MALTA

Well, having been neglectful of the blog, I have at last a chance to do a bit of catching up, courtesy of a UK cold. How is this possible in Malta? All will be revealed.
Yes, we are in Malta, and I have to admit to having been here a month now, but somehow we have been always on the go and the blog seems to fall to the bottom of the to-do pile. However, after we had settled in here, we went to the UK to do some visiting and came back with the worst cold we have ever had. It has been truly dreadful, but we are finally getting to feel that we may live after all, but I have elected to stay in the flat this afternoon and do a bit of quiet stuff. In between coughing and spluttering and sneezing and snivelling. Serves us right for getting off the boat I suppose – we have been so healthy for so long.
Malta is great, and we are enjoying it very much indeed. We were tied up for the first couple of weeks before our visit, and on our return we have had the boat lifted and she is now up in all her glory in the yard. We have rented a self-catering apartment for a very small amount about 5 mins walk from the yard, and go down each day to do a bit more sorting and fixing. People are lovely and the way of life is quite chilled out and laid back, and winter temperatures are still 21 – 24 degrees, so it is still shorts and T shirt. No wonder going back was a bit of a body shock. We had to find shoes and socks, last seen over 6 months ago, and winter coats had to come out of deep storage, once I remembered where they had got to. They are now all packed up again ready to be forgotten once more, as our next outing is to Australia next week, and that is going to be a couple of T shirts and a pair of shorts too.
The history of Malta is extraordinary, and to be able to walk around the places that have become so much a part of the history of Western Europe is very special. There are sites here that go back in pre-history, through the Phoenicians, Romans etc, to the Knights of Malta, Napoleon and the dreadful battering they received in the 2nd World War. Yet it is still bustling around in glorious chaos. And the churches – they are everywhere and are the heart of the country. There are bells ringing all times of the day and night, all with their own unique voices, You cannot have everything at once, so pictures will be in the next editions.

In the apartment.

‘Whoopee’ says Dave
‘What for?’ says Jen
‘A telly!!!! I haven’t had a telly for 6 months!!’
‘I know, it has been bliss’
‘Wow, can’t wait’ says Dave

So head phones go on and Dave plops down on the bed to watch the telly.
‘Jen’
‘Yes, Dave’
‘How do you work the telly?’

Hmmm. Big search on telly, no buttons to press. Big search around apartment, no remote control. Ring up reception and find out you can have a remote control for 10 euro deposit. So Dave finds shoes, takes off head phones and goes out the door, down the lift, out the street, around the corner to the main hotel. Soon returns with his prize. So on headphones, plop on bed, big sigh and on goes telly.
A short time later.

‘Jen’
‘Yes, Dave’
‘There is nothing on the telly’
‘You mean less than usual?’
‘There is BBC World News, euro news , 2 German programs, an Arabic channel and a Malti channel..That’s all’
‘You will have to read your book again.’
‘Hmmmm’
So not to be done out of his telly watching Dave is the master of the news channels which are the worst we have ever seen and repeat themselves every hour, complete with the same 4 advertisements. He has found the occasional chick flick on the Arabic channel, complete with Arabic sub-titles. Everyday he is ever hopeful things might be different and the headphones go on first thing in the morning to make sure the world is still here. I fear serious brain wave disturbance after such relentless exposure!
Headphones? I hear you ask. Yes, remote control headphones so he can watch the telly day and night and I can read my book or go to sleep in blissful ignorance of the dire state of the world and protected from advertisement over dose. An yes, they work in the UK and Australia too.