Sunday
13th April 2014
We arrived in Malta around 1pm after catching a
plane from Gatwick at 6.30am Sunday morning. We had a 90 minute delay but
Marisa, our friend in Malta, whose villa we are renting was there to take us to
our ‘home for 3 months’ at Villa Vegas, Mellieha. It was 17 degrees…..I had expected it to be
hotter, not because I checked the weather out before we came, but it was quite
hot in UK when we left and just expected it to be hot. It had rained in the morning and was cloudy
but we were tired, so we unpacked (a bit) did some shopping (a bit) and relaxed
and went to bed around 9pm. We woke up
at 8am (we are one hour forward than UK) but still had 10 hours sleep! Monday
14thand we were here in Malta and not
about to rush home after one week. There had been no time, the weeks before leaving for Malta, John went to America and being ill, with food poisoning, upon his return and then going to John’s son’s wedding in Liverpool on the Wednesday, before we left for Malta. We came back Saturday 12th and we flew the next day. We had a lovely time in Liverpool (which was my first visit) and at the wedding. The bride and groom looked amazing….see photos of Nathan & Sarah & me outside Cavern club).
The kitchen in the villa was fully equipped with
even a food processor and with the offer, from Marisa, to ask for
anything……..all was well. John and I had
dinner and slept for a further 10 hours.
We had no TV or Internet as Marisa was updating TV/Internet package….so
tomorrow, maybe, we would have internet! Tuesday
15th : I woke up and shouted for my tea (further to shout as the
hallway from our bedroom to the kitchen was further away than our bungalow at
home!). I opened the curtains…..the sun was pushing its way through the clouds
and John said we have a power cut! No
problem as we did have a gas cooker so was able to have coffee/tea and breakfast. Earlier we had touched base with Hans Jorgen
Gotsche …..a Danish guy who we stayed with last September through AirB&B that Joanna put us on to. You can
(like our B&B where you rent a room in their house but anywhere in the
world. It’s a very cheap way to get accommodation eg. we paid 19 Euros/night
and had a very enjoyable stay) . Hans said that every Tuesday he goes to a big
Supermarket and would take us there to stock up, so we met him at 10am to get
our shopping. We will usually go everywhere by bus and hire a car ‘as and when’ we
need one. We can get any one of 8 buses
in the direction of Melleiha village or Gozo ferry..…or to the capital
Valletta. A weekly bus ticket cost 6.50
Euros. We have a fruit and veg van that
comes to our street who sells fresh local produce and the strawberries and big,
juicy and cheap. We got home from shopping and still had no
electricity. We have power cuts at home
but it’s different abroad, as at home, I can go to my workshop and do some of
my hobbies, but here, you are limited and you have to have some ingenuity to
think of things you can do. (You know me…I can’t sit still!). I took 3 good books to read……some sewing
materials (as I am going to make a quilt for my granddaughter Nancy) and took a
suitcase full of driftwood and beads to make a few items when bored…so have
plenty to do when not swimming in pool, sea or walking/sitting in the sunshine!
Marisa was in the big villa, besides ours, getting it ready for her Easter
guests, who were arriving Friday, so we helped her. She had just had the pool re-tiled with solar
tiles, as well as new pool lights . The surrounding area of the pool had been
re-painted white and we swept up the mess the workmen left and I did some
gardening….taking dead leaves off her shrubs and planting some Cacti….which I
had never done before! (My hands are
full of scratches!). John saw a dead scorpion and we didn’t realise that there
were any in Malta (we eventually googled ‘Scorpions’ and realised that we get
them in UK too!). Marisa told us that
men were filling the pool today with 28,000 gallons of water and we watched
every gallon go in! It now looks very different to an empty deep pool....with
it’s azure blue tiles and sunny
reflections on the water , but we can’t yet use as we have to wait for the
chemicals to be added. Saviour, Marisa’s brother-in-law, was going to do that
later. (We had met Saviour before as he drove us to our wedding venue in his
very posh Mercedes). 6pm and still no
electricity ….a bit worrying as the fridge was now full of food. Wednesday morning and we have power….it
came back on at midnight, so Marisa told us…but we were in bed before then as
we had been for a long walk Tuesday night and had dinner out (and a bottle of
wine) as we couldn’t charge our phones, had no internet, no TV but hey…it was
still good….we were in Malta! We
decided to help Marisa again today (not that she wanted us too but we offered
and it helped her as she had been delayed).
The electricity was off again but this time it was because the electrician
had turned it off as he was putting new lights around the pool area and BBQ…it
only took a couple of hours. At 5pm we
went for a walk to a favourite bar of ours, by the sea, and ordered a local
bottle of wine and took the bus back. Whilst waiting for the bus we talked to a
Swedish couple who said that their favourite day was a trip to Comino by boat
(the smaller of the two Islands….the other one being Gozo). I did the trip to
Comino 15 years ago, but will go again with John and swim in the Blue Lagoon.
It had been a lovely day….despite the fact that I couldn’t Skype my
grandchildren as the Electricity was off again as work was still being finished
around the pool late into the night. All
should be finished tonight though!
We woke up Thursday
with all ‘mod cons’ but still no TV (which wasn’t a problem ……YET!) . Tea
in bed and a blue sky….heaven! I had found BBC world service on my radio (and
bought batteries for any future power cuts) so it was great to get some news
around the world, sad stories regarding the boat sinking in South Korea and yet
all is calm in Malta….it makes you realise how lucky we are. Another item of news was of a shepherdess who
bought a farm in Northumberland…..in the middle of nowhere. She was only in her early 20’s when she
decided to buy the farm….her story was interesting and she has written a
book…..(note to self: must order a
copy). We went for a walk and got some more strawberries on the way home. I
finally Skyped Stefanie, Ruby and
Indi….who told me about their weekend away with friends. It was lovely to see
them….technology is good when working! Marisa invited us upstairs to her house
and gave us brunch to thank us for our help.
Good Friday – and Malta being
of Catholic Religion had processions going on everywhere. After a lazy morning at 3pm we got the bus to
Mosta Rotunda Church to watch the Good Friday Procession. Statues of Jesus and Judus and a full size
tree depicting the Garden of Gethsemane….with men, women and children dressed
authentically in robes ……I tell you those 12 men who carried the statues were
sweating big time. Girl Guide bands beating their drums ….very poignant. (see
photos).
Home on a bus (we were the last two people to be
herded on by the driver…whew!) and we stood ‘nose to nose’ on an extremely
crowded bus but at least, we managed to get home quite quickly. We popped into a bar for a nightcap and
walked back to Villa Vegas. Saturday morning looks great, not a
cloud in the sky and hot, hot, hot……we went for a long walk in the countryside
(it’s Malta’s equivalent to our woods, with natural habitat, wild flowers but
with terraced plots of cultivated land with all kinds of vegetables and olive
trees growing. We came to a dead end with
views overlooking the sea, it took 3 hours in the blazing sun, so we headed to
our favourite bar, had a late lunch with beer and fresh orange juice and walked
home by 6pm. Marisa and her daughters
came to see us and invited us up as they had been making special Easter
Figolli, which they give to relatives at Easter (it’s pastry made with egg
yokes and orange juice and peel with an almond mixture centre and covered with
chocolate and sweets). John and I tried and tested it and it was good, tomorrow
we will get a Easter present from them, I think…with Chocolate Easter bunnies on and everything!
It’s Sunday….and
we have been here one week. It’s hot and
the beach is calling us. We walked a few
K’s to get to Armier Beach…..which wasn’t as crowded as we thought being Easter
Sunday. I Spoke to my family on my
mobile , who had gathered at Andrea’s house. I was thinking about them and
missing them! Human emotions are
funny…we all need anchors like holidays or the attention of another person to
activate our emotions and I guess ‘missing your love ones’ is alI part of
it. I have loved the first week here and
look forward to the coming weeks when some of our friends and family
arrive.
Late due to no internet!
ReplyDeleteOur first week in Malta....bring on the rest!
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