Malta Week 4

Sunday was cousin Paul's 60th birthday so some of the family went to lunch to celebrate - we went to a hotel and had the buffett - 16 adults and 3 children, soup , pasta, salads including cold meats and seafood, hot roasts and other hot dishes with all the trimmings, cakes and desserts with icecream, cheese & biscuits. Definately ate too much the cost was 16Euro pp which is about $29 aus

When you purchase an apartment in Malta you can buy it at various stages of completion i.e.

-A shell this means you get a space without any internal walls or plastering or plumbing

-Unfinished - internal walls completed also electricity wiring (not fixtures) & plumbing

-Finished - unfinished plus windows and internal doors

-Highly finished - finished plus kitchen and bathroom completed

The building above is the one we are living in, the apartment below us as well as our apartment are both completed but as you can see others are still at the shell stage. Everyone in Malta consider themselves a handyman or they know someone who is so they buy at the shell stage and complete the fitout themselves.

It is not uncommon to see an apartment with different styles of windows and even different balconies.

Friday May 1 was Labour day in Malta and a public holiday - day started out well very nice weather so we went sailing with cousin France, about 1 hr into the trip weather turned windy with a 2 metre swell, John got seasick and had a miserable day. On reaching dry land we went to the chemist to get some motion sickness tablets - in Oz John takes Kwells because they don't make you drowsy, unfortunately malta doesnt get Kwells anymore so the Chemist recommended John take morning sickness tablets - he promises not to get pregnant.

This weekend was the European Firework Festival - we went to the waterfront on Friday night and had dinner while watching the first night of fireworks - started about 9.30pm and finshed about 1am. On Saturday night we went again so we could see the Australian entry - this was synchronized to music - they did us proud and I think they should win(maybe I am biased)

After a month on the Island I think we have seen just about everything- type to start travelling - we are heading to Sousse in Tunisia for a week of sun (still a bit changeable here) and to work on the tan so the next Blog will give you some insight into that part of Northern Africa