Day 1 of a week in Malta

So randomly a week ago my mum called me and said there were super cheap flights to Malta going and would I like to come for a quick trip?? Clearly my answer was yes - somehow the fact that I'm totally swamped with work went out the window and I was keen as a bean.

hmmm...how many glasses of prosecco in are we?

I arrived last Saturday night after a pretty uneventful trip (for a change). Mum picked me up from the airport and brought me home, where I immediately unpacked all the English goodies I had brought her: pork and apple sausages, black pudding and smoked applewood cheese. Then I went to bed cos we had a super long day ahead of us on Sunday.

tee hee, check out the sunglasses

I woke up ridiculously early on Sunday morning. Even though I hadn't had much sleep once the sun came up I was awake and eager to get some tea and maltese bread for breakfast. Yummy. Mum and I did a bit of early morning shopping (for food) and prepared all the stuff we were planning to bbq, then spend a bit of time in the sun.

My aunt, uncle and their twin boys, Oli and Sebi, arrived around 11.30 and the boys were all cute and full of smiles. Because they so rarely see me and they aren't even three years old yet, they were initially super shy. They couldn't figure out who I was and kept calling my Becky - my sister's name. They did eventually get a little used to me, but I'm planning to get them to remember my face this week, even if I have to stick a picture of it above their cots.

They let me play with fire in this state

yummy yummy veggies

Our lunch

parma ham and parmiggiano

I was in charge of the bbq-ing, as usual, so I got going around then. I cooked marrows, aubergines and peppers, potatoes in their skins, maltese sausages and marinated pork loin - some of my favourite things. Mummy had also prepared parma ham with rucola, parmeggiano and olive oil which we tucked into as a starter. I think everyone really enjoyed the food, but they all definitely enjoyed the prosecco and then the wine we were drinking.

After the main bit of the meal I went over to play with the twins, who were splashing about on the stairs near the pool. They'd been fairly well-behaved all day, playing with their buckets and spades and talking nineteen-to-the-dozen. We had a bit of a splash about, the pool is still a little cold because it's only April, and the weather was a bit variable that day. Quite a few clouds were scurrying about and it was fairly windy. Little did I know how high the UV index was :(

Nanna and Annemarie, chillin' in the sun

So I had just sat down with everyone else, and we were enjoying a bit of cheese and bread and more wine. We got out the after dinner liquers - I was drinking a lovely thing called Ramazzoti. I can't really remember who I was talking to at this point but suddenly I saw my mum's boyfriend, Ric, leap out of his chair and into the pool fully clothed, just as Sebi jumped into the pool totally arm-bandless. He went straight under and thankfully Ric got to him super quickly. Poor Sebi was crying and shocked and just as Ric handed him to his mother, he chundered everywhere!! And I mean everywhere!! I know... because I cleaned it up!!!

At least they were wearing arm bands at some points

I guess that put quite the dampener on the rest of the afternoon. The twins were crying and sleepy, and everyone was discussing how babies should wear arm bands at all times. How were we to know Sebi would randomly jump in the pool?? Then my other aunt and uncle and their children showed up for tea and we retold the story again and again. Thankfully we'd managed to put Sebi down for a nap at this point, but I think the poor kid is a little traumatised. Neither he nor his brother would stop crying when their mother eventually took them home.

Oli, how much do you dare me to jump in??

I'm gonna do it!!!

So finally we had the house to myself. That's when I realised that not putting sun cream on today was a bit of an error. My arms and back are bright red and so hot!! The burns are luckily not too bad, but a beach trip was planned for the next day which could be a bit dangerous with this kind of sun out.


Mum and I finished off the day by going walking - we walked down towards Pembroke and ended up in the countryside in a place we hadn't been to before. We were out for over an hour and even though it was about 7.30 when we got home, it was still super hot and we were sleepy bunnies. Long first day, but all the fun and excitement I expected it would be :D