This will be a short post today. We didn’t do much because I’m not feeling well. I picked up a touch of intestinal upset, probably all those mussels I had the other night. Other than enjoying our view and watching all the activity in the bay, we laid low and stayed in most of the day.
A new pickup location for tourist trips was built across the bay at the entrance to the Portomasso marina and so we saw two tall ships come to pick up the day trippers. I didn’t take photos of all the activity in the bay, unfortunately. On weekends, all kinds of boats come into St. Julian’s bay to spend the weekend so there was a lot to watch.
The one thing we did do was go to “our rocks” for a swim. In past visits we had spoken with a group of older Maltese ladies who come to spend the morning on the rocks, swim, and gossip. We called them the jellyfish patrol because on our last visit they would search for jellyfish and use a plastic bag to scoop them out of the water so they could swim safely. I spotted the group this morning so that encouraged us to head down to that area and go for a swim.
When we arrived we asked how the jellyfish were and the 4 women all enthusiastically said no jellyfish and the water was beautiful. It’s not easy to get into the water because of the jagged limestone in most places, but these women all pointed the way for us to go in. And Christine was off for a nice swim.
The water temperature in Sliema was just slightly higher than in Xlendi, 63 degrees. I stood up to my knees for a very long time and finally took the plunge. I’m not much of a swimmer these days so I just floated for a while. Although cold, it felt good to be in the sea. I waited for Christine to loop back to where I was so she could see that I actually made it into the water.
After her swim, we sat on the rocks for a while and then returned to the apartment for lunch. Even though it is noisy, we do sit out on the balcony for meals to enjoy the scenery. I think it will be a little less noisy during the week with all the weekend crowd back home.
I kind of crashed after that and took a very long nap. Dinner was Christine’s leftover linguine lobster and shrimp along with some of my leftover mussels. I wasn’t up for eating much of that. Christine made contact with her Maltese cousin Carol and her husband Joe. We’ll get together the end of the week.
It was an early bedtime for me and the end of our first full day in Sliema. Christine, having been to our rocks, communed with the Maltese jellyfish patrol, and swum in the beautiful water of St. Julian’s Bay, is feeling much better about being here. We’re making the apartment our own, so to speak, rearranging things and settling in. So, as our friend Reva would say, it’s all good.
Let me get this right- you thought you got sick on mussels and then had leftover mussels the next day?????
Sort of. I didn’t partake of any mussels in the leftovers, just a couple of shrimp and pasta. I didn’t eat much. But I feel better.