Carol called Friday morning to ask if we wanted to go for coffee with her and John. Of course, the answer was yes. It has been so nice of Carol to include us in her outings with John. And I’m glad they have each other as friends. It’s good for both of them to stay active.
We walked over to Dingli Circus where Carol lives to meet them. There was a bit of a disagreement on where we would go. John wanted to drive all the way north to Golden Bay, but Carol nixed that, so we went to Bahar ic-Caghaq just a little way up the coast. This is where we tried to go that first Sunday and it was so crowded that there was no place to park. On a Friday, it was doable.
There is a lovely little restaurant right on the beach called Las Palmas. We took a table outside. Fortunately, the wind was not bad and the building provided shade. We all had brunch, including Carol, who after some haggling that John did, got an omelet that wasn’t on the menu. I think Carol probably gets what she wants most of the time. At any rate, it was a lovely spot and we enjoyed each other’s company. John was more talkative, which is nice. I think he has difficulty getting a word in when Carol is with him. The restaurant, in addition to lots of outdoor seating on both sides, has two nice indoor areas. A terrace is under a giant carob tree that Carol said is rare to find in Malta these days.
We spent the rest of the day lounging around and then went to Peppi’s for dinner. Christine didn’t like what she ordered, a salmon salad, that was so salty she couldn’t eat much of it. That was unfortunate.
On Saturday, we went to San Anton Gardens. We skipped the bus and went by taxi, which I’m really getting used to. Christine remembers San Anton Gardens from her childhood. We also visited the gardens when we were here in 2016.
San Anton Palace was built by one of the Grand Masters as his summer residence in the early 17th century. The gardens were created and expanded over the years. During British occupation, the palace was the home of the governor. San Anton Palace is now the official home of the President of Malta. I read that Queen Elizabeth stayed at the palace during royal visits in 1954, 1967 and 2005. It amazes me that anyone can walk right up to the home of the Maltese President. Except for a small guard checkpoint at the entrance to the private drive, there was no evidence of any other security, although I’m sure that there were surveillance cameras around. At any rate, the palace is surrounded by walls and is quite protected.
San Anton Gardens are laid out in a formal manner, with graceful walkways, sculptures, ornamental ponds with ducks and turtles, and a small aviary where there are peahens and peacocks which roam freely around the garden. The gardens contain a number of fountains and there are benches and places to sit in the shade and enjoy the sounds of the garden.
The gardens contain a large variety of trees and flowers from around the world, including a variety of palm trees, cypress, jacarandas, araucarias, and other exotic plants, some of them over three centuries old. For many years it has been customary for visiting heads of state to plant a tree in memory of their stay in Malta. The gardens also contain an orangery and it was once the practice of incumbent governors to give baskets of oranges grown in the palace gardens as gifts at Christmas time. I helped myself to an orange from one of the trees. It was a navel orange and was quite tart. Christine enjoyed it more than I did.
There weren’t many flowers blooming still, but there were splashes of color here and there.
And we came across a couple of cats lounging near the palace. Malta has lots of cats which are taken care of by an army of volunteers. Walking along the streets you’ll see water dishes, some food dishes and cardboard boxes for shelter. Cats are beloved in Malta. There was even a movie made a couple of years ago titled The Cats of Malta.
We really enjoyed our time at San Anton. There were lots of families with young children enjoying the gardens, which was nice to see. It was a calming and beautiful environment, providing a real haven from the hustle, bustle and noise of this over-touristed island.
We thought we’d find a place near the gardens for a late lunch. Not seeing anything noticeable, we walked across the street to the 5-star luxury hotel, the Corinthia Palace Hotel. Although we saw people eating in the lobby area, when we sat down thinking a server would come by, no one did. After 10 minutes, we got up and left. We ordered a cab and went back to our flat and had lunch there.
Later that evening, we ordered a pizza from the place next door and ate in. So two days of enjoyable, relaxed time in Malta. Our time is coming to an end, which is surprising that nearly 4 weeks have passed. We don’t have anything big planned, so we’ll take our time and just enjoy being here the next couple of days.