After a fabulous three days in Prague, I flew to Malta with my parents, ready for a brilliant ten days at my (ok...mummy's) holiday home. This was the first time I've returned to Malta in peak season (i.e. July/August) and I was super excited for some hot weather, family outings and lots of swimming time!!
Being quite the organised bunny, I had preplanned many of my upcoming adventures, and they began immediately! On my first day I went to visit my aunt, who unfortunately was about to embark on a trip to Canada with my uncle and two of my cousins, so this was my only chance to see them. We had a great morning though - went to the beauticians, had a delicious lunch of hobz biz-zejt, and generally just had a laugh. Then I went home with my other aunt, who had just picked her twin boys, Oli and Sebi, up from summer school. We had a jolly afternoon, with me reading the 'Magic Faraway Tree' to the boys to put them down for their nap, and then we spent some fun times swimming in the pool, and I even had time for a large glass of wine before heading home. Later that evening I had plans for dinner with my cousin Mike and his Canadian girlfriend, Amy, who I've known since she was little. I was pretty little back then too...
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| lava stone sirloin, with BBQ, peri peri & pepper sauces |
We went for dinner at this amazing restaurant called the Lava Lounge at the Valletta Waterfront, which is this fantastic stretch of restaurants and bars by the harbour in Valletta. I love it here because you can sit outside, right by the water, and it's a great place to people watch. I'd never been to this restaurant before but I do have to give them two thumbs up for the food. All three of us had steaks (I had the sirloin, which was enormous), which come out raw on a very hot lava stone, and they progressively cook as you're sitting there eating it. Really really delicious. And of course, the company was great too :D
I woke up bright and early on the Friday, and spent a lovely morning chillaxing on the lilo in my pool. It's amazing how quickly the time passes when you've got the sun and a great book handy. I didn't have much else planned for that day, besides chatting on the phone with relatives, and having a drink with an old friend in the late afternoon. A really relaxing day altogether.
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| Happy fun days!! |
On Saturday we kept up with mum's normal tradition of going to Mellieha bay, which she does every Saturday with her girlfriends. That day was no different. We picked up some gorgeously fresh bread to make hobz biz-zejt, and got there about 9.30, only to find my aunt and the twins had beaten us there by a full hour!! The sea was completely gorgeous, and we got sun beds by the waterfront, which is perfect. And then commenced a full day of eating too much, drinking a little bit, playing in the sand with the twins and gossip-mongering. My mum and her girlfriends love that part, especially when coupled with a few bottles of wine!!
On Sunday we had invited some family and friends over for lunch. This is also quite traditional for us - people come over around one o'clock, we drink sangria and splash about in the pool, and then I work up a sweat grilling some delicious meat on the BBQ. We always cook the little pink Maltese sausages (and we always ridiculously overestimate how many we need: seriously? 48 sausages for 11 people??). Usually we BBQ some chicken or pork steaks, but this time we decided to try out mum's new burger maker, so we made my favourite thai pork burgers with lemongrass, and harissa beef burgers. I'd made them before so I knew how good they'd come, but it came as quite a surprise to everyone else. And of course, we made a ton of roast potatoes, which is everyone's favourite food at my house.
After lunch we were all so full that we didn't have any space left for cheese or dessert. That's never happened before!! The grandmothers both had a bit of a nap, and we settled the children down on the sofa with the dvd 'Planes' and I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the pool with a glass of wine. Heaven!!
Monday dawned a beautiful day, and I was super excited because I was going along with mum on her work trip on the Fernandez. Apparently her company does this every year as a team building exercise, and because mum's boss is so lovely, she agreed to make an exception and let me come along. I'm so lucky :D
The Fernandez is one of the main tourist boats that leaves from Sliema in the morning and motors along to Mellieha Bay and Comino's Blue Lagoon. It's also one of the nicer boats. We set off quite early around 9.30, and I started having fun as soon as we hit the open sea. There was just enough swell to make the ride a bit bumpy, and the sea salt and the wind cooled us down and left us thirsting. It was the perfect combination of sun, sea, and of course, music (mum works for an audio visual company, so you can imagine the props they had with them!!).
We made anchor in Mellieha bay, and spent a brilliant hour 'walking the plank' (i.e. jumping and diving off the little spring board on the side of the boat). The water was super fresh, and nice and deep, and we had a jolly time diving about and chatting in the water. Then we decided to go up, start sunbathing, and hit the open bar!! Another highlight of the day - it was all you could drink wine and beer and we all took advantage!!
We had a lovely lunch on board the boat (I had fish...OMG it was delicious, and perfectly complemented by the fresh sea air), and then we set sail again for Comino's Blue Lagoon. This is one of my favourite places on the island - I used to visit all the time when I worked as a group leader - because of the brilliant turquoise of the water. It made for marvellous swimming, and because we were on the boat we weren't hampered by the crowds of tourists on the beach. After all that wine we were feeling a bit more adventurous, and jumps and dives had turned into crazy somersaults and belly flops. Not being a fan of pain, I avoided the belly flops and enjoyed a few somersaults into the water. Good thing I came prepared with a tightly fitting bikini!!
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| Blue Lagoon and the Fernandez |
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