Gozo

Bday part 3: Gozo.

After the Rockestra concert, Bernard, Julian, Christine and myself left to go to Gozo. We caught the 1am ferry and arrived at Julian’s family’s flat in Nadur. His dad had been in Gozo earlier in the day and bought pizzas for us weee…so as soon as we arrived we dug into the pizzas, had something to drink and plopped into bed. The next morning we woke up late (around 9am), lazed a bit around, then left to go to Victoria, the capital city of Gozo. Here we had some breakfast: Goat’s cheese qassatat and chocolate milkshake for myself. After this we left to go to Xlendi, where we went for a walk along the shore, up till the tower.

Xlendi Bay...with tower visible

We chatted along the way, and had a relaxing time. This brought us to lunch time. We went to the Country Terrace Restaurant at Mgarr. We found a table outside overlooking the Mgarr Gozo port, Comino and Malta. On such a nice day they were really breathtaking views. Now that I know I am leaving Malta, I guess I have started appreciating these things more and more each day! We decided on our selection: calamari for Julian, Squid Ink ravioli for Christine, Beef Steak for Bernard and pasta parcels with rikotta and pears for me. MMMMMMMMMM. Whilst waiting we were (as usual) brought the bread basket. Again we were pleasantly surprised (it seems as the thing to do in Malta to give different breads)…Instead of the normal rolls, we got warm rolls, all of which are different…brown, with olives etc etc…MMMMMMM (we asked for more hihi).

After Lunch we went back to the flat, where we changed into our swimsuits (except Julian who left his in Malta pfff) and went to Hondoq ir-Rummien. We do not go onto the beach part however we prefer the rocks. There fewer people would be around and the sea is simply beautiful (and you can park mere metres away from the sea). Bernard, Christine and myself jumped into the sea, whilst Julian stayed in the car listening to sports…so he was certainly not disappointed. After an hour or so of swimming, off we went to the flat, got our things and left to come to Malta.

Thank you Bernard, Julian and Christine for a wonderful birth day!

Hondoq ir-Rummien

Rockestra!

Bday part 2: Rockestra on Saturday 11th at night. This is a concert by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, with all proceeds going to the Malta Community Chest Fund and it is now in its second year.

Last year it fell on my birthday, and we had really enjoyed ourselves. It was something unbelievable. I looove listening to orchestras (or any ensemble for that matter), since I love how the different instruments come together to make up one coherent piece of music. However I do not have the patience to listen to long winded slow pieces of music…so any events like this I cannot wait to go. Luckily Bernard likes them too and comes with me :D…Even when there are concerts such as Voices, I love staying where I can see the musicians (i.e. generally upfront). Well, here is my favourite song from last year, and you can see the sort of experience it was last year, and why I definitely wanted to go back:

This year we got 2 of our friends (Julian and Christine) to come with us. My mum also came, cos we know she likes this sort of things and it would be a great night! We were not disappointed. Just like last year we managed to be right at the front (we had standing tickets so no set place to stay). I think standing is the way to go to this concert…there are seated tickets…but they are way at the back…and I find that standing up you can get into the music more. I cannot remember everything there was, but some of my favourite moments were undoubtedly the inclusion of Maltese songs. It is great to have so many people singing together. Here is one of those songs:

My friend Dorothy Bezzina also sang…and as usual she was impeccable…no video of her performance is yet online…hope one comes up and I will share it with you. A great evening all in all (I also got to meet Bee’s sister’s boyfriend for the first time haha :D…weeeeeeeeee). I hope that next year I will be in Malta for this concert…cannot wait!

Birthday Dinner with Bee!

Last Sunday…12th September…was my 24th birthday weeeeeeeee…so how did I celebrate? Well, I did a whole mixx maxx of things over a period of 3 days, which together made up my birthday celebrations. First up was dinner on Friday evening…me and Bernard went to Ferretti…the restaurant has not been opened long, but I have been wanting to go for ages due to its beautiful setting, and having heard about the good food there from Bernard who has been before. The restaurant is set in a historic battery, and is overlooking the sea at BBugia…it even has a moat :D. I remember passing close by a few years ago and peeping through the railing of this old old battery. However this has now been restored beautifully.

Ferretti Restaurant View

Therefore after a ride with my eyes closed, cos Bernard did not want me to see where we were going…although I had a feeling we were going there…Bernard told me to open my eyes (he did not even think of bringing a blindfold pfffffff) and I was at the entrance (with Bernard you rarely have to walk very far cos he always manages to park just where he wants to go).

 On entering we were immediately shown to our table, which was at the lower outer deck, at the moat level. Not many people were around us, so it was really nice and peaceful…just us, the sea, the waiters and someone sometimes passing by. We were given our menus and we started poring over them…mmmmm…we had only one problem…too many things looked really good. We settled on a starter of seafood ravioli for Bernard and lamb quadroni for myself, followed by stuffed calamari with salmon and yoghurt for myself and chicken with gorgonzola cheese and parma ham for Bernard.

I also chose the wine, since I am the person who generally does not like the wine. Luckily the wine menu had some sort of description of the wine on them, making it easier for me to choose. We love Roses…so I had not much to choose from luckily…I decided on the Medina Rosé Grenache D.O.K. Malta…simply because I like aromatic things and the description included aromatic haha…After my close scrutiny and vast knowledge of wines (heqq hmmm) I was not disappointed…even the wine serving service was an experience in itself. And the wine was really good…Wippie…I even drank faster than Bernard hihi…

The food was delicious…even the bread at the beginning…was not simply bread rolls but rosemary bread twists…and from the food the stuffed calamari were especially good…I cannot describe it…mmmmmmm…and I even had them all to myself since Bernard does not like calamari or octopus etc…haha. We were stuffed by the end…but we can always make room for dessert…A Chocolate Fudge for Bernard (surprise surprise he had chocolate) and I only wanted something small…so had a lemon sorbet.

Then stuffed and ready we went home to sleep 😀