Confessions of an Author

Monday:  Big breakfast – lots of food in fridge to be eaten. Went back to Dwejra. Had a boat trip. You get the boats from the little Inland Sea, €4 per person, takes 15 minutes. We went through a narrow passage in the rocks towards open sea. One woman got scared by the waves and deep water, so the boatman returned her to shore. She was apologetic and embarrassed but we were pleased- meant we got to enter the cool dark narrow bit twice for free. Mr Boatman pointed out deep blue water ( it looked dyed) cool orange coral, caves, interesting rock formations. Excellent trip, not expensive and short enough for me to not get bored. Found Blue Hole, which looks a lot bigger in guidebook photos. Saw Qawra Tower which the Knights built to guard Fungus Rock but car refused to stop at best photo stop on the hill. Went into the glass shop which had some surprisingly beautiful glass. I like Dwejra, it’s busy, interesting and there are some really cool natural features. Scratchy rocks really...

Monday :  Husband went to buy water and milk. Hard to find full fat milk here. Today bought 2.5% fat. I think the darker the blue of the carton, the higher the fat content. But not necessarily. Discussed family chores as husband has decided everyone should help (that idea went so well last holiday.) R and M responsible for all dishwasher duties. They immediately formed a trade union and appointed R as spokesperson. Spent some time discussing terms and conditions with husband, who tried to instigate penalty clauses but R told him it contravened European law. So glad he started this. Son 2 (in charge of rubbish disposal) kept offering to strike in support of R and M. After lunch walked to square. Full of dusty roadworks, so continued round the corner to a little cafe. Had ice creams and coffee. ( I had Malteaser ice cream – clearly from Malta.) Hot walk back to villa. Went to Victoria as R wanted to buy gifts (yaay shopping, my favourite.) Very windy. Told a storm was coming, ...

Wednesday:  Lazy day. Unpacked, did washing. Cooked pancakes and bacon – all takes ages in unfamiliar kitchen. Kitchen is beautiful but rather lacking in equipment. Used salad bowl to make batter. Only coffee maker seems to be a Nespresso machine ( but no capsules) or a cracked cafetiere which I don’t fancy using. Think maybe a dog mauled it at some point. Pool boy came. He was about 70. Boys found some toy boats and had races with them in indoor pool. So glad the sophistication of the villa has affected them. Got cinema room working, watched a mandarin dvd. Horrid lunch. Hate Lidl. Played ‘Game of Thrones’ board game. I still don’t understand the rules. Much testosterone fuelled arguing and making of alliances. Was a very long game. Lucky we weren’t in a beautiful villa with views across a valley full of sunshine. R hibernated somewhere. Wise girl. Of course, the best thing of all is that long after the game FINALLY ended, it could be discussed at length, each move analys...

Tuesday:  Breakfast at 9 (8 for me, am keeping to UK time. Mainly because it annoys the males.) Husband collected a plateful of Maltese food ( pickled herrings, pea pastries, cheese). Ate a few mouthfuls, then collected a plateful of English breakfast food to ‘dilute’ it with. Told him he’s getting portly. He did not appreciate feedback. Didn’t go to the Hypogeum in Paola as you have to book and there are no vacant slots for the next 20 years. Drove to Hagar Qim to look at Mnajdra temples. Arrived 11:55. M again hardly mentioned “midday sun” at all. There was an interesting 4D film before the monument ( my kind of history, short, informative and no long boring information boards to read.) Temples were unusual. And hot. Drove back to St Julian with no detours. Son 2 told us, ” it helps if you know where you are when you start.” Explains a lot.   Checked out and ate lunch in hotel lobby. Nice food. R said she needed to recharge all her electronics as her plug co...