While my other home in NZ is keeping the fires burning (literally) Malta and me and everyone else in this Northern European world have spent the last week hunting down air-conditioned spaces and swimming holes to keep cool, with average daily temperatures reaching 42 degrees!
My Swiss friends Florian and Verena joined me for a four day mini break from last Thursday and we sweated through our days filled with laughs and fun exploring (mostly the south)
Never leaving home without the swimming gear on board…
The blue skies turning to white in the heat haze that sat heavily on our shoulders from 9am each day…
We took (air conditioned) buses to Sliema to watch the All Blacks test against the Irish on Saturday morning with some other Kiwi expats!
Followed by a a visit to Tigné Point shopping mall to cool down – the malls and shops cranking up the air con!
Busing back to Bormla and Cafe Rouge for some cool cocktails….before
A plunge in the Birgu swimming hole!
A late lunch and uber home!
For our refreshments of choice…after the sun had set!
Sunday we headed off (in car) to Mdina before the crowds…
For coffee and cake on the terrace cafe, a slight breeze overlooking the Malta vista…heat haze rolling in!
A quick peek in the Mdina Church, mass was in progress and we weren’t appropriately dressed to join.
Now, these guys, when on holiday, have this hobby of geocaching…. Finding hidden caches and locations around the world (off a phone app) However in Malta…there searches took us to very exposed places…out in the midday sun!
This playground outside Mdina…was deserted, as it would have been a case of cruelty to send your kids in here for third degree burns!
We took a cool drink in the gardens, before heading to a supermarket followed by a swim on the way home for a late afternoon nap before a big night of football…the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina! Our local (Paola) square was gearing up for a big night with all the cafes big screens lighting up and competing with the pre Feast decorations building up for next weekends celebrations – The feast of Christ the King!
Each day… more bandstands, fireworks regalia, bunting and statues adorn the streets…
By the weekend it will be standing room only, as all the streets will be closed and the footpaths, roads and square will be full of people eating, drinking and celebrating…music and fireworks…
Back to Sunday night….after a ho hum dinner at the band club and an atmosphere level of zero, with about 5 old men chewing the fat…we left and joined the more excited crowd in the square….
Finding a table to watch the game…which started at 9pm our time and didn’t finish until after midnight…the final result sending the local’s (and us) into a loud happy place!
Needless to say…it was a slower start on Monday morning, and as my friends weren’t leaving until the evening…we drove to Senglea…
Took the ferry across the harbour for a visit to Valletta..,
A couple of hours of Geo caching…again in the bright sunshine.. me diving for any street shade…inhaling fluids at every chance!
We sweated out way up and down as we circumnavigated the outside of the city!
Back on the ferry, a cool cocktail, and a dip in the sea…before it was time to say goodbye (for now) … I will visit their home in Zurich when I leave Malta!
This heatwave it’s taking its toll on the terrace garden, even though they get hit with the watering system each evening, so after the sun goes down and before it comes up I give them an extra drink! One for them one for me!
This week is cousin time, before my next guest arrives next Monday! And a bit of housework….washing is a breeze(the shower laundry of the Camino a distant memory) as it dries in 30 minutes on the terrace (day or night)
The thirsty ants are more of a problem (for me) invading the penthouse looking for water! But for anyone that knows me, knows how much I love ants (not) I am winning the war!
It’s now 7.30am and 35 degrees already… so time to hit the cool spots…
All who wander are not Lost girls 