October 2016 - Week 3

Monday 17th to Sunday 23rd October 2016

Monday was gorgeous and Sam and I did a walk first thing. For dinner Sam had sushi and I had fish fingers!

Tuesday I went for my favourite drive to Pretty Bay via Dingli Cliffs. The route is stunning offering views of everything from towering cliffs, the open ocean, Filfla Island, churches, cathedrals, gorgeous buildings, open fields, farmland, stone walls, bougainvillea, palm trees, small villages, large towns, cities, oleander, sun-darkened farmers, marigolds, prickly pears, potholes, low flying aircraft, dragon flies, occasional hikers, horses pulling traps, giant pumpkins, an airport and I know not what else. Apart from the commercial port, a mass of blue derricks like a demented game of Jenga, dark containers and container ships from any number of exotic ports. A knee jerk reaction would say that the commercial port is ugly but it is interesting, slightly sinister and huge, and it has an unexpected charm.

And the weather is perfect now with warm sunshine and low humidity. October is a strange month with some days unbeatable, like today and others humid and thundery and even grey and damp.

Pretty Bay is in Birzebbuga in the south east of Malta. It is a large town with a rough charm, slightly neglected but properly lived in. Both there and Marsascala appeal to me. I think the difference is that the town we live in, St Paul’s Bay, was built for tourists but also has residents; Birzebbuga and Marsascala were built for residents but also have tourists. There is a feel of real people living real lives with uncomplicated traditions and simple pleasures. I had a good long hike around Birzebbuga and I think it will be a regular haunt through the winter.

For dinner I made us a chicken casserole, delicious as always.

Wednesday we went to Sliema. No particular reason; we just fancied it. Sam bought a couple of dresses, I bought another cook book and we just enjoyed a bit of window shopping and wandering around. Sliema is much quieter now and I am pleased to report there are no Christmas decorations to be seen anywhere! We had breakfast at French Affaire. A cappuccino and a chocolate croissant for me and a cappuccino and a custard mille fleur for Sam. For dinner we had left over chicken casserole.

Thursday we went to the Craft Village for cappuccinos and a bit of shopping. Just down the road from the Craft Village is the American embassy and next door to that is a home furnishings store and warehouse that has a sale on at the moment. So we had a look around there too; Sam bought some tea light holders. We stopped at Big Mat, a large DIY centre. I went to our local computer store and bought a monitor as the screen on my laptop is playing up badly. So, today was a big shopping day! It took us ages to get home because there had been a car crash on the Mosta Road.

For dinner I made a pinto bean and pepper casserole which was delish.

Friday I did a five kilometres power walk first thing. It’s still hot but bearable. It’s noticeable that many cafes are opening later now that the main tourist season is behind us. In the evening we did a rerun of last Saturday; Bla Bla for sangria followed by the New Madras for an Indian.

Saturday we went to Caghaq first thing as there is a café there right on the water. But we were too early; it doesn’t open until 10.30. That’s a first! The shoreline there was busy with local families setting up for the day and launching boats and kayaks. We drove on to Golden Bay and sat on the shaded terrace at The Apple’s Eye on the cliff top overlooking the beach and had excellent cappuccinos. On the way home we stopped at Jardinland to buy a new mint plant. For dinner we had left over pinto bean and pepper casserole. We ate it with lots of crusty bread, something we only buy once in a blue moon precisely because Maltese bread is to die for and if we ate it too often we would be the size of a house. Okay, I’m already the size of a house. What I mean is that I’d be the size of Downton Abbey.

Sunday we had a lazy start. After lunch we wandered into Bugibba and ended up at Congusto for excellent ice creams. For dinner we had pizzas.