.... and breathe.

Where's the week gone, eh?

Monday get bearings and bus card. Watch a few boats over Tas-Sliema strand by Manoel Island.

Tuesday, Valetta. Very hot, serious archtecture, modern exquisitely blended with old. A magnificent parliament building and bridge by Mr.Piano, he of Shard fame, or not. Walls. Forts. Boats observed from on high. Wonderful..

Wednesday, Marsaxlokk. Bused adventure. Pretty calm, bit bouncy but seated, mostly. Boats close up. Huge ones observed from afar as they did their business at the freeport, a modern container port. Huge derricks and all that stuff. A harbour full of fishing boats from proper trawlers to  tiny toshers. Long liners, netters and trammel netters, too. Oh, sublime.


Thursday a breakfast time phone call from a friend. No bus nonsense today, Chauffeured about in a very large 4x4, airconned luxury and leather. Magic carpet stuff. Went to Marsa. Saw some boats. These, in fact,as well as lots of others. Sheltered on the afterdeck watching a passing shower. Look closely and in the far centre distance you'll see a plastic wrapped vessel in dock. This is 'A' which we last saw in Formentera last June. She's well worth a google.

Once the shower had passed we drove off past a warehouse full of all the old buses and a liner that looked like it was a super yacht once, which indeed it is, or was. Mr.Gadaffi's in fact but seeing as no one's paying the bills it's just left accruing debt. Further along and we stopped at another yard where another good friend who I've known for nearly 40 years is fitting out a new workshop. I'm used to seeing him in tiny sheds with gear everywhere and only room to swing a small kitten and even then it would get a severe headache unless swung with extreme care but here he was in a workshop bigger than a tennis court with all manner of marine engine refurbising goodness. Across the road were a few of their shove ashore skiffs. Bit different form our skiffs with a pair of paddles and a Seagul Silver Century when we were big enough to start one. 1200hp a boat. 50kts with 12 aboard and their gear. Range 250 miles. Fuel tanks, big. Four of these and four more with a wheelhouse for a bit more shelter in poor weather.

Then over the road to see a pair of 2,500hp V16 MTU's. Even better, fired them up. Oooooooooooh.
What was it Robert Duval said in Apocalypse Now? "I love the smell of big marine diesels first thing in the morning" or something like that.
Lovely.

A short drive later and Birgu for a pause to see the boat that we could have rented for this month. Currently up for sale and I have to say that I think I was a bit slack in not biting off the hand that offered her. Yours today for a not insignificant sum well into six figures. My driver, for he it was who offered it to us seemed to take great delight in showing me this marvel of naval architecture. Fitted out to the very highest standards, more mod cons than I can even imagine and I didn't take him up on it. It's not often I stand on a quayside feeling utterly, totally stupid.

Seeing my distress I was offered a drink whilst gawping and wallowing in an ocean of self recrimination the depths of which were uncharted in my experience. And it was offered significantly cheaper than the flat I'm typing in now. What a fool I am.

The beer was nice and medicinally effective. So effective in fact that we went further into Birgu and saw "Maltese Falcon" under the walls of Fort St.Angelo. Both are massive. One is new, the other is old. Both have to be seen to be appreciated.

Still feeling sorry for myself we went and sat looking at a few boats for further refreshment, after which a trip to Marsaskala to sit watching boats on the wharf outside his local. Suitably primed, I'm sure, golden fizzy stuff gave way to proper black stuff and it was proper, too.

Finally, a ride back to my very door in the dark. A day that will stand alone as the best one so far ..... not that I admitted that to my wife who had doubtlessly busied herself in my absence.

Today we rode buses, standing, shaking and rattling from here to Mdina and back. Mdina is not on the coast. Walled city. Quiet. Narrow streets. Nice views. No boats.

I could get to like Malta and if anyone called Karl offers you a boat to reside on bite his hand off and if that same Karl suggests having a pint be aware that there will never be "a" pint, ever!
Cheers, Karl.

Now it's the weekend and I'm knackered.
Time to take it easy for a few\days.
Maybe.


And I still feel more than a bit stupid, as indeed I should.