Simplicity

The working week got off to a fine start with breakfast on the balcony. The flags were nowhere to be seen so either they'd all been taken down or there was no wind.

The natural pace of life was rudely interrupted by the need to acquire milk between the second and third coffees thus an expedition to The Point was mounted and essentials purveyed.

When we got back it was too hot on the balcony so it was decided to take the ferry to Valletta.

On the way we visited St.Paul's Pro-Cathedral as I'd never been in it. What a wonderfully plain and simply laid out place. One gets so used to Catholic Churches and, indeed, the Carmelite one next door that standing in an almost empty plain place is an uplifting experience by dint of not being overwhelmed by ever more intricate detail visible in every direction.

However, though sometimes the religious bling may overwhelm you can never be unmoved when the memorials which adorn the walls offer such remembrances as these. What a life. What a devastating experience for his mum and dad.

A short way from that is the battle flag from HMS Barham.

It was here that my shorts were noticed. I was told that it was far too cold for shorts. Really? Not where my legs were it wasn't.

Baguettes were collected and taken to Upper Barakka Gardens where they were successfully eaten. We would have stayed but it was getting hotter. Quite seriously hot as in a hot day in August hot at 50°N.

As we wandered back I needed to visit The Agenda Bookshop. This I was allowed to do and bought "The Great Sea" by David Abulafia. Thank you. Life without a book in paper form is still a foreign thing for me, really. Amazon would have done it for a third of the price but needs must. I'll need to read 80 pages a day if I'm to read it whilst overlooking the sea who's history it describes.

A hitherto unexplored back street surprised us for having not been trodden but if we had I'm certain I'd have remembered it.

A proper record shop. Proper records in bins that you could flick through. As great, as well organised and as wide a selection of vinyl as hasn't been seen since Chy-an-Stylus closed down.

It was run by a "young" man who asked if I could be helped. Probably, however I offered a little nugget of information to the effect that his copy of "School's Out" by Alice Cooper was incorrectly marked "Original Pressing". Obviously, it wasn't as the LP was wrapped in an ordinary paper sleeve and even my mum and dad knew how the original was wrapped because when it was released I was poorly and they went down to pick up my copy for me. I did explain what was missing and he scurried off to check.  I still have my original.

I suppose it may have been sold thus to avoid upsetting anyone of a sensitive dispositon in Malta but I never thought of that till just now. It's hard to remember you're really foreign here at times.

The return on the ferry was pleasant but once ashore the short walk to the flat was a tad tiring. On the balcony with refreshment to hand I read the introduction to my new book.

The other struggled with the heat and retired to an easy chair where snoring soon became such a distraction that I had to retire to the opposite one.

I woke first, but the balcony remained unused till much later. How on earth do they cope in their August?

This is the hottest it's been and the forecast is for hotter each day till we go.

Eventually the sun set and a cool draught rested on the balcony table.

A beautifully simple day. Not too much, not too little, everything just right.

Simple is good.