June 2017 - Week 5

Monday 26th to Friday 30th June 2017

Monday we worked to get ahead, planning for Gordon and Sandra Harris’s visit this week. For dinner I had a pizza and Sam had chicken with leaves.

Tuesday morning I picked up Gordon and Sandra from their hotel. It was great to catch up with them after so long. We went to Golden Bay and had coffees on the terrace at The Apple’s Eye. We drove on via Manikata to Popeye’s Village, then on past the Red Fort and then in the other direction to the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception. We drove home through Mellieha and Xemxija. So, basically we did the whole of the north of Malta in a couple of hours! We went back to the flat where Sam had prepared a fantastic lunch of baked peaches, crusty bread, dried meats, balsamic roasted tomatoes, roasted vegetables, olives, feta, breadsticks and fruits. I dropped Gordon and Sandra back to their hotel in St Julian’s and went home for dinner. Guess what we had. Baked peaches, crusty bread, dried meats…

Wednesday the temperature was 40°c by 9.45. I picked up Gordon and Sandra and we went to Tigne Point for the views across the water to Valletta. We stopped off for excellent cappuccini at Giorgio’s. After that we went to the Palazzio Parisio in Naxxar where we sat in the gardens sipping home-made lemonade. Very civilised! Apart from the bougainvillea, the gardens are not very colourful this time of year but they are peaceful. Gordon gave us a lecture on the Latin names of the various shrubs and trees. Yawn, yawn. Each to his own, I suppose!

We drove on to Mdina. The temperature was well into the 40s, so it really was too hot for proper sightseeing but it was worth the effort for the stupendous views. We had slices of lemon cheesecake with cappuccini at the palace there which revived us a little. I dropped them back to their hotel and dashed home with just enough time to cool down and shower before dashing off again, this time to Valletta for the evening.

We all met up at Charles Grech for cooling gins and tonics then went for dinner at Trabuxu. We had a great evening and the food was excellent as usual. Sam had rabbit bellies, poached in coconut milk then battered and fried. For her main she had spaghetti with rabbit offal. I was more sensible. I had chicken liver parfait followed by ricotta-stuffed ravioli with sage butter and sheep’s cheese, then a lemon posset. Gordon and Sandra equally enjoyed their food and, of course, the wines were delicious.

We went for a short walk around after dinner but not too far as it was still stiflingly hot. Mostly we took in the views across Grand Harbour. Getting a taxi home was a challenge as there was some problem with the phone system. Against our better judgement we got in a white cab but made the driver stop and let us all out after he took off with our doors still open! White cab drivers really are beyond awful! We finally got through to ecabs and had a safe trip home.

Thursday we caught up on work. In the evening Gordon and Sandra came to the flat for drinks and nibbles. We went to Acqua Marina for dinner; great, great, great! Very casual and very friendly as always, and brill food too. First, complimentary bruschetta, on brown bread for a change. We had mixed starters – caponata, baked feta, aubergine rolls and soft ricotta - then pasta amatriciana for me, spaghetti sepia al nero for Sam, spaghetti with mixed seafood for Gordon and pasta with chicken and mushrooms for Sandra. We finished off with Limoncello sorbets. For dessert we went to Congusto for superb ice creams and sorbets. Finally, we finished up back at the flat for Drambuies while we waited for their taxi home.

We have worked out that it has been four years since Gordon and I last met up. It was great to catch up and I hope it won’t be another four years ‘till I see him again!

Friday the temperature in Mellieha reached an eye watering 46°C. Never thought we would be looking forward to cooler weather in July! We stayed in, tried to work (fairly unsuccessfully). For dinner I made a savoury rice dish with onions, celery, chilli and peanuts which was very good.