was quite entertaining. Anyway, things settled down after that and after a three hours lesson I can now tell you my name in Italian! (It sounds suspiciously the same as it does in English.) I didn’t get home until quite late so Sam had a fried lampuki while I was out and I ate a BBQ chicken pizza when I got in. It wasn’t great, too sweet, but it’s good to mix things up occasionally and I do like to live life on the edge.

Saturday we found the main farmers’ market in Qali. There are many stalls set up selling fruit and veg much cheaper than shops in town. Afterwards we stopped for a cappuccino at the craft village then went for a walk in the National Park. It was Sam’s first visit there. I have been trying to persuade Sam to go there for ages as I knew she would like it. There are all sorts of shrubs and trees and it is a very peaceful and shaded spot. There are stone paths and a raised walkway so you can see everything from the treetops and take in the distant views to Naxxar and beyond. There is also an amphitheatre there with seating for hundreds although we haven’t seen any performances advertised.

We had an anniversary (again) this week so we went to Lovage for dinner. It was surprisingly disappointing on this occasion. We both had the special meat dish – braised beef short ribs – and somehow they were tasteless and too fatty and served in a watery, bland gravy. Not up to the chef’s usually high standards! We stopped at Sotto Zero for ice cream for dessert and that was perfect as always.

Sunday I worked and studied most of the day; I’m learning a new design app. For lunch I baked Portobello mushrooms with garlic butter and oregano which were great. Dinner was a real veggie feast. We had baked butternut squash, roasted vegetable ratatouille and cumin-dusted roast aubergine.