December 2014 Blog
Monday 29th to Wednesday 31st December 2014
Monday we bussed to Scots, did our shopping and bussed back home again all within one hour – pretty impressive. It turned very cold today. Apparently there is a weather front moving south from France and Italy – it snowed today in Sicily, only 60 miles away and people are snowed in in the French ski resorts. We worked, Sam did some drawing and I played guitar. After dinner (pizza) I went for a long walk. The wind had dropped, the temperature had risen and the moon hung heavy in the sky, as if ready to drop. The stars looked on impassively. Only a few kilometres away, above Mellieha, lightning flashed on and off and I called it a day when I heard the thunder approaching.
Tuesday the local press carried pictures of white fields and snowy car parks following last night’s storm which dumped a lot of hail as well as heavy rain on Malta. There is even a photo of a girl standing next to a snowman she managed to build. Apparently it is freakishly cold here – colder than it has been for over 25 years – and it is forecast to fall to 4° tomorrow night (New Year’s Eve). We want a refund! Apart from a dash to the greengrocers, we were pretty much stuck in all day, which meant we got lots of jobs done. Chilli con carne with rice for dinner and we watched, believe it or not, The Eagle Has Landed. Sam sure likes those old war movies!
Just after we went to bed we had to get back up again as some terrible siren came on and stayed on. I went outside and discovered it to be a house alarm across the road. It sounded for about 40 minutes before petering out. The police didn’t turn up and there was no sign of a security firm about so it strikes us that house alarms are a waste of time, particularly in such a low crime area as Malta.
Wednesday (New Year’s Eve) I got up and opened the blind and it was snowing! Just very lightly and only for a minute or so, but snowing nonetheless. I went to the supermarket and got snowed on too. I went to a café in Bugibba Square for a full English breakfast and it was excellent –5 rashers of bacon (should be 3 rashers of bacon plus 2 sausages, but I am a bit iffy about sausages), 2 fried eggs, mushrooms, baked beans, toast and coffee, all for EUROs 4.50. I went to see what was on at the cinema (nothing good) and bought a second-hand DVD in our local stationers. I walked through Salini Gardens by which time the skies had cleared, the sun was blazing and I had to remove my jacket. Talk about several climates in one day. Sam stayed in to book her flights for a trip back to the IOM. I had planned to go with her but the dates – end of February, beginning of March – fall right in the middle of flat moving period, so I can’t risk it. We don’t want to end up homeless!
That night we went to Lovage and it was great –not perfect – but what do you expect? Our pre-starters were three mini pastry tarts – pastry cases filed with humus, prawns with Marie rose sauce and tomato and salmon.
Then Sam and I shared our starters, ravioli stuffed with fois gras and served with a mushroom cream sauce, and lobster and crab fish cakes with a pea puree and capers. For our mains, Sam had a veal rib chop and I had grouper - a huge fish steak grilled perfectly. But Sam and I agreed, the stars of the shows were our Dauphinoise potatos – individually presented dishes of sliced potatoes flavoured with garlic and butter and salt and pepper and stacked and baked to soft perfection. We finished with ”International cheeses”, whatever that means. Anyway, the cheeses were pretty ordinary. We saw the New Year in on our balcony and, surprisingly, Qawra wasn’t too noisy.
Monday 22nd to Sunday 28th December 2014
Monday Sam was still nursing a cold. I worked, cleaned, shopped and cooked – the usual mundane things but also got out for a long walk in the afternoon sunshine. We ate chilli con carne for dinner and watched Enigma (again!).
Tuesday I went for a long hike from Xemxija around the coast towards Mellieha and back again. It was scorching and I grabbed shade whenever I could find it, which wasn’t often. At Mistra Bay I saw a fisherman at the jetty catch a fish, which was unusual. The air was crystal clear so I was hoping for some good photos but when I got home I found my camera had accidently been knocked onto the wrong mode and they were all badly over exposed. However, one shot of St Paul’s Island is very good and I have published it. Sam was still under the weather and didn’t get out again. She wasn’t sure what she felt like eating and we took the easy option and had pizzas again!
Wednesday I went and did some final shopping before Christmas. Christmas doesn’t seem to be such a big (commercial) deal here as it is in the UK and some shops open at least for a half day on Christmas Day and cafes and restaurants will be open too. I wrapped some presents for Sam, so we are getting into the Christmas spirit. After lunch – a bacon butty – I went for a long walk all around Qawra, Bugibba and St Paul’s Bay for over two hours. Along the way I came across three rather sheepish looking guys who were hauling a new looking motorcycle out of the sea at the end of a small jetty. I’m guessing their fooling around didn’t quite work out as planned. I bumped into Sam on the way home as she was feeling just well enough to venture out. We went to the Aquarium Café for cappuccinos – I sent two back and Sam sent one back as they were cold. The Aquarium and the Café del Mar are under the same management and a persistent problem is that they cannot serve hot coffee and we have sent them back before! Everywhere else manages it, so I’m not sure what their problem is.
We had planned to go out for Christmas Eve dinner but Sam was still not well enough so we phoned for Chinese food to be delivered from Peking (the restaurant, not the city). It arrived within 15 minutes and was great! We watched a good film – Gravity – unusual as it only had two actors in it. After Sam went to bed I went for a walk. We had read in a blog that people go on pub crawls on Christmas Eve here. Most of the bars were busy and noisy but our local where I went for a quick Drambuie was quiet, just two old Englishmen in the I’ve-had-too-much-to-drink-and-I-can-philosophise stage. Apparently, “Don’t tell anyone I told you, but Richard the Lionheart was homosexual and his boyfriend was the King of France”. Also, “Hitler wasn’t born in Austria, he was born in Germany but don’t tell anyone ‘cause you could get me in a lot of trouble”.
I think I need a new local.
I resumed my walk. It was around at 11pm and I was still, as I have mentioned before, in my shorts and t-shirt and a light jacket, and I thought hey, life’s pretty good, and there may be noisy bars and there may be drunk Englishmen but the compensations are pretty darn good. If you head to the promenade, away from the bars, it is instantly peaceful. You hear the waves lapping at the shore and you smell the sea all briny and warm, and the night sky is awe inspiring, shrouding you in a star-studded canopy. The nights at the sea-side in Malta sure drive your troubles away.
Thursday (Christmas Day) we had a lazy start and sat on the balcony in the sun drinking coffee. After toasted Panettone for breakfast we opened our cards and presents then phoned Lauren and Mum and Dad and Sue and Geoff. We went for a stroll and ended up in Bugibba Square where we sat at a pavement café, drank leisurely cappuccinos and watched the world go by. We went over to the St Paul’s Bay breakwater and sat there listening to the waves lap against the shore. There were a few fishermen trying their luck and a woman standing calf-deep in the sea for ages for some strange reason. The restaurants were surprisingly busy with people eating everyday foods, not at all Christmassy, such as pizzas, toasties and fish and chips. For lunch we had a supermarket goose liver fois gras (30% duck and chicken livers, 5% goose “meat” and a shed load of E numbers). It was delicious! I phoned Sandra and Linda and played guitar while our duck was slowly roasting. We had that (the duck, not the guitar) with all the trimmings for a fab Christmas dinner, then watched Love Actually, the most seasonal film on our Cyclone.
Friday I went for an early morning walk as usual but this time I was dodging showers. It was incredibly quiet out and about as if everyone had been evacuated. We had a lazy day with fruit for breakfast and a slice of panettoni for lunch. I worked on some photos and played guitar and read and just generally chilled out. We had another Christmas dinner which Sam whipped up with yesterday’s leftovers and it was still excellent. I went for a long after dinner walk for an hour and a half – about seven or eight kilometres. It was Friday night so the bars were busy and noisy (bingo, karaoke, pub singers and sing-a-longs) but the streets were deserted, just as I like it. The Café del Mar was all closed up and I suspect it may not open again until the spring. For some strange reason I get a strong sense of this year ending and the next about to dawn. We arrived here in Malta in the autumn, barely three months ago, and we have kind of been trying it on for size. We now know it fits – we love it here – so we are looking forward to 2015 with a great sense of anticipation, our first proper year in our new home.
Saturday first thing I took the number 12 bus to Sliema and it only took 25 minutes instead of the usual hour. I don’t know why the roads were so quiet. I had a tasty breakfast at French Affaire – a cappuccino and a cheese pastizzi. I’m looking for a new knapsack. They range in price from EUROs 15 to EUROs 35. The camera shop at The Point had a camera knapsack (a normal knapsack but with extra compartments for lenses) but it is priced at EUROs 257! We already knew that that shop – Fotovision – overcharges, but that is beyond absurd. In the end all I bought was some pesto from our favourite gourmet foods shop, some black turtle beans from the health food shop and a pencil case. The case is shaped like a tube so I am hoping my camera lenses will fit in it, then I can carry them somewhat protected in a normal knapsack. I caught the ferry to Valetta. There was a heavy swell and the ferry bounced around a lot which was great becauseit alarmed some of the English tourists. Valetta was packed with people shoulder-to-shoulder on Republic and Merchant Streets. There are sales on in the shops, so I guess that’s the reason. The people on the bus ride home typified the diversity you see in Malta – they were white, black, Asian, oriental, Middle Eastern, tall, short, fat, thin, young and old, ugly and pretty and there was even a nun! I made us pasta Genovese for dinner then went for a long walk. It was dead quiet a la “I am legend”.
Sunday was windy and we felt the cold. In the morning I made a Mexican spiced soup for our dinner – think chilli non carne plus extra stock. I went for a walk but the wind dampened my enthusiasm. There are lots of large ships in the bay again sheltering from the rough seas. Sam seems a bit better and even managed a short walk herself in the afternoon.
Monday 15th to Sunday 21st December 2014
Monday Sam and I went to see a Doctor whose surgery is just down the road to get our photos and copy passports certified. Cost EUROs 20. More importantly, we phoned Lauren to wish her a happy 22nd birthday – 22 but she’s still my baby! We did a big supermarket shop then at home I made a minestrone soup for dinner. In the evening we went to meet the acoustic guitar group that plays in a local pub. Tonight there was only 1 guitarist (Dave who we know from BRA) but some nights they get 5 or 6. It was good fun and we had a bit of a sing song and didn’t go home until after midnight!
Tuesday we went to Valetta in the afternoon. After a late snack at Café Cordina (chocolate cake for me, a fruit tart for Sam and cappuccinos all round), we went to the Evans Building to deliver our Residents Cards application documents which all seem to be in order. We wandered around and soaked up the atmosphere. Valetta was surprisingly quiet so close to Christmas. We shopped a bit then went to the Upper Barakka Gardens to watch the sunset. This is a time of day when peace descends upon Valetta – the tourists have gone home and the residents are all safely locked up in their homes preparing for dinner. The sky changed colour like the rainbow of an artist’s pallet and the lights twinkled on in Vitoriosa and the three cities. As the sun set, so did the temperature. The change from summer’s day to cool night was quite sudden and dramatic and I was glad of the anorak I had brought with me.
We met Ian who had just returned to Malta and went for a couple of beers at The Pub, the bar where Oliver Reed died so suddenly when Gladiator was filmed here several years ago. If it wasn’t for that connection I can’t imagine why anyone would go there as it’s a wipe-your-feet-on-the-way-out sort of place, but now we can say we have done it. We strolled around and looked at the lovely Christmas lights, then went to Trabuxu for dinner. This was Sam’s and my third visit there and we have to say the best yet. The atmosphere is always great there but tonight the food was fabulous too. Ian had Carpaccio followed by sea bream and vegetables then lemon cosset with ice cream; Sam and I both had the chicken liver pate followed by lamb shanks and I had chocolate brownie cake with fig ice cream. Delicious. And the wine(s) were fabulous too! There are gazillions of restaurants in Valetta ranging from the cheap and cheerful to the up-market, high class and our impression is that the standard is generally very high, so we are looking forward to discovering many more gems in the months and years ahead.
Wednesday we went to St Paul’s to visit the two health food stores there and bought some organic teas, coffee and vegetables. Had a pretty awful custard donut at the Donut Factory. I made a huge pot of beef casserole for dinner. We will use the leftovers on Friday when Ian comes to dinner.
Thursday I had to stay in first thing as the air conditioner engineers were here. After 1 ½ hours they declared that there was nothing wrong with it and we should keep an eye on it! That’s a familiar refrain the world over. As well as work, spent much of the day playing guitar as my arm feels much improved. It was grey and wet today so I didn’t get out for a walk until late afternoon. I saw an unusual sight, a bunch of nuns leaving the Café del Mar, piling into cars and driving quickly away. We had chicken thighs baked with blackening spice and served with potatoes roasted with onions and peppers. It was simple but fantastic. We buy large, boned chicken thighs from the butcher’s counter at Trollees (our nearest supermarket) and they are superb quality.
Friday we had planned to go to Mosta first thing but Sam woke up with a sore throat and a headache and stayed in bed. I went anyway and had a proper look around Mosta for the first time, except for the Rotunda which I will save until Sam is better. Mosta has quite a few nice shops selling real things to residents, rather than tourist tat. I bought a stand for my guitar and a couple of bits for Sam’s Christmas stocking. After a coffee and mince pie for lunch I bussed back to Qawra and walked to Ximxija, a lovely walk of about five kilometres, mostly along the coast apart from one short stretch where you have to walk on the pavement by the main road. At Ximxija I saw a dead rat, the first one I have seen in Malta. That night we met Ian who had bought his boat around to Bugibba Bay. He and I went for a couple of beers at Fat Harry’s while Sam went to her art class then we went to Sun City where I won pool for a change. We went to the flat and ate beef casserole with roasted potatoes for dinner then Ian and I got the tender back to his boat and shred a bottle of wine under the stars. Very civilised.
Saturday we went on Ian’s boat to the Blue Lagoon, then cruised to the marina in Valetta. The weather was gorgeous and we all caught the sun. The views from the sea were amazing and all the more so for there being so few boats on the water this time of year. Altogether the trip took about four and a half hours and the sea was mostly calm so it was very relaxing. We had a pretty awful late lunch at Cargo on the dockside; “real food” hamburgers that turned out to be the sort you get in a tin and boil, served in a bun with imitation cheese, undercooked bacon and frozen onion rings. The chips were good though! Cross “Cargo” off your list! Sam went to bed not long after we got home. She is fighting a cold and today wore her out. I had tomato soup, nuts, crisps, crackers and chocolate for dinner – very strange, but our body clocks seem to have gone awry today.
Sunday I saw all sorts on my morning walk. On the way out I noticed that Bugibba Square was filling up with MGs, and a lot of Italian sports cars passed by – Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Maseratis. It was warm again and sunbathers were gathering on the rocky shoreline. On the way back it looked as if the coast road had been transformed into Douglas Promenade during TT Week. There were hundreds, possibly over 1,000 motor bikes parked shoulder to shoulder on both sides of the road and thousands of black-leather clad bikers milling around. There were also ambulances and more police than we have previously seen here. After breakfast Sam and I nipped to Mosta to buy her a Christmas present. In the afternoon I worked on the 202 photos I took yesterday on our boat trip. Most of them were pretty uninspiring – blue sky and blue sea with a strip of land across the middle! I do have four that I am quite pleased with, though, so I will probably publish them tomorrow. For dinner I made a vegetable biryani with courgettes, onions, garlic and raisins.
Monday 8th to Sunday 14th December 2014
Monday we went to Dingli for the first time, a place famous for its 250 metre high cliffs, the highest point in Malta. It was amazing. The cliffs drop steeply down to a plateau of verdant farmland below. The sea looks deep along the coast here and white caps were kicking up in a stiff breeze and flashes of sunlight speckled the sea through fast moving clouds. The sky was dramatic with powder white clouds back-lit by the sun. A photographer’s dream but for some reason I chose to leave my camera at home today! It takes two buses to get to Dingli, with a change at Mdina. We were embarrassed to be English today (again). A Geordie tourist of about 60 was wearing swimming shorts, even though he wasn’t going swimming, an impossibly tight T-shirt stretched almost to breaking point over a vast saggy beer belly and he toted a back-to-front baseball cap emblazoned MALTA. As he got off the bus he said to the driver, “Gracias amigo”!
We stopped at Mdina on the way back for a stroll and lunch; a BLT for me, soup and chips for Sam and coffee and water for Sally. I cooked us a vegetable curry for dinner. We played Guess Who for a bit of fun. I was Jesus Christ but neither Sam nor Sally could guess it. I gave them a clue – the most famous religious person in history. Sam guessed Santa Clause!
Tuesday Sam and Sally went shopping in the morning. In the afternoon we went to see Sally off at the airport. We have enjoyed her good company and look forward to her next visit. We took a different bus route back along winding country roads with a mad driver; as Sam said, it was like being in the Dukes of Hazard. Storms were blowing in, darkening the sea and cliffs a la Wuthering Heights. Back home, we grabbed a bowl of soup and toast then went to the BRA games night. Lost in the first round again but met a few more new people. Our timing was bad and we got caught in a deluge on the short walk home. Fortunately we had planned ahead and had coats with us – another first! The storm came and went through the night, unwilling to stray far from home.
Wednesday we woke up to a force seven, driving rain and rough seas. It reminded us of the Isle of Man, only 10 degrees warmer. It still felt cold though, and – another first – we put the heating on! Our air conditioners blow hot or cold which is handy. For dinner we thought we would try Simply British for some old fashioned pub grub. It is a small restaurant with only 6 indoor tables – the outside seating area was closed due to the wet weather. But when we went in we found a TV to one side with the volume up and music coming out of speakers on the other side. It was awful so we politely told the chef our reasons and left. We went to Peking instead. We shared BBQ ribs to start, then Sam had duck and pancakes and I had crispy beef with Singapore noodles. It was very tasty but afterwards we only just got home in time, if you get my drift. While we like the food, we don’t like the service at Peking. We felt like a couple of stray wildebeest with the waitresses circling us like hungry lionesses. They pounced at the slightest excuse to remove glasses, plates, dishes and cutlery even if we were still using them and, when not actually pouncing, they stood and watched.
Thursday I went for a good long walk around the local area, which was welcome after being kept in by bad weather yesterday. The sun has returned, the wind has dropped and it has warmed up so normal service has resumed. I popped into Piscopo’s for the first time, a budget cash and carry supermarket on the far side of Qawra. It carries many of the same brands as the other supermarkets but a lot cheaper. The challenge for us is that it is too far to walk with shopping and they don’t deliver. We’ll plan to do a big shop there when we hire a car. Roast chicken (chewy) with chips for dinner.
Friday we made our maiden voyage to the Malta Craft Village, a collection of shops/manufacturing outlets selling glass, wood and china items as well as other mostly touristy stuff. Then we went to the Aviation Museum which was interesting if spoiled somewhat by some bloody awful karaoke singer in the main hangar. Karaoke is to Malta what Ebola is to Somalia – all over the place, spreading fast and incurable. The craft village and museum are just below Rabat and we had fabulous views uphill to Mdina. Summer returned today so it was lovely to wander around outside. For lunch we found an outdoor café that served Pukka Pies and chips and shared our table with the neighbourhood cat that stood ready to devour our left-overs the minute we turned our backs. The bus ride home was a bit of a challenge as the first two stops we walked to had the wrong timetable information. I went for a walk before dinner to see the Christmas decorations and lights. One house looks more like Las Vegas than Malta, completely covered with thousands of bulbs. It was pizza night tonight – yum, yum!
Saturday I took the bus to Busket Gardens, a woodland area full of orange trees heavy with fruit, and conifers and other shrubs and trees, quite an unusual mix here. Some of the locals were eating the oranges fresh from the trees. I didn’t stay long though; the trees threw shade and it was such a perfect day I wanted to be in the sun. I walked to Dingli cliffs and walked along the cliff tops, trying not to take too many photos. The views were stunning. There is a small chapel on the cliff top surrounded by a narrow viewing platform and we spent some time there last Monday. Today, though, it was cordoned off with police crime scene tape and the chapel looked quite worse for wear. I imagined all sorts of gory goings on. It turns out that it was hit by lightning during Wednesday’s storm. I had an okay goat’s cheese salad at the Cliffs café. While I was out, Sam, had cleaned the flat, good wife!
That evening we went to Sun City for a pre-dinner beer and then ate at Lovage. Sam had a perfect rib eye with a parsley and garlic butter followed by apple pie and ice cream. I had a fillet steak with gorgonzola sauce, then summer berries cheese cake. It was good but perhaps not quite up to its usual standard, maybe because the restaurant was choc-a-bloc full. The peppers and courgettes are normally delicious - charred on the griddle and well-seasoned. Tonight they were hardly cooked and the peppers hadn’t been fully deseeded and the seasoning was missing. Not a great problem in the scheme of things but a little disappointing when we are used to such very high standards at Lovage.
Sunday I went for my early morning walk. The weather was perfect and, as Sally had remarked when she was here, you can smell the sea whenever you are out and about. Bugibba was unusually noisy though, with motorbikes and muscle cars roaring up and down the coast road. It was like being back in Douglas! Later that morning Sam and I wandered over to Salini Park and sat on a secluded bench in the sun. I’d like to say it was peaceful but actually there is a constant hum of traffic there from the nearby main road. Kennedy Grove was quiet. We noticed a sign by the fountain that says, “This water feature is a fountain”! Went to the greengrocers to buy stuff for a salad for lunch but it was closed. So Sam had a tomato salad using tomatoes she got from the mini-market. I had crisps and a chip sandwich.
Sam went to the Pro Cathedral carol service with some of the BRA members. Originally we had thought it was to be a co-denominational carol service at the main Cathedral but I decided not to go once I discovered it wasn’t. Also, I didn’t relish the thought of sitting in a minibus with no room for my legs at least one hour each way. Sam loved it and has already put it into her calendar for next year. While she was out I made us a roasted vegetable risotto for dinner.
Monday 1st to Sunday 7th December 2014
Monday morning we did a big supermarket shop. Had Swiss cheese and crackers for lunch for a change. Had a sneaky scoop of nocciola ice cream in the afternoon. Spent the day working and cooking and washing ahead of Sally’s visit. It was one of our monthly anniversaries, so we went for a couple of beers at Sun City. At home we had had pepperoni pizzas and watched Top Gun.
Tuesday I went to see Drew for a haircut for EUROs 6; his philosophising was free (which is just as well)! While there, I made a new friend - a lady named Sylvia who sang the praises of the BRA, saying what a lot of good things they organise for someone her age. I thought she was about 65 – turns out she’s 80. Worked, cleaned, went for a walk then Sam and I caught the bus to the Airport to meet Sally. Quite regularly we see bus inspectors board the buses and ask to see tickets. Today a girl in her early twenties didn’t have a ticket and she got carted off as if guilty of some heinous crime. She was in tears but the bus inspectors seemed quite unmoved, so I guess they are used to it. It was lovely to see Sally again; I am sure she will love Malta. We went for a walk o show her Qawra and Bugibba and had a beer at a bar in Bugibba Square. For dinner we ate chilli made with turtle beans, kidney beans and peppers with brown rice and it was delicious.
Wednesday we all went to beautiful Valetta again. Today was the first day since moving here that we felt chilly. The cool air was blowing off the sea and, for a brief moment, I wondered if I should give up on my attire of shorts and short sleeve shirts. To be sure, not many locals are wearing those – they are all in jeans and puffer jackets and scarves! I draw the line at that. I found the Hastings Gardens for the first time – amazing views across the bay to Sliema. Sam and Sally went to the Archaeological Museum. We had lunch at Soul Food which has good vegetarian and vegan choices. It was okay. Sandwiches made with flat bread. I ordered mine with gorgonzola, ham and onions. Turned out the ham was like Parma ham, impossible to chew so I had to remove it. A bit like plastic and string all rolled into one. The remaining cheese and onion flatbread was dry, crying out for a generous helping of butter. Sam and Sally had theirs filled with some sort of bean patties which they enjoyed. I had a scoop of peanut and caramel ice cream from Café Cordina which was lovely, if a bit sweet.
Spaghetti with a roasted vegetables and tomato sauce for dinner; can’t go far wrong with that! Except you can. I had made the sauce a couple of weeks ago and frozen it and only at the last minute did we remember that it had chorizo in it! I hastily made a separate sauce for Sally with olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, chilli powder, pepper and salt; not as intended but she liked it! I went for a walk after dinner. I think it must have been karaoke night. I passed no less than three bars with quite shockingly bad singing pouring out onto the streets.
Thursday Sally and I went for a 2 ½ hour hike from Mellieha beach to Xemixija, following the coastal path. The path was rutted, steep, sometimes wide, sometimes narrow and occasionally, in the bamboo groves, pretty sodden. It was a fantastic walk, though, a glorious side of Malta you don’t see on the travel shows. The fields and hillsides are lush green this time of year and contrast sharply with the green-blue sea. At times we walked by the water’s edge; at others we walked atop towering cliffs. Along the way we found a beautiful sandy beach with clear aquamarine water. Think Robinson Crusoe and you won’t be far wrong. It was secluded – just one other person in sight. On the whole walk we didn’t see more than half a dozen people. The views were spectacular – the hills, the sea, the boats, St Paul’s Island, trees, gullies – and lots of interesting things to see too – forts, ruins and salt pans. My knee bore up pretty well. My toes didn’t blister either, despite my trainers and feet getting soaked in soft mud up to my ankles right at the start. The weather was perfect – 24 degrees, sunny and still; we caught the sun but didn’t get sunburned. As a real bonus, out of 121 photographs I took, I am delighted with four of them.
While we were out Sam went to a new art class in Mosta. She loved it and will be going back there for two 2 hour lessons each week. It seems to be a more structured class than her existing class in Bugibba. She has started with drawing and will progress from there. Mosta is just inland from us, about a 15 minute bus ride away, so it’s easy to get to.
We went to Lovage for dinner. We had asked ahead and the chef had prepared a three course vegan meal for Sally – barley risotto, vegetable Koftas and a rich chocolate mousse. I had mushroom soup, salmon baked with a parmesan crust and served on a tomato sauce with roasted veggies and potatoes, followed by apple tart and ice cream. Sam had lobster risotto and lamb ravioli. The wine was superb – a Barberra. Lovage was excellent as always and we have booked a table there for New Year’s Eve.
Friday Sally went off early for a day trip to Gozo. Sam and I went to the BRA Xmas coffee (yuck) morning and buffet (also pretty yuck). We sat amongst a sea of blue rinses. A middle aged English couple do an act called Satin Sounds and they sang Sinatra and Doris Day songs. Think pub singers. The whole experience was surreal. It was as if we had wandered onto the set of a 70s sitcom. Sam won the raffle (again) and from a choice of prizes of chocolates, biscuits, wine, beers and (believe it or not) cigarettes, she chose a hot water bottle! I told you it was surreal. We snuck off before the “communal singing” started. I really don’t think we are ready for active BRA membership yet.
Our landlord visited with a couple of Neanderthal technicians who looked at the air conditioner which is leaking and after some grunting and head scratching declared there must be a gas leak and that they will come back another day to do more tests. We worked for a while, Sam went food shopping and I had a stroll along the shore. Saw thousands of small fish – perhaps they are bolder now that fewer people are swimming. We still see divers and snorkelers and people going for quick dips but I think most people find the water too cool now. In the summer the bay is full of small boats tied to buoys made of two litre plastic milk cartons chained to the sea floor. Now the boats have gone, tucked up safely for the winter, and the hundred-plus lonely milk cartons bob low on the water like swimmers’ heads.
For dinner we had a sort of vegan meze which was delicious – two kinds of humus, sun dried tomatoes, grilled courgettes and aubergines seasoned with cumin and fennel, tortilla chips made from flat bread, Maltese crackers, bean paste, olives, avocados with lemon, a tomato salad, bread, cashews and lots of other things I’ve already forgotten about! After dinner we played cards (Lauren will be jealous).
Saturday we went to Mdina and wandered around soaking up the atmosphere. I took 95 photos and captured 3 that I am pleased with, so another good result. I fell on my way into the Mdina glass shop and tripped again on the way out. I overheard a woman say to her husband, “that man keeps falling over!” I banged my arm but nothing too bad. We strolled into Rabat and poor Sam fell heavily, tripping over a kerb. She grazed her left knee, banged the other one, bruised her hand and strained her arm. She’s okay, grinning and bearing it, but I think we must both have been swallowing the clumsy tablets.
In the evening we went to Bugibba Square for a drink, then on to Tarragon, our first time at this five star restaurant. It was fantastic, if a little expensive for Malta (still significantly cheaper than the UK though). They have an extensive vegetarian menu which they can adapt for vegans and have vegan soup, pasta dishes, rice dishes, pastries and breads. We had an amuse bouche of deconstructed then reconstructed olive halves (each halve allegedly contains the juice of 12 olives) then a complimentary bruschetta which was delicious. Sally had a vegetable soup and a sort of deconstructed stir fried vegetables and pastry pie dish. Sam had calamari followed by black risotto and I had pumpkin, carrot and coriander soup followed by pasta pockets filled with taleggio and pears on a creamy tomato sauce. It was all amazing but the service was a bit over attentive. Sam drank Prosecco and Sally and I shared a South African cabernet sauvignon because it was the only vegan choice; it was okay but not remarkable. All was finished off with complimentary Drambuies and limoncellos. The restaurant is on the water’s edge in St Paul’s Bay and we sat in the window looking at the lights on the sea. It is a gorgeous spot and Tarragon will certainly be near the top of our list of special occasion restaurants.
Tonight was also the night of the Qawra Christmas Village, a seasonal event with stalls selling foods and drinks and jewellery and Christmas bits and pieces and a stage set up for local performing artists. On the way to the restaurant we paused a while to listen to a couple of charming children’s choirs. We also stopped off there on our walk back from the restaurant and watched/listened to Kurt and Kevin Gallea. They were surprisingly good, singing a mix of modern hits. Kurt Gallea represented Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, so we guess he is something of a local star. Some woman had fallen down and was being attended by a couple of passers-by. I guess she had been on the clumsy tablets too (or the booze). We bought a bottle of local unfiltered olive oil to try on our salads (the guy selling it assures us it is the best in the world) and didn’t get home until just before midnight! Sally is a bad influence.
Sunday we went to Valetta. Sam stayed on the bus all the way to Valetta but Sally and I got off at Sliema Ferries and got the ferry across the bay so that we could walk around Valetta at the water’s edge. Just off the ferry we went to a high tech public loo. I put 30 cents in the slot, the door slid open, I walked in, the light came on and the door slid closed behind me. To exit I pushed another button to open the door and Sally took the opportunity to jump in at the same time to avoid us paying another 30 cents! The door slid shut, the light went off and she was stuck in there in the dark. We couldn’t put more money in or get the door to open until it had rebooted but eventually the coins went through and all was well. It just goes to show, crime really doesn’t pay.
The walk was wonderful. It was a stormy day and the sky was filled with brooding clouds, creating a dramatic seascape. By some miracle the rain passed us by and we stayed warm and dry. We popped into the small Jewish Quarter, a handful of decaying narrow streets. We felt as if we had suddenly entered the sixteenth century, apart from the unexpected red post box in the middle. Back outside again, cats, little more than kittens, huddled together for warmth, impossibly cute. The limestone that is used to make pavements and walls has abundant fossils of plants and animals. We saw some fine specimens in the Lower Barakka Gardens. We also saw a false arm with hand on the back shelf of a parked car.
At the end of our walk we got the lift up from sea level to the Upper Barraka Gardens, some 10 stories higher. It costs one EURO. There is a self-service ticket machine but they pay someone to take your coin, put it in the slot for you, take the ticket that comes out and hand it to you. Quite bizarre. We went to the Tracey Emin loo. The attendant was very bossy. He ordered me to wait in an exact spot and insisted that Sally and some other woman go into the ladies loo together. Fortunately there was a small ante room the other side of the door, so they didn’t have to watch each other, as feared!
We met Sam for lunch at Soul Food. Sam and Sally had lentil flatbreads again but with chilli sauce this time and I had a parmesan, apple, walnut and lettuce salad. It was all very good. After lunch we strolled around for a while, exploring the warren that is Valetta’s streets and ended up at Hastings Gardens. The views were amazing and made all the more so by the lightening flashing against the dark sky in the background. Finished the day with meze and cards again. Oh, and we tasted the olive oil we had bought the previous night; turns out, it’s not the best in the world!