May 2015 Blog
Monday 25th to Sunday 31st May 2015
Monday Sam had a long meeting in the morning and I went to Mdina to take photos. I drove on to Sliema to do some shopping; I bought two cookbooks! For dinner we reheated chilli left over from Saturday night. It is still one of our favourite dishes. I make it with cubes of meat rather than minced beef, I use a good quality passata and I add finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes. The result is a very rich sauce which raises the dish from the everyday to the special.
Tuesday we went to Sliema to meet some new friends. He is from the IOM and was introduced to us by an old friend of Sam’s who used to be his babysitter. She is Maltese and, no surprise, they have made Malta their home for the last 15 years. We went to Trollees for a change, the supermarket that is a short walk from our old apartment. Its fruit and veg are some ten times better than Scotts but we started using Scotts because they offer free delivery. That isn’t an issue now that we have the car. For dinner Sam had a griddled chicken thigh with some salad; I had marinated and pan fried pork chops.
Wednesday I woke up after a restless night with toothache. I visited my dentist who x-rayed the culprit and found I have a leaky crown and that there is a cavity in the tooth beneath it. Fixing them will be no quick job so I am booked for a double appointment on Friday of next week. Oh joy. While I was there he gave my teeth a thorough clean and polish so at least that is out of the way. For dinner we defrosted a beef stew and had that with roasted sweet potatoes.
Thursday followed another restless night; my toothache was much worse. In the end I gave in and phoned my dentist again. He found a bit of a mess under the crown so I had a triple root cavity drilled out and the nerve removed. That took about an hour and he packed the tooth and popped the crown back on temporarily. I have another hour of treatment on the tooth to look forward to on Saturday. Hopefully though, we will save the tooth. And I have to say that although the whole event today wasn’t pleasant, it was virtually painless from start to finish. I think my new dentist is turning out to be a real find.
I made a smooth soup for dinner which was easy to eat with a sore mouth. I used carrots, celery and onions, a tin of tomatoes, vegetable stock with a healthy glug of BBQ sauce and I seasoned it with cayenne, chilli flakes, black pepper and salt. It was delicious and, given that the only other thing I managed to eat today was half a banana and four cups of coffee, it was a seriously low calorie day! On my power walk after dinner I had to take a short diversion around the Dolman Hotel. It is across the prom from Bugibba beach. During the winter much if not most of the sand is washed away from the beach and they rebuild it each spring with countless truckloads of new sand. That’s what’s happening at the moment, so the prom there will be shut for a few days.
Friday I awoke well rested and pain free! I dropped Sam off for a swim and drove on to Dingli Cliffs to soak in the view. It is a spectacular spot with towering cliffs falling steeply to a narrow plateau of rich farmland, all edged by deep blue sea. Filfla Island sat peacefully on the calm waters, basking in the hazy sunshine. The drive back took me through Rabat, an historic town, sometimes beautiful, sometimes ugly. We see that contrast here a lot. Beautiful churches and the facades of old buildings side-by-side with instantly forgettable modern apartment blocks.
Late afternoon I hiked to Ximxija taking my camera with me fitted with a zoom lens. I got a few interesting shots though nothing can convey how perfect the weather is at the moment. We have blue skies, it is warm-to-hot without being humid and the wind has dropped to the softest of breezes. As I walk along I see fishermen tending their boats, old men huddled in groups presumably putting the world to rights, a van honking loudly to get our attention and trying to sell us fresh cream cakes, middle aged local women dressed in their Sunday best even though it is only Friday, converging on some lunchtime venue, other local women, equally well dressed descending on the bingo hall, and under dressed English tourists, mostly grim looking but oblivious to it. For dinner I had left over soup and Sam had a flatbread.
Saturday started with a 45 minutes session in the dentist’s chair, finishing off the root canal work and refitting the crown. He’s pleased with the result, so hopefully that tooth will be okay now. I am booked in for another hour next Friday for another major filling. My dentist is a likable chap but I wish I wasn’t getting to know him quite so well. Monday will be our 10th wedding anniversary and we started the celebrations today! Mid-afternoon we went to our favourite ice cream parlour; Sam had stratiachella and New York cheesecake ice cream (yes, it was revolting) and I had lemon and rum and raisin – yum, yum. On an impulse we went to Miracles for an early evening snack as we didn’t feel like a big meal after our ice cream. Sam had bruschetta with tomatoes and feta cheese and I had garlic bread and we also had some chips. I am now starting to understand why some people like mayonnaise with their chips. Our theory about not wanting a big meal didn’t work out so well though. I got hungry again later and ended up cooking a flatbread!
Sunday we chilled and cleaned. Here is some mundane info for you. It takes forever to clean our windows as there are so many of them! Double windows and a glass door in the kitchen, double windows in the kitchen eating area, four glass doors in the lounge, patio doors in the dining area, one wall of the dining area is made up completely of glass, double windows off the vestibule, a glass door in the study, a window in the family bathroom, patio doors in the second bedroom, double windows in the third bedroom, three windows in the master bedroom and another window in the en suite! Cleaning them is like having a work out. What with that and sweeping and mopping the floors, I should be fit as a fiddle. I told you it was mundane! For dinner I cooked a whole chicken on the BBQ for the first time. I used the indirect cooking method and also used hickory chips to add a smoky flavour. Well, I have to tell you, we both agree that the chicken was the best we have ever cooked! It was beautifully soft and full of juiciness and had a fantastic flavour. It was a small chicken and took two and a quarter hours to cook but boy was it worth the wait.
Monday 18th to Sunday 24th May 2015
Monday we saw our first rain since moving into our new flat at the end of March. We have had a couple of rainstorms since then but they have been during the night so we didn’t see them. It rained from about 7 till 10. I had planned to spend the day in Mdina working on my photography but had to postpone that. The weather has been so dependable here for so long that I had almost forgotten what it is like to have to change plans due to bad weather! I got out for a walk after lunch, though, and took 38 photos, one of which is good enough to publish. Sam is on a 2/5 diet now, keeping her calorie intake under 500 calories two days each week and today was one of those days. She had baked sea bream for dinner with fennel and potatoes. I had goujons of salmon, seasoned with coriander, cumin, turmeric, black pepper and salt mixed in vegetable oil, pan fried and finished with a drizzle of honey. They were amazing! I served them with rice pilaf.
Tuesday we drove to Sliema to do some shopping and, of course, had cappuccinos and pea cakes at Giorgio’s. For dinner we BBQed home-made burgers – delicious.
Wednesday I got a haircut, bought fruit and then went to the Honda dealer to sort out a spare wheel for the car. They say a new one won’t be available until August but I can have a second hand one tomorrow. That’s a no-brainer, so I’ll go back in the morning. Today was dead calm, sunny and hot. After working for a while I had curried baked beans with cheese for lunch (well I like them), then I went for a swim at Mellieha beach. Actually it was more like a wallow. The sea was flat and crystal clear and fantastically cooling. The beach was quite busy; it seems the tourist season is hotting up in line with the temperature. Dinner was a repeat of Monday; spiced salmon with honey for me, baked sea bream for Sam.
Thursday I dropped Sam at art class then went to the Honda garage car park to meet the guy there who has sourced a second hand wheel rim for me. It was all very furtive; he works in Honda’s parts department and no doubt they would frown on his dealing on the side. I get the impression that the black market is thriving in Malta. Wages are low and taxes are high so perhaps that’s not surprising. I drove on to a tyre shop to have a tyre fitted so we are now sorted out with a spare wheel. The total cost was EUROS 87 instead of the EUROS 202 it would have cost for a new wheel.
Today was exactly one year since we first came to Malta and to celebrate that anniversary we went to L’Artista. It is a Sicilian and Sardinian restaurant just down the road from us and is voted the number one restaurant in this area of Malta on TripAdvisor. I’m no fan of TripAdvisor as most reviews seem to bear little resemblance to our own experiences but I guess you can’t totally disregard number one out of hundreds. The restaurant is quite small – only about 30 covers – and has a very nice atmosphere, elegant without being at all formal. The cutlery, glass and china were stylish, even a bit odd; some of the plates were bizarre shapes and I swear my starter was served in a large dog bowl! They don’t have a formal menu and the options of the day are written on a blackboard, half fish and half meat based. I suspect though that the options don’t change much from day-to-day and it’s mostly about quirky presentation. They make life easy by photographing and printing out copies of the blackboard menu so that you can read it at leisure. Anyway, the chef explained each dish to us, led us to his cold cabinet to show off his fresh fish and cuts of meat and made us feel very welcome. But the truth is, there is not a lot on the menu that I would fancy. There were starters like cuttlefish, rollmops and shellfish which I don’t eat and whole fish such as sea bream which we can cook perfectly at home. A couple of the meat based pasta dishes looked good. The rib eye steak is stupidly huge at 600 grams and the rack of lamb ridiculously expensive.
We were served an amuse bouche; tuna carpaccio for Sam and mountain ham and pecorino for me, both delicious. For a starter I opted for porcini risotto (very good) and for my main wild boar. It was cooked over charcoal and overdone, actually burnt at one end. It was served with small roasted potatoes and grilled courgettes and aubergines. There was no sauce served with it, so it was all a bit dry and cloying. I asked for a sauce but they only make two sauces, porcini or truffle. I opted for the porcini but it didn’t go with the wild boar so it was all quite disappointing. I could have killed for ketchup! Sam had black ink spaghetti which she really enjoyed and a rib eye steak which she also enjoyed but had to bring half of it home as it was far too big. We didn’t have dessert but they bought us two tiny chocolate petit fours (one each) on a huge plate. My verdict is that L’Artista is about style over substance and very expensive for what you actually get to eat. However, I can see why some people are won over by the style and theatre of presentation sufficiently for them to rush home to write their TripAdvisor reviews.
Friday we woke up to a northerly gale. The sea was strewn with white caps, dancing erratically and bouncing the little boats in the bay like puppets on a string. I drove up to Marfa Point which is adjacent to Cirkewwa ferry terminal where the boats go to Gozo. I’m glad I wasn’t on the ferry today! It may only be a short trip but it must have been a hang-on-to-your-seat ride. I took my camera to capture images of the breaking waves but the trouble is we have all seen so many photos like that already, that the results are invariably mundane. However, out of 42 photos, one is pretty good. We had an early snack – left over steak for Sam and minestrone soup for me – before driving to Sliema for a drinks party at the Palace Hotel. It was organised by 246 Expats Malta, a sort of social club which organises events at up-market venues. We made some new acquaintances and had an enjoyable evening.
Saturday Sam drove us to Ghadira beach in Mellieha and we had a light lunch at Munchies; tuna Ftira for Sam and a salad for me with lettuce, tomatoes, walnuts, chillies, brie and apples. We sat in the shade overlooking the sandy beach. It was very peaceful. The weather was calm with only the lightest of waves lapping the shore. Because the bay is sandy, the sea is a beautiful turquoise. Further out, boats bob at anchor and ahead to left and right the land sweeps out like giant arms.
We had a late night because tonight was European Song Contest night! We didn’t pick the winner bur our favourites were all on the left-hand side of the scoreboard. If you watch Eurovision you will know what that means. If you don’t, you need to give yourself a good talking to because it is the TV event of the year! We love it that we can pretty much forecast who will vote for who even before we have heard any of the songs. For dinner we had peanuts, then chilli con carne with lettuce, cheese and tortilla chips, then chocolate brownies, then Maltesers. Eurovision Song Contest night is never a healthy affair.
Sunday we didn’t do much (!) which is what Sundays should be like. Ian came for dinner. Sam cooked prawns with chilli, garlic and lemon followed by baked sea bass and salad and it was all fab.
Monday 11th to Sunday 17th May 2015
Monday John the handyman came to finish off some odd jobs. Apart from a couple of new fly screens, the flat is pretty much sorted out. The landlady came to collect the rent. There are ten flats in this block and the other nine tenants all pay their monthly rent in cash! It seems so old fashioned. We pay by cheque. Robin and Lesley dropped around for a coffee. After that I took my watch to a local jeweller as the strap is broken and did a supermarket shop. Not much time for work today! Actually, Sam worked while I was out. In the afternoon I took the car to Mosta for its free service and did some more shopping while it was being done. I had planned to make a pasta sauce for dinner while Sam had chicken (she is avoiding wheat at the moment) but by the time I got back it was late so I resorted to pizza.
Tuesday saw two firsts. One, I went for a swim in the sea for the first time this year. I went to Mellieha bay, which is a large horse shoe shaped bay with golden sands. The sea is shallow, so you can go a long way out before getting out of your depth. The sea is still cool but not so much so that you can’t stay in for quite a while. In fact several people were just standing in the sea chatting, a good way to cool down. The temperature in the sun is in the early thirties at the moment and, although not too humid, any excuse to cool down is welcome.
The second first is that for the first time ever I bought a bottle of wine at a butcher’s! EUROs 3.50 (about £2.75) and very nice it was too – a Sangiovese. I was in the butcher’s to buy belly pork which I marinated in soy sauce, cider vinegar and a mix of dried spices and herbs and then slow roasted. We had that with roasted vegetables. Delicious!
Wednesday we worked till mid-afternoon then went to Mellieha beach for a swim. The sea felt chilly when we first went in but we soon got used to it and stayed in a fair while. We had an excellent cappuccino at Munchies which, despite its name, is a bit more up market than the other beach cafes. For dinner we BBQed belly pork left over from the day before and it tasted even better.
Thursday Sam had art class. On the way back we stopped at Scotts. Fruit and veg in Malta is normally sold loose and it is unusual to find it pre-packaged like it is in the UK. Scotts is no exception and I took loose peppers, celery and onions to the counter to be weighed. The guy at the counter was blowing his nose and his tissue wasn’t large enough so his fingers were wet! I asked him if he was going to wash his hands and he said no and picked up the veg to weigh it. I told him that I didn’t want it and he was clearly at a loss to understand why. Talk about clueless. You don’t need food hygiene training to know better; I guess the guy was just plain stupid. Anyway, the moral of the story is don’t buy unpackaged fruit and veg from Scotts. For dinner I made Jambalaya.
Friday we went to meet Steve and Jan who run the photography shop in Mellieha for a chat and a coffee. After that we went to Debbies for a snack. The cappuccinos were good but the food was awful. I had French toast (allegedly). It was two slices of two inch thick Brioche, all doughy and cold in the middle, I don’t think it had seen a hint of egg and it was served with a bland fruit “compote”, the tiniest splash of Maple syrup which was gone after the second mouthful and a puddle of something white and wet which, it turns out, was “whipped vanilla cream”. Yeah, right! Was this the worst French toast on the planet? Quite possibly. Sam had a bacon ciabatta; she left half of it which tells you all you need to know. There are loads of cafes and restaurants in Mellieha so learn from our experience and choose any one other than Debbies. Oh, except don’t have cappuccinos at L’Escargot because they are dreadful there. Sam had art class in the evening. While she was out I played guitar for a while. I play every day for up to an hour but unfortunately I’ll have to cut that back as my tennis elbow has made an unwelcome return. We had flatbreads for dinner in front of the TV, watching While You Were Sleeping.
Saturday we followed our usual routine of shopping, swimming and cleaning. We went to Robin and Lesley’s for dinner; crisps to start followed by a potato topped pie similar to shepherd’s pie but made with haggis which was very nice and melon to finish. We ate outside on their terrace but moved inside after dinner and played a version of Ludo. They live ten minutes inland from us in a village called Zebbiegh, next door to Mgarr. All we could hear from the moment we arrived until the moment we left were barking and howling dogs. Virtually everyone who lives in the village seems to own dogs, including Robin and Lesley, although their dog is quiet. We drove home at 10.45 and there was a surprising amount of traffic.
Sunday started healthily with a one hour power walk and an apple for breakfast but went steadily downhill after that. We went to Miracles for an early lunch of bruschetta, garlic bread and chips. We walked on to Qawra, stopping briefly to look at the Minis parked around the Aquarium. On the way home we stopped for ice cream; Sam had Nutella and I had cherry and Kitkat. For dinner I made chicken tikka masala which was excellent.
Monday 4th to Sunday 10th May 2015
Monday the temperature rose well into the thirties. I did my power walk before the heat really set in. We stayed in and worked the rest of the day, except for a quick nip to the butcher and greengrocer. For dinner we BBQed boneless chicken thighs that were ready marinated by the butcher. It wasn’t a great success. We struggled to convince ourselves they were cooked as the flesh remained pink so we kept putting them on and off the BBQ and they were rather too salty anyway. Still, the salad was nice!
Tuesday I was up and out early, beating the heat again. Sam went to Sliema to a BRA coffee morning to meet up with a friend, then she went shopping. I walked and worked and nipped out to buy a BBQ cook book! For dinner we BBQed steaks pre-marinated by our butcher; tasty, but again too salty and a bit chewy. I think we are learning the lesson to avoid the easy option and to marinate meats ourselves.
Wednesday I went and picked up our new car, visited our insurance agent to advise the registration and pick up the roadside assistance card, and filled up with petrol and bought a sun shade for the windscreen. Parked cars are like ovens here but I am hoping that the sun shade will at least enable me to touch the steering wheel! Ian visited for dinner – BBQed beef kebabs and orange and chilli marinated chicken breasts and very yummy too. But the starters were good too. We had crisps, chilli flavoured olives, and, best of all, BBQed hot dogs! We served them with Nandos chili sauce – fruity and sweet rather than hot! After dinner we went to St Paul’s Bay’s best ice cream shop. The ice cream there is fantastic! There was a long queue of locals but we got served soon enough. I had rum and raisin and cherry and they were amazing.
Thursday I took Sam to her art class in Mosta and picked her up again afterwards. I drove around some of the roads north and west from where we live, exploring for the sake of it. The joy of having a car at last! Dinner was baked sea bream for Sam and pan roasted salmon for me.
Friday we went on our first big exploration in the car driving to the airport then on to Birgu. The signage here is hopeless. For the most part signs are missing altogether and where there are signs they are right on the exit roads/turnings so you don’t get any warning at all which is tricky as traffic is mostly heavy. It was quite an adventure. And as if getting lost wasn’t bad enough, the road surfaces are horrible and the standard of driving awful. I love it, but poor old Sam is a bit of a nervous wreck! We met Ian for lunch at the Band Club in Birgu. I had a tuna Ftira (Ftira being a Maltese bread), so basically a tuna and salad sandwich. Sam and Ian both had Maltese platters, a bit like Meze or anti pasta. The drive back was as stressful (for Sam) as the drive there. We took the easy option (again) and had Goodfella’s pizzas for dinner.
It’s still very hot and, today, quite humid. The wind has dropped to virtually zero so we can’t get much fresh air into the apartment. By wearing very few clothes and doing very little physical activity we can bear it, except for the bedroom; we put the aircon on for an hour before bedtime, and then the room is freezing!
Actually, I love the heat. For sure it’s uncomfortable sometimes and the humidity is tiresome when you have to do anything physical, but it makes you feel alive in a way that cold never can. I love the heat that seems to get deep into you bones, that makes your skin taut. The haze over the hills, the shimmering tarmac, the implacable sea, the dangerously hot terrace tiles, the white-hot sand on the beach and the blistering handrails by the outside steps. For me, living in a hot climate is living life in a way that makes you feel alive and a part of the world around you. By contrast, living in a cold climate makes you bundle up which puts a barrier between you and your environment. Another thing, this climate is dry, so rain never stops play. But you know what’s most important of all? It’s the blue sky. Every day of every week of every month I see blue sky here. It draws me out, I want to be outside, I want to walk outside and soak up the sun. After years of living with grey and suffering SAD, I feel reborn. Give me 30 degrees, humidity and blue sky over 10 degrees, wind, rain and grey skies any day. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and, thank God, everyone’s different and wouldn’t the world be a terrible place if we all liked the same things? All I can say is that Malta is delivering all that I hoped for and more and, please God, let’s hope Cameron doesn’t bollocks it up and take the UK out of Europe with his stupid, crowd pleasing, do-anything-for-a-cheap-soundbite, I’m-better-than-UKIP, screw-the-country-I’m-in-this-for-myself referendum.
Saturday was taken up with swimming, a hairdo (for Sam) and shopping. That evening we went to Miracles for a drink then on to Lovage for dinner. It was superb again. I had fish soup then peppered lamb fillets on a pea mash served with roasted potatoes and griddled vegetables. Sam had sea urchin spaghetti then quail stuffed with Maltese sausage. We washed it down with a bottle of Barbera Asti which was fantastic. For pudding we went to our favourite ice cream parlour; straticella for Sam and pistachio and rum and raisin for me. What a great night!
Sunday Sam drove our car for the first time, going to Burmarrad, doing a U-turn just past Piscopos Garden Centre then following the St Pauls Bay bypass to Ximxija where we stopped for cappuccinos and to buy fruit and veg. Town was very busy as it was Mother’s Day here so for the rest of the day we just chilled and sunbathed. For dinner I made a beef casserole using thick slices of shin beef that included the marrow bone. In our butcher’s they are labelled Osso Buco but I think true Osso Buco should be veal rather than beef. I packed the dish with carrots, celery, onions and mushrooms and it was delicious.
Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd May 2015
Friday I met up with Robin and his dog Daisy for a 9 kilometre hike around the Mgarr valley. Our route took us down one side, across the valley floor and up the other side and we circled around back to our starting point. This is real arable farming country; the fields are packed with cabbages, courgettes and strawberries and the fig trees are cluttered with unripe fruit. The hedgerows are still full of colour thanks to red poppies and yellow and purple wild flowers. The air is scented with wild fennel and rosemary. There is a wetland area where water accumulates from the winter rains but dries out again by mid-summer, by which time mosquitos hold sway. At this time of year that’s not a problem and the water added an unexpected contrast to the fast-drying countryside. All the while we were serenaded by the sounds of insects and birdsong. The soil in Malta varies in colour from light brown to rich red. At the time of the Knights of St John, ships arriving in Malta had to pay their landing taxes in soil rather than money, as a way of improving growing conditions. This resulted in various soils from many parts of the world arriving here and being spread throughout the valleys. It is odd to see adjacent fields, one with light brown soil, the other red. For dinner we got takeaway Diavola pizzas from the Pizzeria downstairs. They tasted fantastic, as always, but the middles were a bit soggy on this occasion.
Saturday we went on the X3 again to the National Stadium for Sam’s swimming lesson. The round trip took five and a half hours this time! We should have our car by next week so hopefully we won’t have to endure that again. We had a great evening. It was party night in St Paul’s Bay and Buggiba. The road aside the promenade was closed to traffic and stalls lined the way, selling all manner of foods and knick-knacks. Stages had been set up at Bay Square and adjacent to the Dolman Hotel. We listened to Curt Calleja and enjoyed his singing again. There were other acts, one singing Frankie songs and a girl/boy duet that were quite good. We weren’t fans of the jazz band, though. We had a warm beer at Blic, a prom café, then a cold one at Miracles, then returned home to have piri piri chicken and chips for dinner. We went to the rocky shoreline by the breakwater to watch the aerial fireworks display; they were launched from barges just offshore from Bay Square. While watching, I had a cone from the ice cream stall by the breakwater with a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream and a scoop of chocolate orange (which tasted of chemicals). The road by the prom that runs along the water’s edge below our apartment had been set up for the ground fireworks display so our terrace was the best seat in the house to watch those from. They lasted an hour and were fun, if not amazing.
Sunday was hot, hot, hot! We went for a stroll, stopping at Sirens café for cappuccinos, okay but not enough coffee in them; they tasted more like lattes. For lunch we BBQed peppers and courgettes seasoned with salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika and cumin – delicious. We spent a lazy Sunday sunbathing and reading, all very civilised. I read Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparkes, chick lit for sure but I really enjoyed it. I played guitar for a while. We spent quite a while just watching the world go by. From our terrace we can watch the sailboats drifting before lacklustre breezes, speedboats riding the plane, the tour boats taking excited tourists to the Blue Lagoon; we also see the passing cars and buses, fishermen, joggers, power walkers, dog walkers, passing cats, the fat, the thin, short and tall, young and old. It’s all very entertaining, and from our vantage point four stories up and on a rise to start with, we can pretty much watch unobserved. This is how Sundays are meant to be spent; no work, no chores, no gardening (thank God), no fretting about anything, just chilling out. We had planned to eat out for dinner but that just seemed like too much effort so we stayed in and ate flatbreads and drank beer instead.