Again, mostly a work day. Christine is making a change in something for her customer’s process, which is a nerve-wracking thing to do, and so I’ve been helping to test whether the change will be successful. We encountered a problem, and so hours of troubleshooting and retesting occurred today. We were flat-bound much of the day.
It was the warmest day yet – 77 degrees. There was a lot of activity out in St. Julian’s Bay, so I have a hard time concentrating for very long. I keep looking out the balcony doorway to see what is going on; I don’t want to miss anything.
It seems like daily there is a sailing lesson. We’ve started calling the little sailboats “ducklings on the pond.”
Our little quay across the street was a hub of activity and more and more people are getting in the water. A group of teenagers gathered and strung a line across the quay. One fellow was pretty amazing on that line, doing flips and tricks. We watched for quite a while.
Eventually, we were lured to the water. We went down the block to a souvenir shop and bought a couple of beach towels, then came back and put on our bathing suits and went across the street. We positioned ourselves on the rocks to the right of the short arm of the quay. Getting in the water is not an easy feat because of the rocks. You kind of have to pick a reasonable spot and scramble down into the water. And wow, was that water cold!!! I learned that the sea temperature around Sliema currently is about 62 degrees. But, it was so alluring to be in Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. So inch by inch, we crept out farther. With enough dousing of our bodies with handfuls of water, we finally took the plunge. It was wonderful! The water is so crystal clear, and due to the salinity, you’re very buoyant so you can easily float and just relax and let the water carry you along. At least, that’s what I did. Christine, on the other hand, paddled around down Exile beach. I got cold and came out of the water after about 10 minutes, while Christine stayed in for about 30 minutes. Our first Malta swim! What a treat.
After our lovely swim, we decided to go out for dinner. Christine has had her eye on a restaurant in St. Julian’s around Spinola Bay called Raffael. She looked at the menu when we walked by the place last week and saw timpana on the menu. This is a traditional Maltese dish of baked macaroni. Christine’s mother used to make it for her for her birthday, so it is a very nostalgic dish for Christine. It was a lovely evening and we thought sitting out on the terrace at Raffael would be a perfect thing to do. And it was.
Christine loved her timpana! We talked about Rose (Christine’s mom) and felt close to her. We hope she is happy that we are here in Malta; she certainly is with us.
As I said, it was a lovely evening and walking back to the flat was dreamy. Spinola Bay is really beautiful at night with all its lights and the reflections in the water.
I think the name of the restaurant on the left, Dolce Vita, is what we’re living. How blessed and lucky are we?!
What a life you are living !! For me this seems all new and totally unrelated to my memory, such as it is, of Malta ! I was looking for the little boats I remember called “dice-ahs” don’t know how it is spelled. Christine, do you remember them ?
Linda, thanks for the photos, and the visitors view of new things… I enjoy your comments so much ! I can’t believe the high rise buildings !
keep enjoying, Deeny
Hi Deeny – We’ve only seen one dghajsa. And what Christine thought were dghajsas, are really called luzzus. I found this article about these boats; http://www.maltauncovered.com/culture/maltese-boats-luzzu/. There are still luzzus all around, but probably their numbers are dwindling. We see elder men working on their luzzus at the boatyard in Spinola. We can still find glimpses of the “old” Malta everywhere, even though the skyline is nothing like you remember. Thanks for commenting! Again I’ll say, wish you were here!
Thanks for the article on the dghajsas..(.I would never have guessed how to spell THAT !) They were always so pretty on the water ! You are having a fabulous education/vacation, and I love your frequent writings…a book in progress !
I hope you bring a map of Malta home with you that I can see sometime….can’t figure out where I lived in relation to the Tyrrells.
Just keep having adventures !
I saw quite a few of them in Gozo, I love those boats as well.