No way we're opening for the next two weeks!

Anyone who has holidayed in continental Europe in August, especially in cities, will know that many bars and restaurants are shut, sporting notices such as ‘Ferie’ or ‘in Vacanza’ in Italy, for example. Just as you, the unsuspecting tourist arrives, those who should be making a buck out of you at this peak summer holiday time of year have chosen to go on holiday too. So what happens in August in Malta, holiday islands in sun?

What to Expect in the August Shutdown
The next two weeks are Malta’s peak, local summer holiday time of year. If the father of the family hasn’t taken a break yet, he will now be shipping himself and family somewhere like a holiday flat or second home in Gozo or up North to St Paul’s Bay, abroad, or if very lucky, aboard a motor cruiser island hopping to Sicily. Mid August often sees a change in the weather to humid, sweaty, still grey days that promise rain. We can see the odd freak flash flood storm as a taste of autumn rains to come.

The summer recess in Malta moves in mysterious ways. We might not have ‘Chiuso per Ferie’ on our windows as our Italian neighbours do, but the habitual two weeks’ shutdown does leave its mark. Here’s how:

The good news
Everything a tourist needs stays open. Local businesses know that this is the time of year to make almost all their profits if they rely on tourist bucks from sun, sea and sand seeking visitors. None of the habits of Italian city restaurateurs here.

The bad news:
If you’ve moved to Malta recently, you might not know that a lot of firms – even those in service industries such as advertising, and retail businesses such as kitchen and bathroom showrooms, for instance, will be firmly shut for almost two weeks either side of 15 August. So, if you forgot to order that spare part for the washing machine, or need a new tap, like I do, you will have to wait till well after the 15th. Even then, next deliveries after the summer recess can take often until end September or longer to materialise in Malta. You will notice too that supermarket shelves may run out of favourite brands as shipments slow in August.

Although Malta has a dwindling number of manufacturing plants, the tradition of closing up the office still holds even if a firm doesn’t have a production line. The knock-on effect of the shutdown ripples through the economy. We’ve said before that the public sector is hard to reach on the phone after 12.00 from mid June to mid September, but I doubt you’ll get anywhere until September if you try to call a government office now with a query.

The other bad news is that we are all left to battle for the best places on the beach, best restaurant tables and best parking places as the islands teem with holidaymakers, locals and visitors. For some insane reason, we like to take our holidays now, altogether in a pressured two weeks. Malta’s schools don’t go back till around 24 September or later, so we’ve plenty more time to take a break.

The traditional August shutdown, while not strictly needed for most firms these days, is a habit hard to break. Maybe we can blame it on Malta’s most important public holiday, Santa Marija, which falls on the 15 August. The day is in Malta’s psyche; not only because Malta is predominantly Catholic, but also because it marks the end of Malta’s second ‘great siege’ when a small, war-torn convoy of Allied forces’ supply ships limped into Grand Harbour relieving the islands. More on that in our second August holiday article to come.

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Unlocking the Secrets of Gozo: the Old Prison, Cittadella, where Grand Master Jean de la Valette was once imprisoned.

I spent last weekend in Gozo. It’s the first time I’ve stayed a night there in years. I’ve always just day tripped, usually taking guests for a quick tour doing the sights like any guide. One of Gozo’s attractions is the chance to stay in an old farmhouse which the island specialises in as accommodation. I live in one in Malta, so I have less urge to island hop for that reason.

But shame on me…

Because over nighting in Gozo is far more than staying in an old stone place. Two days and a night in Gozo give you a totally different perspective on this micro island; one that day trippers can never savour as they rush for the ferry at sundown. Gozo is, quite simply, different – a fact which has caused much sparring between the two inhabited Maltese Islands.

Maltese will often pop to Gozo for both summer and winter weekend breaks, especially at certain times of year such as Carnival in February and the summer shutdown week around the Santa Marija public holiday on 15th August. But day tripping tourists among you might want to linger longer once you’ve scanned my main reasons to stay in and not speed around Gozo.

Slowing down
That Gozo moves at a far slower pace is true. It is a cliche’ in some ways as it always billed as a more rural, quieter sister island to Malta. If you are en masse on a day trip you never quite get to feel the vibe of Gozo. I have to say it took me a whole day to not get wound up by ’slow’ but to come to appreciate it as de-stressing, not stress inducing. It is the place not to take any Wi-Fi device, forget work, escape and just take life around you at face value.

Weird and Wonderful Land and Seacapes
It might be 20 minutes from Malta, but Gozo has a landscape all its own. It is dominated by steep-sided plateau. Some are topped by landmarks – Cittadella just above the chief town, Rabat (Victoria); the Ta’ Giordan Lighthouse or the village of Zebbug with its church rising high and proud. Then you’ve coastlines like that at Dwerja with the Azure Window and Fungus Rock, or the weather worn shapes on the coast at Qbajjer. You can of course rush around in a mini bus and see all in a day. But nothing beats eating out watching their contours change with the onset of dusk and the rise of the moon. If you do stay and eat in the evening when you’re on a day trip, you’re still clock watching for that ferry back to Malta and never quite in a slow enough lane to really enjoy the play of light on the scenery.

Dining Out
Of course you get to eat out on a day trip, but it’s nice to have time to discover somewhere new and pop back to favourite places over a few days in Gozo. On a day trip you are unlikely to discover, for instance, one of Gozo’s food icons, Maxokk’s pizzas in Nadur. There are some weird places to come across too, like the ‘Death Bar’, Tal Mewta, in the street to the right of St George’s church in Rabat. I didn’t see it open this time, but it used to have some old men boozing in it when I last went.

A Gozo insider did a good round up of where to eat in Gozo as the day ebbs and flows. We bumped into him on his regular Sunday walk in Rabat in St George’s Square and he reeled off details of a great value feast he’d had at Beppe’s in Marsalforn, and a Sicilian restaurant in Mgarr. We dined at Otters, also in Marsalforn. It used to be a humble beer and pizza place but has turned into a relaxed wine bar come restaurant since I last visited. It has fantastic seafood, a good wine list and an al fresco (very al fresco in gale force 5 last night) terrace where we watched waves crash below us. Our other find this weekend was Rangers Bar in Gharb. It has to-die-for views from the roof of Ta’ Pinu church and serves homely, hearty portions of family food – pizzas, pasta, fish ‘n’ chips – at amazing value. It’s an unpretentious place that attracts tourist families dining early (like us!). For an unbiased review of Rangers from an overseas visitor, click here.

Doing nothing in particular
Rushing around on a day trip is an anathema to those who’ve discovered Gozo. If you stay over, you can ‘do the sights’, one or two perhaps each morning, then spend the rest of your time doing absolutely nothing that requires brain or brawn. A family I know leave Malta most Friday nights or Saturday mornings for their weekend house in Gozo, returning Sunday evening. They do take computers but say Gozo forces them to have more relaxed quality, family time. They just can’t resist its wind-down feel. If you’re on holiday in Malta, you might think you’re already winding down. But if you aren’t stuck on a package deal, try a night in Gozo and you’ll see what relaxing is all about. Malta will feel so urban and busy when you return.

Gozo's coastline, a snorkeler's paradise.

We’ll do a list of must-sees in Gozo and places to swim in another article. I find the pull of Gozo is to not see much and just relax quite frankly!

Photo: Hondoq ir Rumien, Leslie Vella.

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Guest Rule 1: bus it.

It’s peak summer, if we hadn’t noticed, which means it’s the season to be visited in Malta if you live here. Just as it gets really hot and anything but floating in pool or sea is tiring, emails from wannabe guests start populating your inbox. I’ve had a guest for almost a week which is why we’ve been silent in the past days. It’s also the reason for this post.

If you’ve lived in Malta as many years as I have, family and friends, far flung, have all been, seen and ‘done’ Malta at least twice or thrice and decided it’s time to holiday elsewhere. By now they’ve decided ‘the islands are so small’ and that ‘it’s far too hot in peak summer to sightsee isn’t it?’.

My list of guests has included a relative who wanted to see all the religious festas in an action-packed Easter, an Italian with a young son in tow who dug holes in my kitchen table, and a New Yorker who wanted picking up from the beach at will, generally in the peak heat.

As I waived good-bye, I made a mental note of the points that make for all-round easier, less stressful guest stay in Malta. The list is based on years of hosting experience. If you’re newly living in Malta, read this and be better prepared. The next few summers will see masses of repeat visitors coming your way. Do ask them to read this before they book the flights!

Hosts

Say NO!
If you’ve any nagging doubts about your guests’ stay (heavy workloads, kids sick, back from your holiday the day before they arrive, or you aren’t that close to them), just be brave and say a polite, quick reply, ‘NO it isn’t convenient’.

Be Prepared
Sleeping arrangements, extra beds and bedding, bathroom space, transport, car hire, sightseeing itineraries, food, ideal restaurants, kids’ activities, how to fit in with your routine, and a whole lot more needs working through before they arrive if you aren’t to feel like a stranger in your own home while guests are around. You will also be asked about medical things so make sure you know the times of a local doctor and how to guard against and treat mosquito bites and sunburn and sunstroke.

Guests

Please, please, please think about all this before you stay with a friend in Malta, especially in summer months..

Sun & Heat
June – August can easily see temperatures sore to late thirties and even over 40°C. Do expect to find that unbearable if you’re from northern climates. Do take precautions. Don’t expect your host to be sympathetic when you loll around at their house saying it’s too hot to go out, or because you got sunstroke on day one. Don’t ask them to pick you up at the hottest times of day – our cars are boiling! Stay put in the shade somewhere, then bus it home.

Electricity & Water: fans, showers, aircons and plugs
We pay among the highest price in Europe for our electricity in Malta, so please don’t leave fans, aircons or lights on when you’re not in your guest room. Do try also to save water and not shower four times a day. Plugs are UK 3-pin so bring enough adapters if from Continental Europe.

Transport – hire cars, buses
Our latest guest was supposed to hire a car but the two near misses as we drove on day one, within 100m of our house, was enough to put him off the idea. But do talk to your host in advance about how you intend to get around sightseeing or to the beach; don’t assume they can always fit in or want to pick you up. Hire cars are still cheap in Malta and a good way to explore. See our tips for safe driving. Buses are very hot this time of year but think about how quaint the journey is in our ageing vehicles!

We are not on Holiday!
While your hosts will take time to be with you, remember that they are likely to be working through summer except for perhaps the regular shutdown around 15th August ‘Ferragosto’ (to the Italians) and Santa Marija week here (15th is a public holiday). Don’t expect your host to be able to stay up late every night or be on hand to please all the time. Be thoughtful about their work routine and ensure they have space and time for themselves too.

Read up About Malta
My latest guest somehow thought that Malta would be far greener and lush – in mid July? Err…
Do read up a bit, at least, on the Islands so you won’t have the wrong expectations. Some guests seem to think that because they are staying with people they know, they don’t need to plan at all! This site might be a good place to start.

There is way more I could add to the list, but perhaps I am just too tired in the heat to pen the thoughts. Or recovering from the guest and catching up on work perhaps?

Photo: Gethin Thomas

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How to survive the heat by the Malta Inside Out office cat

Much of northern and eastern Europe is having a hot time this summer. Last weekend, the UK’s metereological office issued a heatwave alert. It touched 31°C daytime and around 20°C at night in some parts of Britain. Here, we’re well up in the 30s now, with the next day or so seeing 35°C midday, and around 24 or so at night. See the Malta 5-day forecast.

We don’t get heatwave alerts until almost touching 40+ here in Malta, and so we ask ourselves what all the fuss is about up North! I haven’t noticed my elderly neighbours keel over in the summer, though they are along with the very young, in a more ‘at risk’ group in extreme heat.

The main reason why we cope in the Med is that we know the heat is coming and prepare for it: shutters and hasiras (cane blinds) are down; working hours in most offices, definitely public sector, are reduced (OK for some then!); people get errands done by 8am (foods shops are all open very early); and we hole up inside till we venture out after 5pm for a swim. Despite aircons in offices and 24/7 ‘always-on’ communications, we’ve not really seen a change in working or cultural practices in Malta in summer.

But, apart from shifts in our routine, what else can keep us cool in Malta as summer hots up? We’ve done a round up of events, places and pastimes to chill out at or with whether you’re a local or just visiting.

Beaches
The obvious place to chill out, but also get sunstroke! So don’t forget the sun-sense tips and what to do about jellyfish. Also, do take time to remind yourself about how to keep kids safe around water.

Tourist Trail Cities
Some sightseeing places are just out of the question if you’re a late riser. Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Temples are tourist must-sees but they are on exposed rocky coastline with little shade, though a great visitors’ centre may help keep you inside a bit. Walking around Valletta, Mdina and Birgu are still good options as their narrow streets and location give good shade and often through breezes. They also house lots of museums to hibernate in.

Sunsets
The best summer pastime is sunset catching. Head out at 7pm for a sundowner – either take your own bottle (and take the empties home) or find a cafe to perch in. Ghajn Tuffieha bay is my favourite. Here are some other sunset spots.

Troglodyte Sightseeing
Underground sightseeing is a weird and wonderfully cool option I was reminded of while visiting Fondajzzoni Wirt Artna’s air raid shelter ‘Malta at War’ museum in Birgu last week. The tunnel bomb shelters are 40 feet underground, and were very cool (if a bit musty). There are plenty of other fascinating museums and places to visit underground.

Visit Churches
OK, so they won’t be open at midday, but it’s already hot by 9am right now. Churches are always cool and calm. I love the moment’s blindness when you walk from harsh sunlight to deep darkness within. The Chiaroscuro effect is what a Maltese summer is all about. Our top pick of churches to visit.

Cool Gardens
Nothing like lolling on benches under large ficus trees and listening to fountains. Malta public gardens are an oasis in the parched summer months.

Open-air Evening Events
Do as the locals do, if you’re visiting, and stay up and out late to catch what breeze there is. Waterside events are aplenty right now – 15, 16, 17 July sees the Malta Jazz Festival at Ta’ Liesse below Valletta and Grand Harbour side. The Farsons’ Great Beer Festival starts 23 July and runs till 5 August at Ta’ Qali and is a chill-out event for all the family (strangely enough)! Clubbing may be more your thing. Cinemas are air-conditioned so bliss this time of year; and with National Cinema Day 17 July, you can get in cheaply.

How to Avoid the Worst (crowds, heat and stress) of Summer Sundays!
We’ve ideas to get you through the endless summer Sundays, which can literally be to die for!

What to do with Kids in the Heat?
Always a key question this one! With locals having to get through three months of kids’ summer holidays, and tourists needing a good crop of ideas to keep little ones entertained, we’ve this round up of cool, fun and relatively stress-free ways for parents and carers to keep sane! If you have to have kids in tow when you’re working, here’s how we got through a very hot day, office included.

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There's nothing like home sweet home for a BBQ!

It’s a Sunday evening in early July as I write this, which is an appropriate moment to tackle that great Maltese seasonal institution – a large, loud gathering of family and friends out for a beach BBQ.

Tomorrow morning, many a Maltese beach will bear the signs of this weekend’s nighttime invasion – litter, spent charcoal, chicken wings and detritus of all kinds will be left behind. While some litter, there are others who spend hours doing voluntary beach tidy-ups. It’s a never ending cycle of litter, tidy, litter… but perhaps we’ve reached the tipping point, or nearly.

The Beach BBQ’s Environmental Impact
Of course, it’s not solely the beach BBQ that contributes to beach littering, but here’s an anecdote on its polluting effect which isn’t all about litter.

A couple of hot July’s ago, I went out for an expensive, splash-out meal at a restaurant right next to a small bay. The establishment suggests guests arrive to catch the sunset views from the al fresco dining area. We did. And that was about the best bit of the evening, and the meal. I won’t do a hatchet job on the meal (which it deserved), but the evocative sundown drink was spoiled within around five minutes of our arrival by the chugging into action of a generator and the waft of petrol, followed by floodlights, shouting and general mayhem. The beach BBQ was in full swing.

Now, I like the idea of a beach BBQ, and went on a couple in the past. But we were responsible enough to keep noise to a minimum. The people I was with enjoyed chilling out in the mellow heat and listening to the waves, not music or generators and scoured their patch of beach meticulously using torches to ensure not a scrap of litter was left. If all nighttime BBQ-goers did this, then there’d be no need to…

Ban the Beach BBQ
Mellieha Local Council used by-laws to ban the BBQ last summer from Ghadira Bay, to some uproar. Some quarters saw it as another attack on popular ‘cultural’ pastimes. Not that the beach BBQ can be compared with the Ghanafest.

Ghadira Bay has a nature reserve behind it and is aiming for Blue Flag status as a beach with outstanding environmental and safety credentials. While the Blue Flag criteria don’t stipulate a ban on BBQs, Blue Flag status and barbecuing don’t sit happily together; the pollution the beach BBQ produces in Malta would make attaining and retaining Blue Flag status nearly impossible.

Two beaches in Malta now have the Blue Flag – Bugibba (this year) and St George’s Bay (awarded last year). Interestingly, both are ‘new’, man-made beaches and in built-up areas popular with tourists. They have no local tradition of BBQs.

Yet, the more rural, beauty spot beaches, which should have greater potential to reach Blue Flag standards aren’t yet quality enough; the BBQ culture must have something to do with that.

Conspicously, today, I noticed a row of temporary info boards on Golden Bay beach explaining Blue Flag and the local sealife and fauna and flora. The Malta Tourism Authority’s info boards nearby, also a new addition this year, clearly said BBQs were not allowed, neither was camping.

So, plans are afoot to make more of Malta’s beaches BBQ free in pursuit of that elusive Blue Flag status no doubt. I love the idea of footloose and fancy-free summer nights on the beach with a Barbie as much as the next man. But given our islands’ limited beach space, masses of beach goers and our enduring lack of self-discipline, the BBQ must stay at home. About time.

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Even when they swim like fish, you need to be vigilant

This article is aimed at giving you advice for a happy, safe holiday with kids on, in and around water in Malta this summer. Do take a moment to browse down. We’re rather like the flight attendant reminding you to listen to those safety instructions even if you’re a frequent flyer (or swimmer… in our case)!

Holidays are for relaxation, and nowhere more so than in Malta which promotes itself on its relaxed Mediterranean lifestyle. However, as parents we can’t really relax when water and kids mix because…

Swimming pools pose the greatest risk of death and injury to children in a home or holiday setting. More British children drown on holiday abroad than in Britain itself, most of them in swimming pools. And if you take recent statistics from Algarve (Spain) and Greece, most drownings of young children are in pools, not the sea, despite the unpredictability of the sea and the crowds that beaches pull.

There is good news in all this though – research shows that most swimming pool drownings are preventable.

Swimming Pools & the Law
In 2008, a new European Union standard relating to the design and operation of swimming pools came into effect. It is a standard only, but both France and Spain have introduced laws based on it, and backed by hefty fines, to protect youngsters in both private and public pools. French law states that all privately-owned swimming pools should be equipped with a safety fence and gate with a self closing latch. This is not the case in Malta.

If you are renting a house with pool in Malta or Gozo this summer, do ask about pool safety equipment such as fences and gates if you have young children and are at all worried. Also, check about non-slip surfaces and ask if filters, reservoirs or infinity pools have sufficient safety barriers in place. Be aware that some houses for summer rentals have pools up close to the premises, or even fitted into courtyards; perhaps you can lock doors though this is rarely practical in summer heat.

Just be prepared to be vigilant. After all, however many safety devices are in place, accidents can happen so don’t rely 100% on anything other than your own eyes and presence of mind. If you really want to relax on holiday, swim with the kids!

Seaside / Poolside Safety Tips

Things to consider:
• Fencing round pools to avoid kids inadvertently wandering off to the swimming pool without adult supervision.
• Alarms that ring by the pool and in your house, as soon as wave action is detected, are also a good option.
• Another alternative is pool covers or shelters, though be aware that covers can hold enough water on top to pose a threat to toddlers.
• Be aware also of hidden dangers from drain or suction entrapments. Drains with broken, missing or faulty covers can entrap hair, the body, limbs, jewellery and clothing, or cause disembowelment/evisceration.
• Slippery surfaces. Nasty accidents can be avoided by wearing rubber swimming shoes, usually made out of wet-suit material. These can also protect little feet from sharp rocks and pebbles, sea urchins and other hazards by the sea.
• Swim Aids: armbands should be worn by young children at all times when in close proximity to pools or by the seaside. Modern versions are now available which do not have to be inflated. These swimming discs are quick and easy to put on, give your child better posture and more confidence in the water, and most importantly don’t puncture, so you have a lot less to worry about.
• Shade by the pool and even more so by the sea, is paramount in avoiding sunburn. Sea salt and sand mean sun block does not last as long at the beach, but these days you can find UV tents from most kids’ related outlets or online, which give the whole family a safe way to enjoy the sun.
• At the beach, avoid rough or choppy water. Be careful with inflatable boats and lilos, which can quickly and easily drift out to sea. Check the weather and the likelihood of jellyfish, before you head out.
• Have a medical or first aid kit with you to deal with jellyfish stings and accidents.
• Always have an adult present when kids are swimming. At gatherings, it is particularly important to appoint a strong swimmer to supervise kids by the pool or sea, to ensure there is a responsible adult watching at all times.

Additional reporting by Faye Camilleri Preziosi, who retails Delphin Disc armbands in Malta.
See also: Delphin website.

For more information on pool fencing in Malta, see: protectachildmalta.com

Photo: Anne Muscat Scerri.

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Story of a business (not) foretold. A fashion & fabrics' retailer that documents Malta's commercial & social history

Take a walk through Valletta’s back streets, and you’ll come across old shop fronts with wonderful names, often faded or peeling with the patina of the years. Most are shuttered up relics of once busy shops. Some sport the names of the partners in the family firms while others prefix their wares or services with adjectives we’d rarely see in adverts today, such as ‘economical’ or ‘bespoke’. These shop fronts are the signs of Valletta of old, the ‘Vanishing Valletta’ documented by Maltese photographer David Pisani.

Not many of these old shops that were once the lifeblood of Valletta a century or more ago live on today. But one family of retailers can trace its history back that far; its story parallels that of Malta through World Wars, slumps and booms. It can document also consumers’ changing tastes in fashion and furnishings from Victoriana to 1930s’ modernism and 1950s’ post-war utility and beyond.

The firm, now run by the grandsons and great grandchildren of the founding brothers, is Camilleri Paris Mode, and it’s just turned 120. Once called ‘À La Ville de Lyon’, and located on the corner of Merchants Street and St John’s Square tucked next to the Co-Cathedral, it stocked general drapery and advertised that is was a “naval & military contractor”. According to an old newspaper cutting, its wares included “silks, woolen, cotton, linen goods, damask, tapestry, the latest novelties, and faldettas” (the traditional hooded cloak women wore in Malta and Gozo, known also as the għonnella).

The business witnessed its ups and downs and the story of the Camilleri family mirrors that of Malta. It grasped the market in the Fin de siècle era when it imported the lastest in Parisian fashion accessories to adorn Malta’s well-heeled society ladies, as well as ensuring wisely that it offered value and service to all strata of clientele; it saw a brother almost emigrate to Argentina; it saw the family business split and diverge; it had hard times following the First World War; and it saw its premises and the city around it all but destroyed by World War II.

As it celebrates 120 years in trade, Camilleri Paris Mode – its name still resonating with its history as a purveyor of Paris fashions – is no longer solely about fabrics. The firm’s now three shops, one still on Merchants’ Street, offer also wedding services (lists, gowns and accessories), design and manufacture of sofas, wines and delicacies, and lifestyle and living ranges suited to every interior from baroque palaces to marina penthouses.

Its nerve centre is thoroughly contemporary and housed in spanking new premises in Rabat. But appearances deceive. If there are two adjectives that describe CPM (as those in the know call it) today, just as 120 years ago, I’d say they are ‘bespoke’ and ‘fine’. Whether you’re calling in to get a single bottle of wine or talking about the interior of an entire flat, the family and its family of staff give you the kind of old-world service that you thought went out, well, a hundred years ago. It survived, when many shut up shop around it. There’s a lesson in that somewhere…

Photo: Rubelli Fabrics, courtesy of Camilleri Paris Mode.

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Time for a quick glance around between numbers. Mellieha's bandsmen

Fancy a festa? If you do, then there are plenty to choose from, several each weekend across the Maltese Island throughout the summer from June – September. Some main ones are here below, but for the full diary, see, Malta & Gozo Parish Feasts 2010. Each festa has its own flavour, so ask around, for example, for the best for fireworks (perhaps Mqabba for sheer volume and Lija for aesthetics), or the most authentic, rowdy, village-like, religious and so on.

• Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Zejtun – Third Sunday of June
• Saint George, Qormi – Last Sunday of June
• Saint Peter and Saint Paul (Mnarja), Nadur, Gozo – 29th June
• Saint Joseph, Msida – Sunday following 16th July
• Saint Sebastian, Qormi – Third Sunday of July
• Saint Venera, Santa Venera – Last Sunday of July
• Saint Gaetan, Hamrun – Sunday following 7th August

I write this to the constant boom of fireworks both from my village and from a neighbouring one. Malta & Gozo’s summer festa season has begun big time. And there’s no getting away from festas, love them or hate them. People I speak to tend to fall into one of three categories in their attitude to festas:

1. Love them - relish the noise, colour, fireworks, excuse to meet friends, the mêlée, the fast food, nougat, bands, heat, sweaty faces, and the religious regalia everywhere…

2. Just see them (tourists’ view) – a quaint, weird, fun, in-your-face, tradition of Malta with amazing fireworks, so ‘must-see’ at least one good one while on holiday here.

3. Hate them – and all that goes with them such as traffic and parking chaos, roads blocked, noise (above the senseless noise of petards), and the fact that in some parishes, the religious origins are superseded by excess and rowdiness.

Island visitors seem the most middle ground in their views. Well, they aren’t subjected to non-stop festas for three or more months. Locals don’t tend to be middle ground about festas – it’s an all or nothing affair with us mostly.

What are Festas or Parish Feasts anyway?
They celebrate the day of the parish patron saint. But tend to last around a week to 10-days and involve weeks of build up and work. For a flavour of what festa is, see our article Saints and Street Parties.

Verdict: They are colourful – fireworks and the characters you see milling around at them. So for that alone, find a festa this summer, at least one, and enjoy it for what it is. A good time had by all in the community, with a statue of a saint involved somewhere!

Photo: Leslie Vella

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Great for cool, zesty lemonade this time of year

I had some friends coming over for a buffet and needed loads of lemons. All those salad dressings to make, and perhaps a cooling zesty lemon mousse for dessert. So, in Malta, where do you go for lemons? The supermarket?

No, you look over the garden wall. Or, more precisely, you lower a basket over the wall, your neighbour generously fills it, you hoist it up, and hey presto, you’ve a surfeit of lemons to make a gallon or more of lemonade, and some left over.

This little ritual of give and take plays out if you don’t conveniently have your own tree that is. Even the smallest front or backyard in a town like Sliema has room for a lemon tree. I have olive, cypress and palms but my ageing lemon died a long time ago. My neighbour’s garden is littered with fallen lemons. Old, knarled, thick-skinned with warty lumps, and slightly mildewed or bird splattered. Fresh from the orchard, in their natural state and free of those boxtoxed-looking waxed skins, they are bliss. A lemon scent and taste to die for.

Yesterday morning, 07.30, I called from my roof across her garden as I’d heard her weeding. Mary picked out the best from her crate of windfalls and obligingly packed my wicker basket full. I pulled it up the 15 foot drop, ever grateful. And I took a moment to reflect on this endearing slice of Maltese village life: the sharing neighbours, the use of produce to the full when in season, and an appreciation of nature’s bounty.

I look at Mary’s large orchard, overshadowed by the parish church, and pray that it will never be built on. Anything is possible in Malta. Long may her lemon trees live on.

What is a ‘basket’ in Malta?
Basket is used in Malta to refer also to a plastic bag, the sort supermarkets dish out (at a price these days). Not to be confused with wicker or reed woven baskets.

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A cliche' but it wouldn't be summer in Malta without it

Suddenly this week, we’ve had all too hot a reminder that we’re in June. Summer 2010 has had till now a late and shaky start with some wild windy days, and some sultry overcast skies heavy with thunder. But, the rising mercury is screaming summer now, so dust off memories of summers past in Malta, or anywhere else you’ve holidayed in the Med, and see if this list rings any bells with you.

You know it’s summer when…

- The cat won’t move for hours on end
- Ants start invading your kitchen
- Yells, bells and smells greet you on every street (festas, food stalls, car windows open, TVs blaring through open doors…)
- Families, old and young members like, perch outside on chairs, doorsteps and kerbs to chat
- Drivers of heavy vehicles strip to vests
- Valletta’s (old) City Gate (soon to be no more) reeks of sweets, diesel and sweat
- Tarmac starts to melt and rutch up
- Kids eat an ice cream a day
- Tourists are on the beach at midday; while Maltese turn up after 5.30pm
- Drivers start getting more abusive as heat = road rage
- You hear every festa wherever you are on the islands
- Town and village festas close roads and cause tailbacks (people kerb-crawling watching fireworks)
- There’s barely a local to be seen in village streets after midday.
- You can park in Valletta easily after midday – public servants have all gone home!
- Government offices rarely answer phones after midday
- Paceville is a no-go zone for a whole lot of reasons!
- You can hear clubbing venues’ music even if you’re miles away
- Beer not wine is the drink you want when dining out
- Aircon firms charge a whole lot more for call-outs (get servicing done by end May next year!)
- Whole families perch quayside with fishing rods as the sun sets
- Beaches get BBQs galore
- Beaches get filled up by large groups of language students (from midday at weekends, so plan to go other times!)
- You know it’s summer when you’ve had enough of going to the beach and look elsewhere for things to do.

The list is endless, so do add your own summer in Malta characteristics…

Photo: Anne Muscat Scerri of Cloudberry Images

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