It seems like a while since we published the blog about us moving here and who knew we would be so busy on such a small island – and there remain an awful lot of places we still haven’t explored.
First on our list (after we found the best places for breakfasts) was car shopping. We have spent enough time here to know that big cars are a pain to park ….. and that we don’t need a big car since we really won’t be going very far ….. so after a lot of browsing we went off small car shopping …..
We found various cars that might be good for us (and lot’s that weren’t) before we fell upon a couple of Citroen C1s – they are the tiny cars that you get when you go on holiday – but actually, for this island they are just perfect. We just had to choose between a lower or higher price vs lower or higher mileage for identical cars – a relatively easy choice and before we knew it I was heading back to Malta to drop off our final hire car and coming back to Gozo on the bus to collect our car! It was a very exciting day out and I found the buses to be really cheap and easy too. I had a good trip round Malta, although it was a fast bus of course it still stops along the way, including at “Mater Dei” which is the islands hospital. I have to say it is the biggest hospital complex I have ever seen with lots of different buildings (and plenty of bus stops), everyone going in and coming out was wearing masks so obviously that’s still a requirement in medical facilities here. It was my first time as a foot passenger on the Gozo ferry too so that was another interesting experience, with much more walking than I would have thought beforehand! I managed to get on the “wrong” bus to Victoria (the capital of Gozo where I was collecting the car) so instead of hopping off right outside the car showroom I had to walk from the bus station (all of 10 minutes) – and on the plus side I saw more of the back streets of the town 😉
After a minor hiccup with the car collection (the number plates were on the wrong car and we had to swap cars the next day!) we went off driving around the island in our new motor before it had a quick checkover by skipper Nigel and then took pride of place outside our apartment block.
Early May sees my annual charity supporting walk called Darkness into Light – and this year was a little different since I couldn’t join the walkers back in Spain. Nigel agreed to get up very, very early with me and we went to the other side of the island where we would be able to see the sunrise over the sea. It was pitch black when I made us take-out coffees and we jumped into the car ready for my walk into the sunrise. As we headed down to a place called Hondoq bay it started to get a little lighter and we realised that perhaps there wouldn’t be a sunrise as such because it was cloudy. The walk was still a great one and we enjoyed a coffee together afterwards looking out across the Gozo channel to the island of Comino. The sun came up of sorts albeit behind clouds and I decided to take the first dip since we came here …… it was refreshing to say the least ! We were also desparate to try out the paddle board so we set it up and I had a quick paddle around before we decided there were just too many little boats around. Although it was way too early for tourist boating, the guys getting them organised were making quite a swell and a few waves so I aborted the paddle and we enjoyed some time sitting watching the activity.
We are settling in well to our apartment, we have even started to get some extra home comforts, including a new friend for Skipper Nigel in the shape of a robot (well, a robot vacuum at least). We have been trying to find a name for the little machine that does our floors for us but up to now have drawn a blank so it has become known as “no-name”. When we are off out Nigel sets off “no-name” and when we get back we have lovely clean floors. What a great little thing and certainly something that has kept Nigel busy 😉 We also went to Malta for a day out and ordered some furniture for our terrace – all the big shops deliver to Gozo at least once every couple of weeks so it was a case of waiting for deliveries, our barbecue arrived first followed by a very exciting day when a big van finally arrived with furniture. We had been a bit worried about the size of the boxes but with a bit of push and shove they fitted into the lift – one of them is literally big enough for me to get into. The assembly of the furniture went reasonably well (we didn’t come to blows, despite having to work together on it) and before we knew it we were ready to barbie – how exciting !!! Other friends for Skipper Nigel include the sparrow (now called “blackbeard”) who visits us daily – there may be the odd breadcrumb or two that they find discarded on our terrace, I think they might even become tame if we’re not careful 😉
As the weather has been getting warmer and warmer, and once that first dip of the season was done we were keen to get swimming and boarding in our own bay here at Xlendi. The next week I popped down a couple of times for a swim and Skipper Nigel came to watch on, chatting to the villagers who tend to sit and watch the activities before (or possibly after) breakfast. We also got the paddle board out as well, it is so easy just going down in the lift from the apartment and being in the water in two minutes – such fun.
As for other ways of life here – we are just about adjusting back to buying fresh milk instead of the long life we have got accustomed to after such a long time in Spain. At the beginning it seemed to go off before I even realised but now I am back in the habit of checking the date before I buy – and the great thing is we have a local shop 1 minute away so when I get caught out because we run out I can pop down there for a pint ! It’s so much tastier too – cafe lattes every morning for us. As for the coffee at the bars and restaurants it tends to be ordered as per the Italian so Nigel’s spanish “cortado” is an “espresso macchiato” and “cafe con leche” is “cappucino” and then of course you can get cafe latte (which can be anything from extremely weak coffee to more like flavoured milk) and recently I have found iced coffee too – perfect after a swim 🙂 (or in the case of the photo below – after buying a car!) We are loving this little island and are excited to continue our explorations …… watch this space for more updates on life here.
The Adventures of Gemini J 