Hello :~)
Hi everybody, I hope you've been well!
Life has been moving both slow and fast simultaneously.
It has ended up being a very long while between correspondences – writer's block certainly a large contributor to the tardiness. Hopefully, as the summer finally leaves (how is it almost 30 degrees in September?!), these updates will become a bit more frequent.
This email is actually about the very start of June, the very start of summer. Dom and I spent ten glorious days in Malta, so I thought it could be fun to share ten of my favourite things from Malta.
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Maybe one of the nicest swimming holes I have ever visited?
Incredible curved rocks form a natural swimming pool, with lots of cliffs offering perfect diving spots. The huge expanse of rock means that there's also a million places to set yourself up for the day. Totally worth the drive, or you can get a speed boat over if you don't have a car.
Bonus: If you are lucky you will even get to see the famous little pup that jumps off the rocks at St Peter's Pool.
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Can you believe pastizzi are just THIRTY CENTS in Malta?
We sampled a pastizz almost every single day but our favourite place to get pastizzi was Maxim's Pastizzeria. They always had lots of pastizzi fresh out the oven, all golden and flaky and stuffed with filling. There were the classic ricotta pastizzi, but also a yummy mushy pea variety I hadn't had before (pictured).
There is even a Maltese idiom (jinbiegħu bħall-pastizzi [selling like pastizzi]) that they use instead of 'selling like hot-cakes'. Lol.
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3. Valletta Film Festival
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In the centre of Valletta is the Pjazza Teatru Rjal, a beautiful open air theatre, built on top of the ruins of the old opera house. We were kind of curious about the venue, and luckily for us, the Valletta Film Festival happened to be on while we were in town.
We decided to go see the opening night film, which started off strong but ended up being super terrible, but being able to see a film under the stars in such a wonderful space more than made up for it. If our dates had lined up with the closing night film, we would've been able to see Shoplifters, which I am sad to have missed (but am eagerly awaiting a German release date).
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Maybe it's a bit simplistic to lump Valletta into one but the truth is all of Valletta is outrageously beautiful. The whole time it just felt like we were walking through an elaborate and stunning movie set.
Honestly, it was so hard to believe Valletta was a real place. Bars and restaurants just spilled out onto the streets and people would just sit on the stairs drinking wine, having a laugh or listening to a jazz band. We even got to see fireworks!
If we could do it all over again, I'd opt to stay here, complete with upper terrace to take in sweeping views of the city.
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For two people that don't necessarily love driving, Dom and I have ended up renting cars in five different countries.
After the worst rental experience ever in Italy, we were pleasantly surprised to have a very chill experience in Malta – they even dropped the car off to us!
I loved this car! It was beaten up the perfect amount so that you didn't have to stress if you were going to fuck up the car or not, and we spent the whole time in the car with our windows down and the salty ocean wind in our hair. And look how cute and small it is! And orange!
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I loved our day trip to Gozo! What a name! What a place!
Gozo is small – like so small that you can drive from one end to the other in an hour. And it's population is small too! I think it's about 30,000 people at the moment.
We decided to follow a little self-guided driving tour from Lonely Planet (in our trusty little Kia) and set off with a simple map (just a couple of major streets only). It was so fun just driving around with no idea what was in store.
My favourite thing about Gozo was that the whole island felt relaxed. Everyone just seemed at ease. And I think we were too. How can you feel stressed on an island where we didn't even cross paths with traffic lights?
And again, if we were to make it back to Gozo, I'd love to stay here, despite it being a little pricy.
PS: The remaining items on the list are all from Gozo :~)
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7. Wied Il-Għasri
So we did get a little lost on our driving tour of Gozo – and we almost missed the Wied Il-Għasri gorge. After we 'finished' the tour I insisted we go back and look for it. Boy am I glad we did! Just look at it!
Maybe this was actually my favourite place to swim. When we got there it was just about empty and we had the whole area to ourselves. It was so nice and still and serene.
Behind the bend, the gorge leads out to the ocean. I wanted to swim all the way out to where the two meet but Dom wouldn't let me.
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8. Dom 'diving' into the ocean
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Which leads very nicely into the fact that at one point during the day, Dom wanted to dive off this cliff into the ocean. I wanted NO part in this because I am not an idiot.
So he runs off to dive in but then I guess he has a moment where he realises just how stupid this is (the waves are ridiculous), but he also doesn't want to back out so he starts slowly lowering himself into the water. The second his body touches the water he starts squealing like a pig.
Needless to say he got back out immediately.
Is this mean? Sorry Dom. It was very funny.
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Delicious doughy goodness. A picture speaks volumes.
We got this ftira at Mekren's Bakery on Gozo – we did stumble upon it by chance but I think it's a worthwhile stop when visiting. We initially thought we were going to just pick up a snack but it ended up being a more than filling lunch.
I became obsessed with ftira and tried it again back on the main island but the sandwiches really did not compare – a Gozitan ftira, almost like a pizza really, is the real deal.
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Ta' Pinu Church is kind of isolated, it's actually 700 metres from the closest town and all around it is just open countryside, which makes it all the more spectacular. When you arrive it feels like you've found an oasis, except it's a church.
I don't really care for churches (neither does Dom which is convenient), so I wasn't really that excited to hit this part of the tour but then these mosaics out the front just took my breath away. I love mosaics!!
The church car park is also where we successfully scored our tickets to Unsound Festival. So you know, bonus.
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On your way out...
A few quick updates on everything else going on.
- What I've been working on – My friend (Magic) Steven let me make him a new website! I've been quietly slaving away at this and I have to say I'm very proud of it. At one point I truly thought I was going to get into coding and become a full time coder but then I had a meltdown so I guess coding will remain something I dabble in/enjoy from a safe distance. BUT! if anyone else wants me to make them a website please contact me because it's so fun working with friends and making something special! (This is a serious offer. Also look at the site on desktop.)
- What I've been cooking – This sauce goes with EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING but especially silken tofu, preserved vegetables and rice. I forgot that Chinese food is pretty much non-existent in Berlin (and what does exist, kind of sucks), so it's been nice cooking lots of Chinese cuisine at home. Also I seem to be impressing my mum so that's a plus.
- What I've been listening to – So for the first couple of months I think Dom and I just forgot to listen to music outside of the club? Now, we have speakers again so here are a couple of random things I've been listening to. It's probably not a coherent playlist but who cares.
- What I've been reading online – I came across the feature writing category of the Pulitzer Prize when I was a teenager but hadn't revisited it in a long time. Some of these pieces are just out of this world phenomenal. If you have some spare time and love longform journalism, dive in.
- What I've been lusting after – I am such a sucker for self-made millennial bullshit click bait that of course I watched a video tour of a girl's $2000pcm tiny studio apartment in the East Village that she lives in alone. Surprise surprise, it's ridiculous (she doesn't cook! She's never used her stove!! GIVE ME A BREAK!), but she did have a nice side table, which has worked it's way onto my wishlist – we still don't have a coffee table, mind you.
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Good Bye :~)
Well I guess that wraps up everything pre-Berlin! Wow, I finally got there.
Coming up – I guess some Berlin notes and updates first, but also I went to Prague and Paris recently, if you want some more silly travel tips from me? Have you even liked these travel emails? (Please say yes.)
Or maybe I can just do a HUGE links email about ALL the things I love on the internet because I always like doing that part of the email.
Also the apartment is looking pretty great lately – especially with the arrival of our new housemate Josh. So will be sure to share more of that soon.
Anyway whatever your thoughts or feelings, if you have any questions even, or you just want to say hi, hit reply to this email! It's always so so nice to read your responses, and makes me miss home a little less.
Love you all dearly.
♡
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