September 2014 Blog
Back to Work
Tuesday 30th September 2014
Back to reality with a bump – had to work this morning. But after a healthy fruit and yogurt lunch went to discover the nearby shopping centre, The Point, the largest in Malta. Very impressive too with many nice shops and a Costa Coffee for any homesick Brits. Had a walk and bought a pair of Puma trainers for my daily power walks (okay, so I skip some days, who doesn’t?). Cooked Piri Piri chicken – delicious as always – and had that with a mixed salad. We are feeling very virtuous but, don’t worry, it won’t last! I’ll let you know if that half-eaten bar of Cadbury’s fruit and nut is still in the fridge in the morning.
Sliema here we come
Monday 29th September 2014
Went for a cooked breakfast at Granny’s – 3 rashers of bacon, a sausage, 2 fried eggs, baked beans, a grilled tomato, toast and butter with a mug of coffee all for EUROs 2.95! It’s cooler today at 23 celcius, perfect for moving about. Transferred to Sliema today. A good taxi driver for a change – Aaron of Percius Car Hire. Quite a few problems with the apartment but the owner, Peter, is as friendly as you like and got on the case right away. Dinner was great fun and good food too at MedAsia. The menu is huge – Japanese, Thai, Chinese, Maltese, Italian and just about anything else you can think of – but it all looked good. Great cocktails, too. I had fragrant chicken and coconut soup followed by tempura vegetables. Sam had a mound of mixed sushi. My sister Linda had recommended MedAsia to us; thanks, Linda!
Lauren leaves
Sunday 28th September 2014
Dropped Lauren off at the airport this morning for her flight home to the Isle of Man. We won’t see her again for 8 weeks. I was quite upset and feel unsettled and dispirited by the separation. Apart from the odd holiday, I’ve seen her every week of her nearly 22 years of life and I will feel her absence keenly. I have always fancied, in what I suppose is the usual foolish parental self-deceit, that she rather depended on me for spiritual and emotional support but now I see that it is quite the opposite. We had anticipated Jordi’s (my younger daughter’s) going away to university but this seems more unexpected. On the bright side, the bus ride back from the airport was interesting, affording us glimpses of previously unseen areas of Malta, real towns and villages where real people live and work and fight and play and, ultimately, wither on the vine of life. (I tell you, that bloody Jane Austin has a lot to answer for.) Tonight was another Thai green curry at Flora – hey, when something works, why change it?
Last day with Lauren
Saturday 27th September 2014
Sad day – last day with Lauren. Went to Café del Mar (what do you mean, “again?”). Watched some idiot guys there putting up a temporary bar – we think they must have gone to the Kenny Everett school of DIY. Tonight went to a new bar (Alex’s Bar?) and they refused to take my “counterfeit” 10 EUROs note. Turns out, it’s not counterfeit, just new. Dinner at the Overflow again – yum, yum.
Fab new restaurant
Friday 26th September 2014
Woke up to find a gale blowing, painfully bending the palm fronds into stiff fingers and pushing in some proper waves a-la-Irish-Sea. So, we left the pool behind for a change and after a large cappuccino (a large cappuccino is called a cappuccinione here, which is a bit naff) and a Danish pastry (tasty, plenty of raisins) we taxied to Mdina (for taxi driver, think Play Station novice). Mdina is an amazing walled city but spoilt a bit today by hordes of tourists in groups of various nationalities following umbrella-wielding leaders. First they were German, then English then suddenly we were in Japan! Anyway, it gave Lauren a taste of Mdina and she is looking forward to a quieter visit next time.
We returned to the flat and ate lunch in for a change – cheese and ham toasties and Milka milk chocolate with caramel cream (yum, yum). Then, guess what, it was over to Café del Mar again but the wind was a nuisance and the pool was full of scuba divers and I couldn’t stay awake so we didn’t stay long.
Dinner was AMAZING. Went to Lovage in Qawra, the best meal we have had in years, and given the travelling we have done, that is saying something. A modern and stylish restaurant, lovely glass, china and cutlery, friendly but very professional service and food to die for. I’m a good cook (actually I’m a great cook – just ask my mother) but I wish I could produce food this good. Aromatic fish soup, pork belly you can cut with your finger (I mean that literally, I did it), peppered lamb fillet, soft-as-you-like-fish, Valrhona chocolate mousse, and so on… We’ve already decided what we are going to have next time.
Sore feet
Thursday 25th September 2014
Another red letter day. Sam got up and joined us for breakfast. We had donuts the size and weight of shackle irons. Lauren and I went to the aquarium which was okay but full of noisy French people. Ooh la la. Ou est la toilette? Vache stupide! And so on. Then we bussed to St Juliens, saw and felt our first Maltese rain – just a few drops, hardly worth mentioning really – and got sore feet walking in the heat in bad shoes. Lunch was a snack at Piccolo Padre’s. The food was good but the staff were miserable as sin. Our waiter had a face longer than Red Rum.
At night went to our favourite classy restaurant, ideal for special occasions, Duo in Qawra. Well-cooked and beautifully presented food and some unusual dishes. Watch out for the portion sizes, though, you need a big appetite. In future we will stick to 2 starters or 1 main course each.
Cafe del Mar
Wednesday 24th September 2014
Today was a lazy day. We grabbed a cooked breakfast and watched the world go by. A tourist (presumably English) picked up his hire car and drove it the wrong way down a one way street (Tourist Street in Qawra). It’s dangerous enough here going the right way, so presumably we will read about him tomorrow in the Obits Column. The rest of the day we spent at the Café del Mar sunbathing and swimming. Dinner at The Plum Tree – good job it only cost EUROs 9.95 each – mmm…
Beautiful Valetta
Tuesday 23rd September 2014
Today was a red letter day for our family. I bought a hat. That may not sound exciting but actually what I should say is that my wife gave me permission to buy a hat. I know I don’t suit hats but my wife finds the look of me in hats hilarious to the point of hysteria. Anyway, oh-so-thin hair under oh-so-very-bloody-hot-sun won out. (I wonder though, should I say that hats don’t suit me? That way, I can blame the hat, not me.)
The thing is, though, that today should be remembered not for the hat but rather for the privilege of seeing one of the world’s most truly beautiful cities. We visited Valetta – vast, impressive, history-laden, culture-soaked, pretty to the point of disbelief, hot, humid, over-commercialised, please-can-I-buy-that-hat, lunch in Don Corleone-esk Trabuxo Bistro (yes, it is real), exhausting, inspiring, bring-a-lump-to-my-throat-beautiful Valetta – and staggered around in (allegedly) 93% humidity. I felt like I’d inadvertently trespassed upon the world’s greatest film set – but, no, this is too real, the buildings too large, too imposing, the avenues too solid and inspiring. This is the city that brings us vast sandstone buildings, McDonalds, the Upper Barrakka Gardens (no, not Barack Obama gardens, the world isn’t all about him), impossibly steep hills, a history so oppressive it almost pins you to the floor, a sense of other-worldliness that sucks you in whilst holding you at arm’s length, an awesome sense that you are visiting the scene of something vastly greater than your own worth in the world, and, of course, great ice cream. Well, we are only 60 miles from Sicily. I wonder if Don Corleone had sprinkles on his vanilla and chocolate cone?
I should mention our journey there. We bussed from Qawra to Sliema. Pleasant is the best word I can use to describe our trip. But Georgio’s in Sliema was delightful, pea Pastizzis with pain-au-chocolate and to-die-for cappuccinos. The toilets? Ah, don’t mention the toilets.
Then the shopping. I was with my wife (over 22) and my daughter (under 22). The good news (for women) is that there are dozens upon dozens of women’s clothes shops in Sliema. The bad news (for men) is that we had to visit them all and, to my untrained eye, they all looked the same. The same jackets, the same skirts, the same shoes, the same tops… you get the picture. Anyway, the women seemed happy, so, in turn, that should make me happy. The good news (for men)…ah sorry, there isn’t any!
There is a little ferry that takes you form Sliema to Valetta. I really can’t think of anything interesting to say about it! Oh, and if you are really lazy, fat, disabled or famous, there is a bus that takes you up from the ferry stop to the top of Valetta. God forbid that you should be expected to walk.
And finally, a word about the 5D cinema. We loved it! I’m not going to tell you about it. Just do it!
Valetta! Valetta! Valetta! Beauty, thy name is Valetta. Beauty cannot be forgotten whilst you are in the world, my wonderful Valetta! (Okay, I admit it, I’m reading too much Jane Austen on my Kindle.)
(Oh, P.S. If you are thinking of dining at the Great Wall Chinese restaurant in Qawra, don’t, unless you are a starving dog on the verge of death.)
Strange pastry
Monday 22nd September 2014
A cappuccino and a strange pastry (chicken, cheese and tomatoes), heavy as a brick, then off to the pool for the day. Dinner that night at an if-you-can-think-of-it-it-is-on-our-menu restaurant called La Stalla (or something like that). The girls (wife and elder daughter) had steaks – I had a rack of ribs the size of a shoebox. Must have been some pig.
Yum Yum Thai Green Curry
Sunday 21st September 2014
A very lazy day today, de-stressing and relaxing after the build up to our arrival here in Malta. Went to the pool (Café del Mar) to sunbathe, swim and read free books on my Kindle. Gotta love those free books! There are worse things in life than sharing a sunbed with Elizabeth Bennet. Dinner at our favourite (so far) Asian restaurant in Qawra, Flora, a mix of Chinese, Thai and Japanese foods. The vegetable Thai green curry takes some beating.
Here at last
Saturday 20th September 2014
An early start – 4am – for our Easyjet flight from Gatwick to Malta. Half an hour delayed, but smooth and safe, so who’s complaining? Went wandering around Qawra and Bugibba in the afternoon, just for a look-see. That night ate at the Overflow restaurant, one of our favourites in Qawra. The food is good, the service is as friendly as you can get, an all-round relaxed and homely feel. And it doesn’t break the bank.
We're off!
Friday 19th September 2014
At last! The day has arrived. The day we start our new adventure, a new life in Malta.
It seems so long ago, it is so long ago, since November last year when Sam (my wife) and I decided NO MORE WINTERS IN THE ISLE OF MAN! We had heard good things about Malta and I am not entirely unconnected to it. I have some heavily diluted Maltese blood from my maternal grandfather’s side of the family. My mother spent part of her childhood in Malta from 1936 to 1943, surviving the siege there to go on and make a great contribution to humanity – me. So, we spruced up our house, sold it on Facebook, talked about almost nothing other than Malta, holidayed there in May/June, found a flat in Qawra and hey presto, the day has finally arrived. Well, almost. Today it’s Easyjet to Gatwick, dinner at the Gatwick Oriental (great Singapore noodles) and the Premier Inn tonight. Our elder daughter Lauren is coming with us for a week’s holiday which is not only good in its own right, but she can help carry the suitcases – 8 (big ones, too) plus a guitar.