Malta, Final Days

After a few days travelling here and there we had a quiet day on Friday, staying in our little village of Xemxija, (pronounced Shemm-Shee-ya), the smallest resort on Malta. It gave me a chance to read through the chapters of my book, which I had printed and taken with me. I settled myself in the warmth of the sun and set about to work my way through the pages, keeping a good grip on them as there was a nice, breeze coming in from the sea.

Saturday dawned, our final day, and we had asked at the start of the week if we could keep our room as we were not due to leave until midnight. As we'd not heard anything, we went up to reception after breakfast, just to make sure only to be told that the hotel was full and we needed to check out by 11am, an hour later.

A little frustrated that they hadn't said anything earlier in the week, as we would have book a boat trip for the day or something similar, we went up to pack. One of the couples we had become friends with kindly said we could leave our cases in their room for the day and, as they were going out in the evening, we could use their room to shower and change ready for our journey home.

So, cases sorted for the day we just needed something to do. Normally, we went down the hill when we went for a walk but I had noticed a sign for Mistra Bay when we had been driving up the hill, and it was only 1km away, so it seemed and ideal please to walk to. Up and over the hill took approximately 1km where we were greeted by a roadsign off to the left saying Mistra Bay 1km, so that would be 2km to in total, and the same to walk back.

The lane off to the left took us down hill and under the road, among farm fields and allotments. Huge, large bamboo plants grew in great clumps and I would not have been surprised if the stems had parted and a panda had wandered out.

Finally, we rounded a corner and the bay stretched out ahead of us.

By the time we had finished our walk we were ready for a cool drink and the only place we could see was a restaurant called Margo's, a pizza restaurant.

We enjoyed a long, cool drink there and sat outside enjoying the sun when the restaurant's cat came to check us out. He was in extremely good condition and sat quite nicely posing for a photo.

While we were there we had a look at the menu and decided to share a pizza. 

And just for good measure we finished off with a fabulously light chocolate mousse and a coffee. It was a little gem and a shame we only discovered it on our last day. 

We took a leisurely walk back to the hotel and enjoyed the rest of the day before our very uneventful journey home. The routine at the airport was the same on the homeward journey in that as soon as I showed my medical card they took me to one side and patted me down before taking me around the x-ray machines to pick up me belongings from the conveyor. Being 1am, we were the last flight out at 3am and so the airport lounges were empty apart from our fellow passengers. 

So, the verdic on Malta.

We enjoyed the break and we enjoyed the warm sun. The Island is nice to travel around but small, and we would have struggled to spend 2 weeks there as neither of us are the type to sit about and sun bathe. Anyone into watersports would be well catered for but 1 week was ample for us. I'm glad I've been but it's unlikely we will go again, there are too many other places to visit. 

Malta Day 5

Today was the last full day we had the car, so we decided to head to the farthest part of the island and visit the reportedly pretty bay at Marsaxlokk on the south of Malta. Looking at the map it should have been a fairly simple journey as we needed to pass the airport and all signs seem to point you in that direction. However, although we did find our way past the airport we were on completely the wrong side to where I expected to be, but no problem, we would just do our sight seeing in the reverse order to how we'd planned it. 

First stop was Marsaxlokk, a pretty bay full of brightly coloured, traditional fishing boats, but a town whose name I never found out how to pronounce. All I know is that 'x' is pronounced 'sh' and it would probably be easier to pronounce after a few glasses of wine.

We started off with a coffee sat in a waterfront cafe while we sat and watched the boats bobbing about and the various tourists wander back and forth. 

There was the usually church

And market stalls all around the bay selling everything from lace and linens to pottery, glass and handbags.

After an enjoyable wander around we made our way back to the car to drive around the south coast, heading towards the Blue Grotto, where we were looking forward to taking a boat trip into the caves.

On arriving at the top of the cliffs we stopped to have a look around and came across this sign, notice the bottom comment:

"Today The Boats Not Working"

The wind was so strong that they couldn't sail the boats in and out of the caves without risk of hitting the rocks, so if you want to see what the various caves are like have a look here...

http://www.bluegrottomalta.com.mt/#!__page-16

Although the waves look fairly calm in the photo above, the one below shows a slightly different perspective but it didn't stop the divers getting in the water.

As we continued to walk around the cove we spotted a guy on the far side who was cliff diving, which looked quite impressive. I've ringed him so you can see where he is.

The water did look very inviting and it was probably the hottest day of the week and as we climb back up to the top of the cliff we passed several cacti, this was made me smile, especially the one with the smiley face. A version of graffiti.

It was a disappointment not to see the caves, but understandable why the
boats couldn't sail.

As we headed back to the hotel we took several smaller roads just to drive through the small villages dotted about the island and by the time we arrived back at the hotel we felt we had covered the majority of the island. In fact the only place we hadn't visited, and it was a deliberate decision not to go, was to the capital, Valletta. We decided that we didn't want to spend a day of our relaxing holiday wandering around the city. Some may think that an odd decision to take, but as both Neil and I were of the same opinion, it didn't cause any issue for us.

Tomorrow the car was due back so as we parked the car outside the hotel, we emptied it of our rubbish and locked it for the last time. It had done us proud for the last few days and we'd used less than half a tank of fuel.

We spent an enjoyable evening in the hotel bar and restaurant with 2 other couples we had become friends with, an English couple who live in the south of France and a couple from Torquay. This was the 3rd night that we had spent chatting over a few drinks and the 3rd night we were asked to leave at 11.30pm because the bar staff were due to go home. Hey Ho.

Malta Day 4

We awoke to bright sunshine and decided to drive to Mdina, the walled city which used to be the capital of Malta. The main entrance is across a bridge of arches 

 But somehow we managed to arrive at the back entrance to the city.

Mdina is a labyrinth of narrow streets, all just wide enough to take a small car but as cars are banned from the city, save for a few belonging to the residents, the main way of getting about is on foot. There are horse and cart rides to be taken bu it's actually quite nice wandering around the quiet street.

There were statues all over the place...

Lovely houses hidden in little courtyards...

 

And fabulous views across Malta from a cafe overlooking the walls...

After wandering all around Mdina we decided to take a drive out to Dingley cliffs for a late lunch. High on the cliffs was a restaurant aptly named The Cliffs and just across the road you can see why.

On the way back we followed directions for the craft village, completely unaware what we would find. It turned out to be a site full of old nissan huts that had been converted to a variety of craft shops selling all sorts of pottery, glass, jewelry and clothing. 

There are some purpose built buidlings...

And in one of them they were hand blowing glass.

Overall, we had a great day driving around the Island on day 3.

In the evening we got chatting to 2 other couples in the hotel bar and started to compare our rooms. We have aircon but no remote to change the temperature, it's either on or off but we do have a remote to the tv, although we only have 3 channels, one in English, one in German and one in Italian. Lorraine and Steve had no electric for 2 days and had been given emergency lights and when they did have electric they only had Turkish tv. Brian and Kim had leaky toilet and had towels wrapped around the base to prevent the bathroom flooding, they had German tv and no tv remote but do they do have a remote to the aircon. And we all have a switch that we don't know what it does but in different places.

Compared to no electric and leaky toilets, I thought we were doing fairly well.

Malta - Day 3.

Today I woke at 5am so I must be catching up on my sleep. Through the gap at the top of the curtains I thought I saw a couple of flickers and, as I got up to investigate, I heard the distant rumble of thunder. Stepping out onto the balcony I could hear the patter of raindrops as they hit the surface of the swimming pool and a sudden flash of flight over the hill confirmed that the thunderstorms had arrived over the Island.

I decided to sit and watch the sun rise over Buggiba and settled myself at the back of the balcony protected from the rain by the overhang of the balcony above. Before the glow of sunrise had begun I noticed the tiny lights of little boats as they set off out of the bay on a days fishing. Lightening continued the flash over the hills behind Buggiba but the increasing time between it and the peel of thunder told me the storm was moving away, but it showed no signs of taking the rain with it.

As the sun began it's ascent the town across the bay glowed as if on fire, as if the lightening had struck and set the town alight. 

As I continued to watch the glow dispersed as the sun moved higher until the full effect of daylight showed  a wet rainy day ahead.

Breakfast over, we decided we needed a plan for the day. We could go south towards Valletta, but that way looked dark and cloudy and looked as if he rain was there for the duration. Northward looked more promising as the clouds were broken and there were glimmers of brightness. "Let's head north," says I. "We may get the better weather that way. Let's risk it and head to Gozo."

The ferry port was only 9km away and it wasn't long before we were entering the channels funnelling the vehicles towards the already docked ferry. We followed the car infront, at each turn expecting to be stopped and asked to pay - but we weren't. 

Finally we were deep into the belly of the ship feeling a but like Jonah, and still no one had asked us for any money. As we locked the car prior to heading into the passenger area of the ship the chap in the car behind us called across, "What do we do about paying?" We replied that we were also wondering that very thing ourselves.

20 minutes later we were back in our car and disembarking. As we headed on land the rain hit our windscreen and we realised it was going to be a wet trip.

We followed the traffic with very little plan of where to go. Before we knew it we were in Victoria, where the rain continued and the traffic was one long queue. we decided the last thing we wanted to do was to wander around the town in the rain and so we decided to drive straight through and head for Marsalfona.

After a couple of wrong turns we finally were on the right road and, as nothing on the map takes very long to reach, we were soon driving into Marsalfona, a pretty town on the waters edge with a lovely bay. We looked around for somewhere to stop and noticed a cafe with a parking spot just outside. That would do. It wasn't cold so we dashed under the cover of the cafe and sat gazing out to sea while the rain continued. We got chatting to the people at the table behind us and found that they were on their holiday from Spain, although they were English. A little more conversation and we discovered they lived less than an hour from where we used to live in Spain and where we used to visit if we fancied a curry. small world.

While we chatted we didn't notice that the rain had stopped and so it was a nice surprise when we began our walk back to the car and realised I didn't need my umbrella. I could see that the road around the bay took a steep uphill climb and I thought it would be a good place to take a photo so off we tootled.

And I was right, it did make a nice photo.

As we carried on around the coast we saw signs for Saltpans and, not knowing what it meant we carried on to find this.

It reads: "Sea-salt production has a long history on the Island of Gozo.  The rock-cut saltpans protruding into the sea have their origin from the times of the Romans, who converted the unsorted pans into square constructions and furnished them with an irrigation system. Today, a number of families in Gozo still use the natural way of salt production to produce this commodity. The salt pans are filled with sea water. When the water is evaporated in the bowls, the film of salt is harvested. Salt production takes place between May and September."

We stopped to have a look and take the obligatory tourist photo.

After that, we carried on along the coast and were suddenly driving up a really steep road, the car struggling even in 1st gear, until we reached the top and found ourselves in a pretty but small hilltop village with very narrow streets. We had a little drive around and nothing was open and no-one was around, so we assumed it was lunchtime and left t make our way back through the Island towards the ferry. On our return journey we discovered the answer to the riddle of not paying, they allow you into Gozo for free, you pay to get out. It was a most bizarre amount too, for a car, driver and passenger it came to 20.35 Euros - why not just 20?

We were soon leaving the harbour over looked by 2 large churches, Malta & Gozo have a lot of churches, and before long we were back on Malta. On the way to the ferry that morning I had noticed signs to the Red Tower and out to vista point so, as the sun was now shining I decided we would have a drive to see what the Red Tower was and here it is.

It's a fort built in the mid 1600's and is in remarkably good condition. See here for more information. http://www.mellieha.com/places_interest/fortifications/red_tower.htm

After wandering around the fort for a while and taking a few more photos 

we headed back to our hotel to get ready for our night out and a curry.

Our trip to Malta - Day 2.

Today we were up in time for breakfast and wandered downstairs along with the other guests. It gave us an idea how many were staying at the hotel and from the numbers I would say that it's less than half full.

Today was exciting for us as they were delivering the car around noon. Not knowing what Maltese time keeping is like I wasn't sure whether noon really meant noon or whether it meant somewhere between 11 & 1.

As the sun had burnt through the clouds Neil decided to make use of the pool. It's a  salt water pool and from Neil's reaction not the warmest of pools he's ever been in. I decided to play safe and grabbed a seat in the sun, a swim was not on my agenda and I settled with my books instead.

Near noon we made our way to reception to wait for our car, camera at the ready so we could jump straight in and start exploring. Barely ten minutes after noon our car arrived with an apology for his lateness. He said the car we had ordered had not been brought back so they had brought an alternative. Paperwork signed, we jumped in and headed off around the coast road towards Buggiba, the main town on St Paul's Bay.

As we entered Buggiba the difference between it and our tranquil setting was obvious. The streets were packed with buildings from very old to fairly contemporary. Along the seafront the buildings sat shoulder to shoulder, not a space to be seen between them. Across on the seafront every inch was taken by a bar or restaurant with a platform onto the edge of the water. As we walked along towards the main square the density of shops and restaurants continued 

and the vibrancy and pace of people was far above that of our little sleepy hamlet, only a 10 minute drive away but worlds apart in atmosphere. Buggiba was a nice town to visit but I was very pleased I had not booked our week there.

We carried on around the headland of St. Paul's Bay,  past a strange building that we had seen from our hotel room but had been unable to guess what it housed.

 I thought it may have been a sports stadium but it turned our to be the aquarium centre. If we do get the rain that has been promised that would be a good indoor visit.

After stopping at a bayside restaurant for lunch, we continued our circuit of the bay until we reached the road back to the hotel. The little car was fine for what we wanted to do and suited the narrow streets perfectly.

Back at the hotel we decided we would make use of our half board status and ate there, later we parked the car and walked down to the bottom of the village to take advantage of a couple of beers and free wifi. Last night's hotel food had been good but tonight it wasn't up to the same standard, although I did enjoy my swordfish. We had decided we would try the nearby Indian restaurant tomorrow night so after dinner we took a walk along the main street to check what time it opened and then had coffee at the Beach Haven bar which has a pontoon out over the water. 

It is so relaxing sitting there watching the boat lights in the distance bobbing up and down and listening to the gentle waves as they break against the rocks.

Tomorrow we will head north towards the island of Gozo and take the ferry across to have an explore around the smaller island.

A trip to Malta.

Day 1

The short version for those in a hurry:

We nearly missed our flight - but didn't.
We nearly got rained on - but didn't.   
We nearly went hungry - but didn't.

For those with a little bit more time, grab yourself a cuppa and read on...

Saturday stretched ahead of us with hours before the flight.  There were a number of jobs to do before taking the dogs to my sister-in-law's where they would be spoiled rotten for the coming week. While giving Brandy a huge 'I'll miss you loads' hug he yelped as if I'd hurt him and as I let him go he ran for his Dad. Feeling terribly upset for doing nothing wrong I tried to get him to come to me, but he was having none of it and I began to wonder if he had realised something was different about today.

The first job was taking Neil's car to the garage for a repair and MOT while we were away. Both dogs enjoy a ride in the car and I popped them both on the back seat hoping this treat may get me back in Brandy's good books. Half an hour later saw us all back home and Brandy was definitely thawing. 

Next job on the tick list was a final walk with the dogs and although the sky was threatening rain we did our usual circuit of the estate. With the dogs well settled the  hard work of packing and cleaning began. I, like many, prefer to come home to a clean house but it means more work before leaving. Eventually, the bags were packed, the dogs were delivered and we were on our way to the airport when I realised the first thing we had forgotten - our coats. Although we hoped not to need them while away the forecast for the week was rain and thunder so it was wise to take them - plus we would definitely need them on our return to the UK at 5am in a week's time.

Coats on board we set off for the airport once more, both equally convinced we knew where we were going, both equally convinced which exit we needed from the motorway and, as it happened, both equally wrong. By the time we realised we were on the wrong road we had lost half an hour of our travel time and the relaxed journey turned into a fraught dash to reach the airport in time to check in.

As it turned out the half hour delay worked in our favour as, by the time we arrived the normally large queue had already been checked in and we walked straight to the desk. Only one more hurdle to get over. This was my first flight since having my pacemaker fitted and, although I am aware many people fly with pacemakers , I was unsure of the procedure through security and I am not good with uncertainty. I asked at the first check point to see what I needed to do and they advised me to speak with the people where you put your belongings in to baskets prior to walking through the scanner and they would sort me out.

I handed my pacemaker card go the chap and he called a lady over who explained I would be be taken past the body scanner and would be frisk searched instead. They  asked to see my passport to make sure the name agreed with my pacemaker card and that I hadn't borrowed one to help me bypass security and, frisk over, I was free to rejoin Neil. Finally we could relax and look forward to the flight.

Once on the plane the pilot explained we would have a smooth flight until we were near Sicily where there were thunderstorms.

It was a night flight and as we approached Sicily we could see the sky lighting up in the distance as the lightening flashed almost constantly. To avoid the turbulence the pilot flew around the storm leaving us 15 minutes later on arrival but having had a very uneventful journey.

Our driver was waiting when we got through customs and we were soon on the final leg of our journey. A further 30 minute drive on roads which were far busier than expected, considering it was 3am, and we pulled up at our hotel. This would be home for the next week.

It was not surprising we slept through breakfast considering the late arrival but 2 things had stuck with me from our conversation with the driver from last night. The first one was a good point - that the weather forecast didn't always refer to the weather over the island. Malta covers a distance out to sea and often when they they forecast thunderstorms they aren't over the island. The second, and more concerning comment was that he'd previously been unaware of our hotel due to its remote setting. Considering that we had missed breakfast and that we weren't getting our car until tomorrow I began to worry  what we were going to find close by for our first meal in Malta.

As anyone would on the first morning abroad we flung back the curtains to take in the view. 

We knew we had a sea view as we had seen the harbour lights the night before and now we could take in our fill of the vista... through the rain. Taking on an 'Oh Well!' attitude we went to get ready for our search for food in the rain.

By the time we reached reception the rain had stopped, confirmed by looking across at the still waters of the swimming pool. Things were looking up. Remembering the remoteness comments of the driver we asked where we could find somewhere for breakfast.

"Just along the main road." replied the receptionist.

Sure enough only 15 minutes walk brought us to a very busy restaurant serving a wide range of hot and cold food. We took an outside table at the roadside across from an array of small boats bobbing along at their moorings. 

As we sat sipping our coffee and drinking in the atmosphere the clouds started to move and the sun began to shine. Maybe today would be a good day after all.

So now I'm sitting on the hotel balcony gazing out across the black water to the bright lights of the town across the bay, listening to the gentle waves as they meet the rugged coastline. A few boats light up the the waters out to sea and I assume there is heavy cloud cover as there is not a star to be found in the dark night sky, so black it's impossible to see where the sea stops and the sky begins.

I reflect on day 1 of our holiday. I knew English was widely spoken here but was surprised to see they drive on the left, as we do. I knew they used the Euro here but was surprised to find the electric sockets are the same as ours, not that it stopped me almost blowing up my travel hairdryer as I put 240 volts through it while it was still set for America's 110 volts.

We have  found a few bars and restaurants along the water's edge which I am sure we will sample as the week progresses. It is an ideal place to relax which is what this week is about.  Tomorrow we get our hire car and begin to explore the island and I can add a few more photos to the ones I have taken from the balcony today.

Now it is time to sleep off the 2 large glasses of red wine .

Christmas has been and gone for another year.

It never ceases to surprise me how weeks of build up, planning and mayhem in the shops can be over so quickly. The wrapping paper is in the recycling, the chocolates are all eaten and the turkey bones have been picked clean.

The biggest decision I need to make now is when do I take the Christmas tree and cards down. My instinct is to put them all away on New Years day, before I go back to work. Somehow, I can't imagine coming home from work on Wednesday and being reminded it's still technically Christmas.

On reflection, this Christmas has been quite calm. I did a lot of my gift buying online, and all my items arrived in time for Christmas, even though I was quite late ordering some. Royal Mail did a good job for me and saved any last minute panic buying.

Every year I tell myself I will start preparing earlier, and every year I don't.

There is a tradition starting to take hold in our Christmas's - each year something happens with an item of food. One year we lost the Christmas pudding, only to find it lurking on the top shelf of the 'beer' fridge several days later.

This year, it was the turn of the Christmas cake that never was. We always buy our cake, and this year was no different. We were in the cake section at out local supermarket, we picked up the right size box in a Christmas style. The cake inside was iced with a sprig of holly indicating Christmas. It was in the trolley and through the checkout with the rest of the shopping to tide us over Christmas week. I have written before how I love a chunk of cheese with my Christmas cake and so I was treating myself to a block of Red Leicester cheese, something that was off my list of foods since my cholesterol issue. 

And so, Christmas dinner over, washing up done (and yes, it does still get done by hand even though I have a dishwasher in the kitchen, a personal preference) we settled down to a coffee and a piece of Christmas cake and a nice sized chunk of cheese.

The first cut into the cake was fine,

 the second led to such disappointment. There was no rich fruit cake hidden under the pure, flat, white icing. Not even a sponge cake with a few raisins in. Underneath that Christmas holly was a Madeira cake. What???  Yes, of course it said it on the box, but we hadn't read the words, simply looked at the box and the cake inside and made an assumption that we had a Christmas cake.

And no, cheese and Madeira cake does not work!


However, if that's the worse that went wrong this Christmas, we can consider to have done OK.

Another off the 'Bucket List'

I've always enjoyed visiting America and love watching programs of the American way of life. Since meeting our California friends in 2004 we are just back from our 6th visit with them. This time, I managed to tick another of my ambitions off the list.

To experience a real American Thanks Giving (Sorry, my Canadian readers) as portrayed in American programs such as Cheers, Frasier, Friends and many more.

So, when we were planning our annual break earlier this year we decided we would re-visit California and so I asked it if would be ok for us to go over for Thanks Giving, the last Thursday of November.

I was so pleased when our friends said we could and the flights were booked back in June and I have been ticking the days off ever since, well Virgin Atlantic have as everytime you open up their website to manage your trip there is a large banner across the top telling you how many days, hours and minutes until you fly. And, if it wasn't for this, we would have been at the airport a week too early as I had all my dates wrong in my head and thought we travelled on the 12th, not the 19th - ooops!

In the run-up to our trip Lynn emailed to say their kitchen re-model was running behind schedule and as we arrived there would be no-where to sit downstairs, all the kitchen items being stored throughout the lounge and dining area, no where to sit in the family room as that too was being re-decorated as it runs on from the kitchen and no-where to sit outside as the furniture from the family room was out in the yard.

There was no-where to cook and no tv, but we were still very welcome to stay as the upstairs was untouched and so we could still sleep and even watch tv in one of the other bedrooms where there grandson stays when he's on his weekly overnight visit.

Effectively we would be camping out indoors. No problem, we said, we're coming to spend time with you, it will be fun whatever we do.

I admit there was an element of me that thought Lynn may have been over-exaggerating a little so that when we got there we were prepared for the worse - but she wasn't.

The re-model was originally planned to start in May. Delays meant it had to be postponed until after the family re-union in August. Once started, with plenty of time for completion before we arrived, there were snags and un-expected jobs that kept cropping up. Result - nowhere to sit, eat, cook ot watch tv.

Our first couple of nights were spent in a local hotel as Lynn & Andy were both away for the weekend and we booked a game of golf for the Monday after which we would make our way to their house. The golf was good and although it was the first time my golf clubs had been out in over a year, I was surprised to see I could still whack a good ball down the middle of the fairway.

When we finally arrived at the house we were met with an exact match to Lynn's description with one addition - Andy was very unwell, with manflu - and getting worse. He battled on being sociable serving drinks in his office while we all perched on a variety of chairs, stools and desks. Afterward we ate out, as we planned to do for most of the holiday due to the lack of cooking facilities in the house.

While out, they received a phone call about there grandson, he too was very unwell and needed taking to the doctors in the morning, could Lynn take him as his Dad was also down with man-flu and his mom was working. Result - he was brought through to stay the night and our tv priviledges were withdrawn as he would now be sleeping in the room with the tv.

American man-flu certainly seems to hit hard, that was 3 generations of men in one family - wow!