Time to be a guide

So after 4 weeks in Malta I had my first visitor and had to be guide which I think worked out really well – except for the restaurant part maybe. But starting from the beginning:

I actually wanted to surprise Fabi – waiting for him at the airport but what happened? There was a bus strike exactly this one day… So none of the girls had to go to work but I had to go to the airport or at least to the apartment we were going to live in. In the morning I went to the supermarket and I saw two busses – so I figured out there were some of them actually still working. That’s why I decided to try to catch one later. I went to the bus stop and waited, and waited, and waited (with 4 bags in my hands) and waited.

After 75 minutes of waiting a bus came – but didn’t stop as it was already full… But I can tell it was not boring because every 10 minutes someone came to me and told me there is a strike going and that there will be no busses…

After 90 minutes the girls walked past me and joined me for some minutes and I asked them to wait with my stuff so I can buy myself a coke. And of course murphy’s law: the next bus appeared right after I put a 2 Euro coin into the machine. I still figured out to get my coke (but left the change in the automat) and ran to the bus which let me go in. I was so happy but forgot about that while standing in the bus for one hour with the worst traffic jam. After arriving I had to figure out the exact location of the apartment which was not too easy as the street numbers don’t come after each other so it’s a bit of a lottery where to go. Still I arrived first and met the airbnb-lady who let me in and showed me the beautiful apartment. You could enter it straight from the street and it had two stories, two balconies and a great look.

Driving on the left side

Bridge Bar

After 20 more minutes Fabi arrived (by car!) and I waved him hello from the balcony ( a bit like in a film ). We checked out the apartment and soon after left for some first sightseeing ( I had many plans and was really bubbly ). We drove to Mdina to have lunch and a nice view from the roof of a restaurant in the middle of the town. After that we went back to Valletta because of the science night taking place there.

It was mostly made for kids but we still enjoyed it and let them test our blood sugar ( which was fine – 5,8 – I don’t know of which unit but they told us it’s good ) and our BMI ( which made me happy ). After that we went to the Bridge Bar which is a lovely place where you can sit outside on stairs – on Fridays they have a live jazz band and the atmosphere is simply great. We stayed there for some hours ( even though the cockroach someone behind us discovered made me feel uncomfortable for quite a while ) – back home I dreamt about cockroaches…

Ghar Lapsi

Marsascala

Marsascala Panorama

Octopus in Marsaxlokk

The next days were full of activities: Marsascala ( with a horrible breakfast and a wasp sting ), Blue Grotto, a nice bath at Ghar Lapsi and great Seafood, Dingli Cliffs and Valletta again. We went to Vittoriosa and surrounding cities, Barakka Gardens, Marsaxlokk Market ( and Octopus in Garlic Sauce for me ). We also met Fabis friend in Rabat and he showed us his huge house. We tried hard to find a supermarket and finally found one. We tried even harder to find a proper breakfast ( again spoilt Germans with their strange requirements according to bread ) and nearly made it. Fabi tried Kinnie and didn’t hate it as much as I did, we ate cake, ice cream and Ftira and so many more nice things. It felt like minutes and Fabi had to go back.

Vittoriosa

So when he left me I still had some more time and went to Ghain Tuffieha and had a little sun bath and then decided to try the small hiking path up hill. It took me maybe 10 minutes to get up but then I detected another path around the hill. It required a bit of climbing which was not that easy regarding the fact that I had a jute bag and my sandals. But it was totally worth it – I came upon a stunning view and had quite a bit of an exercise. Back home I met the girls again and finally went for a run after some days of feasting.

Going to work was even harder the next day as school started and what everyone said is true: the traffic gets even worse. I needed 70 minutes to get to work but read here: article about traffic

Tonight there will be pancake and chocolate fondue night in our apartment – yummy!!!