It’s Sunday November 11, 2015 and we decide to visit the famous market in Marsaxlokk together with Nico and Sonja (Snow Goose Team), naturally by bus. Shortly after leaving the boat it starts raining cats and dogs. Soon the streets look like rivers, but the bus driver is clearly related to Michael Schumacher and drives like hell. Nevertheless we arrive safely in Marsaxlokk. Leaving the bus we have to cross the river-street and it still pours down, – finally we are completely and evenly wet – great!
In spite of the weather we explore the market, – that’s why we came. Because of the weather conditions lots of market-stands are shutting down, consequently the offers are limited. We feel cold and colder, thus decide to go for a nice warm drink. That’s not an easy task as most market visitors have had the same idea – the restaurants and bars are already crowded. By walking a bit further away from the market we finally succeed. After having our warm drinks we feel well again and it even rains less, – and off we go to explore the rest of the small town.
Travelling makes hungry, though it’s high time for Lunch. We go for a restaurant which is highly recommended for its local specialities, thus we order the local fish ‘Lambuki’, which we know as ‘gold-mackerel’:
The food’s not bad, although not as good as expected, – so again, all depends on ones expectations. Nevertheless, the local white wine is very good and rather inexpensive; on top it’s an excellent internal heating system and we feel cosy again. Outside the sun is shining and we go to enjoy the harbour view, for which Marsaxlokk is also very well known. Indeed a nice view with all those coloured boats, especially without rain:
On the way back, we have a stop-over at Valletta just in time to watch the canon shoot at 4 pm: what an excellent show combined with western music and history lessons through the loudspeakers – great:
Satisfied and tired we are driving back to our harbour by bus and looking forward to put our feet up and relax:
It’s November 3, 2015 and the decision is finally taken: we will stay on Malta for winter! Why? – On the one hand we didn’t receive a complete offer from the Marina de Ragusa for all the work which needs to be done; on the other hand the Marina Creek, where we are currently, lies directly between Valletta and Sliema, therefore much more adventure, culture and shopping possibilities available. On top the airport is right around the corner and lots of inexpensive flights to Zurich are regularly available. Further the food on Malta is a sound mix between the Italian and Tunisian kitchen, hence we won’t suffer too much in that direction.
Now it’s high time to do all the preparations necessary before GrosDoux’s winter-sleep. Very important are strong and well prepared ropes to secure the boat at the quay, – handy-crafted by Robin:
After several days of hard work on the boat we’ll have to have a day-off today: hoping in the bus and off we go to St. Julian’s. First for sure we went to the St. Julian’s shopping mall, nothing special we figure out, but the walk through the town is nice. Then Robin decides to test my shoes and keeps on walking till Tas-Sliema, at least always along the coast. At last he shows some mercy to my already hurting feet and we take the bus back. A nice sight-seeing trip, but next time I’ll better off wearing my hiking-boots…
Meanwhile we met some other sailors (Swiss, British, German, French), who also stay here for winter, thus we are busy in exchanging our experiences and enjoying the company.
As expected there is also an ill cat, which needs my attention and care:
Therefore, no boredom at all till now.
The winter preparations lead us also into the various storage boxes:
Most certainly in-between our hard working days we need some time to relax but also some other excitement, that’s why we have had a beautiful cinema evening in Valletta watching ‚The Martian‘. We enjoyed the movie a lot and look forward to another cinema evening, perhaps next week?