Thursday was a bit of work while on holiday then a car sale day! Rols red cappuccino was ready to go! As Rols is now back in France I was entrusted with the transaction! Reconnecting battery, starting her up, meeting the buyer (in the garage) and signing paperwork and collecting the “dosh”. All went well after double counting the sale cash in the back of the garage, it was off to the bank to deposit in Rols account! A two hour wait (standing) waiting for the one (on trainer wheels) cashier, only to be told they don’t accept cash? Back to receptionist to ask what I do to then be told “sit down lady, there’s others before you”. Now while the thought of sitting down sounded like bliss after two hours of standing, I was getting a little cross wondering how much longer this would take as I did not want to wander out with the pile of cash! Finally, as the bank was closed (by now) and I wasn’t moving, a nice young man took me into his office and explained I could feed it into the money machine outside! I looked blankly and as he was probably wanting to go home he very kindly said he’d help! So off we went to deposit several bundles at a time and the “machine” counts and issues receipts! One hiccup where the “machine” stopped and spat out 2×10€ notes as one was a bit folded – and we started again! 4 x 100€ notes to go and my new best friend said not to put these in as the machine will jam! So we tallied up all the receipts (5 of them) and te total was 100€ short – somewhere along the process (probably the 10€ hiccup) the “machine” had lost 100€! My new friend emailed in a query and promised to let me know when the days takings were counted – that was Thursday – still waiting Sunday evening….so I’m guessing my sales commission has been lost in cyberspace! (Along with my tolerance for Maltese banks)
Having to gather myself for an evening outing, it was off to my cousins Neville and Michelle and almost 2 year old Mason Blake (meeting him for the first time) We had a lovely BBQ and took to the homeward journey like a duck out of water, missing the bypass and detouring along the northern waterfront in the night time traffic but eventually arriving home (11.30pm)
Friday was a work catch up morning for me, a shopping excursion ( before 1pm closing) more work for me in the afternoon and off to Sammy and Anna’s for Sammy’s famous seafood marinara spaghetti! Another delicious meal out!
Saturday morning saw another plumbing issue needing to be solved – this time the apartment below us, but as we have the roof, and the access is through Jills room, we were all up bright and early for the 7.30am visitors!
Day planned, we left our neighbours to lock up so we could reach Mdina(the silent city) in the middle of the island early!
And it was lovely and silent – us being the first patrons on the wall terrace cafe for morning coffee at 9.30am! Looking here back at the city
And our table with a view from the wall…
Words of wisdom in the cafe garden below…
Followed by a wander through the still quite quiet city…
A little shopping in the Mdina glass shops and back out over the bridge and moat gardens….
As the mainstream hoards of 11am tourists flocked in – groups of French school kids, English, Italian the main visitors to the Island this summer it seems!
Next on the agenda was St Paul’s Grotto – St. Paul’s Grotto is set beneath the beautiful St. Paul’s Church in Rabat. According to the Book of Acts it was here that St. Paul and his missionary party took refugee after their ship wrecked on the island of Malta on their way from Crete to Rome. It was also after their arrival to St. Paul’s Grotto in Malta that they began preaching about Christianity to the Maltese people, he became reknown as a miracle healer!
But first a side trip to the Tiny church St. Cathaldus catacombs dating back to the 17th century
No longer a place of worship as they cannot find a priest – we had a long chat with the old lady volunteer who was manning the fort and graciously accepting donations from those who visited the underground site!
Then off to the Grotto, the catacombs and the underground shelters of St Paul’s Church. For a mere senior citizens rate of €3.50 each Jill and I spent the next hour under ground (becoming a habit) exploring:
Halls of stone rooms that served as shelters in WWII – some of the Maltese tiles remain where the people tried to make it homely…
Raised tables for eating…
Remnants of carvings and wall decoration from the catacombs
Catacombs
St Paul’s grotto – note the silver ship lantern hanging from the roof!
Shrines to honour St Paul, and above ground the church…
Included in our €3.50 was entrance to the art and artefacts gallery and museum of oil paintings, church adornments, vestibules from the ages! No photographs allowed…so none taken!
You will have to be content with the following pictures of Jill and I enjoying a leisurely late lunch in the museum garden cafe.
And of course some liquid refreshments! This driving thing is good for my sobriety – only one beer at lunch allowed!
From here we were heading to Dingli Cliffs, but due to the fact I headed north instead of south – easy mistake – circled the same town three times – we gave up and headed home, in time for a feet up and book read!
Both rising around 6pm and making an executive decision to not stay home on a Saturday night, it was a quick spruce up and off to Valletta for a drink and a bite and Valletta nighttime action!
City full of cafes, tourists, locals, music and lights! a lot of pedestrian seats means these are lined with outdoor dining and it was a lottery choice for a cocktail and dinner! I would say we fell on the upside of the lottery (and price) but the food was good as was the service!
Lit up “Jellyfish” streamers just a part of the night lights, and lighted up alleys and buildings. Back towards the bus terminal we just had to stop and listen to a fabulous (male) singer belting out Adele songs that would equal her performance! Of course we had to buy a drink to sit at the table!
Nearing 11pm we dived on the first bus and were tucked up in bed by midnight!
This morning (Sunday) it was beach day! Out the door by 9am and fighting for a park at 9.20 am at Pretty Bay already humming with Sunday beach goers!
Staking our patch of sand with towels and brolly we had a coffee at the kiosk before cooling off in the Mediterranean (a couple of times) Another cousin Marcella and her Dad Lino duly arrived (en motorbike) and a Cold drink and catch up at the kiosk was had by all!
All who wander are not Lost girls 