This morning we confirmed there really is a bus #124 that goes by near our apartment. It was due at 9:41am. We were their before 9:30. Good job because it came early, as is often the case....more so than late. It took us directly to Isla which is between Vittoriosa and Senglea. We never know where or when these routes end. If the bus stops and everyone remaining gets off so do we. It really doesn't matter where we are we have a €1.50 all day bus pass so we can always get back on if we don't want to be where we are. This is a "somewhat convoluted, poor grammar" sentence. It hasn't happened yet. Every place is interesting in some way. We head off up the street and then work our way down to the waterfront. Every place on Malta is either on the water or goes down to the water. The exceptions are a few places inland like Mosta, Birkirkara, Mdina and Rabat. But if you poured a bucket of water out it would still run down to the sea. It might just get absorbed into some of the tiered fields on the way.
Like yesterday we have found a "sea walk", but on the other side from Vittoriosa. There is something about the docks and the water that attracts men. Maybe they are old fishermen, dock workers or they just like to be near the water. We encounter many of them sitting and/or strolling along the walks and they are more than willing to show us places to go, stairways to climb and stories to tell of people they know in Canada.
This is a tower built into a huge stone fortification that faces out to the sea. It has an eye and an ear carved into the sides. I think they are symbolic of keeping watch against the many Mediterranean invaders of centuries ago. Again I have a few moments to sketch as Bob takes pictures.
Yesterday was so warm when walked into this harbour. Today is the opposite. It has become windy with the clouds covering the sun more than not. We are looking for somewhere to sit and have a cappuccino but can't find a place out of the wind. The bus that will take us back to Marsascala has just gone by so we have and hour and a half til the next one. The weather wins and we have to stop inside. The 'special' is a cappuccino and a sweet of your choice for €3.50. I have strawberry cheesecake and Bob opts for a chocolate cream eclair. They don't use the word 'pastry' for sweets because I think it sounds too close to pastie, which is the English 'mushy peas' in flakey pastry.
We are watching the propane cylinder delivery guys hauling the tanks up the steep steps. They honk their unique horns to announce their arrival....then call out to the various apartment dwellers. It's heavy work but they make it look easy. A lot of practice I guess.
After our coffees we decide we will take any bus that comes along. It is overcast and looks like it could rain so the safest place to be is on a bus. We get one of our around the world of Malta tours and end up at the Qormi Park and Ride. We have an hour to wait for the Marsascala bus but there is a Lidl grocery store across the road. It is very busy. Like a Costco. People seem to be doing big shops. A young woman in front of us in line said this wasn't the busy time. Later in the day when people are on their way home from work it "gets crazy".
After our shop we wait for about twenty minutes for our X5 bus that takes us around the world again. I thought the 'X' buses were the fast, direct buses. Not nescessarily so. We are almost back to the Marsascala bus terminus when we come to a halt, there is an accident and both cars are sitting in the middle of the road. Our bus can't get past. The driver indicates we might as well get out and walk down the hill to the terminal. From there we make our regular walk up the hill to home.
Bob takes a picture as we walk by the accident sight. One of the women involved takes offence waving her arms. Our bus continues to sit and wait ....how long, we won't know.
Our walk home is just a little longer than usual. I do think we are getting stronger. The hill doesn't seem nearly as bad as we first experienced. We are home in time to cook a proper dinner and then we run out of propane in our heater again. George had said it should last two weeks, we are finding it only lasts one week. Are we 'wooses' not being used to the Maltese weather?? He will bring another tank tomorrow. We will survive.
Observations:
Very rare to see a traffic light at an intersection. Europeans are masters of the roundabouts. Maybe they work better with right hand driving?
We have GST, Malta has VAT, value added tax. When you see the cost of something that is what you pay. The VAT is already included in the price.
There are 'cherry blossoms' in bloom here too:)
Fresh sliced 'streaky' bacon....as opposed to back bacon. Cost...Cad$5.20/lb
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment