Life Lately: Summer Vibes

It's been a while since I last wrote here and that's mainly due to summer lethargy, too much reading and quizzing my son for his annual exams. The latter is thankfully behind us and we have all have heaved a collective sigh of relief. We had been having some rather nice weather up to now but, overnight, the temperature shot up by around 10 degrees (C) and the raging heat of Africa has reached our shores. It is hot, muggy and unpleasant. The sky is laden with desert dust and, although the wind is blowing, it brings no respite because each gust feels like a hot blast from a furnace. But I'll look on the bright side: it's the solstice and, from here on, the days will only get shorter and cooler weather will return.

Wedding Anniversary

Last week my husband and I celebrated our 18th anniversary. We both took the day off and went to Marsaxlokk* for lunch. Marsaxlokk used to be a very picturesque fishing village with golden limestone houses huddled around the village church just metres away from the crystal-clear sea. We hadn't visited for 2 years and I was shocked at the change. But now, the main road that borders the promenade looks like a war zone with all the road works taking place and there are places from where the church is no longer visible due to all the construction that has been going on. You may read more about the ugliness that is engulfing us in my previous post Disappearing Malta.

Anyhow, we chose Marsaxlokk because my husband felt like eating octopus and it's the best place to get fresh seafood. We decided to go to La Capanna, which used to be one of our favourite restaurants, only to find out that it has been refurbished, was under new management and the  menu had been overhauled. The items on it were also drastically reduced too. But the food was excellent - perhaps even better than it used to be. Or maybe I should say that it went from being family-run to more gourmet. My prawn risotto was delicious and the portion was just enough to fill me up without giving me a carb overload.

*Marsaxlokk is made up of 2 Semitic words: marsa meaning harbour and xlokk which means south. Thus Marsaxlokk means southern harbour and remains dating back to Phoenician times have been found in the vicinity.

Currently reading

I'm currently reading 2 books: The Corfu  Trilogy by Gerald Durrell and The Pianist by Władysław Szpilman. I purposefully left The Corfu  Trilogy for summer. It is over 700 pages long but Durrell's writing is easy-going and often humorous. In this trilogy he writes about the 5 years his family spent on the island of Corfu and he really brings to life the eccentric and lovable characters that he befriends. The books were adapted for television and we have already watched the four series which I highly recommend for some feel-good summer binge-watching.

I am sure you are all familiar with the movie The Pianist directed by Roman Polanski and starring Adrien Brody. I've watched it twice but I wanted to read the book it was based on. As with all Holocaust memoirs it will make for some heart-breaking reading. I make sure to read at least one book about the Holocaust every year.

Plans

Have any of you made any plans for 'later on'? I can't seem to think further than next week. The thought of making plans further than that terrifies me. I was always a procrastinator and have never really been fond of planning far ahead but I had started to get used to it. Covid has set me back. I think it will take me a while to plan for events that are in 3 or 4 months' time. But, to be honest, I would love to go on a trip somewhere. I keep thinking of Tuscany. The thought of those little hill-top villages with their  massive walls and bell towers makes me feel calm, safe and serene. I was wondering whether you'd be interested if I did a virtual tour of Tuscany on the blog. It's been over 10 years since we were last there but I doubt the major attractions have moved anywhere so I think it's easily doable. Let me know and I'll try and come up with something.

Useful links

• If you're looking for an easy cake that you can whip up in 15 minutes, look no further than  Mary Berry's Lemon Drizzle Cake. It's moist and super delicious too.
• It's barbecue season so this classic grilled cheeseburger recipe by Olive & Mango might come in handy.
• If you're in Malta and need some cute espadrilles make sure to visit Marquis de Vissac in Santa Lucia Street, Valletta. Their espadrilles are hand-made in France and Spain. I just bought a really nice pair and will be sharing them on Instagram soon. If you like something you can make enquiries whether they ship worldwide.
• And, finally, take a look at Nikki Garnett's fashion suggestions for summer 2021.

So that's it from me for this week. Let's see how often I'm going to be missing my weekly posts in summer. It doesn't look like I've got off to a very good start.