We all need the occasional change so off I went to Gozo with my 1975 and 1980 babies and their families just to be together, 'sofa' together and of course eat together. A week was enough. The views of the countryside from every window and terrace in the house were enough to cheer us up.
The Cittadellà is impressive though parking in Rabat, hell, but we somehow managed to make a quick tour though in an hour you do not get to see very much. Another visit in the winter months is the answer.
Marsalforn is over-developed and my idea of a nightmare. Imagine living huddled up in one of those flats. I can't even bear the thought. However, in the evening, under the canopy of darkness it has a new look with lights and tables on the sidewalk. Us 'girls' went down for a drink one evening while the men were watching football. The cheek by jowl blocks of flats were invisible. The cocktails were good and they left us in a buoyant mood.
On one of the evenings we saluted Paul Buttigieg with a spritz or two for the part he played, over so many years, in a long drawn out battle to save Hondoq ir-Rummien. A big prosit to Paul and a big thank you too.
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I remember the Gozo of my childhood, those summers when we stayed at the Royal Lady hotel - nothing royal about this small hotel in Mgarr except the treatment we received from the owner, Cikku and his wife. It was named after one of the early Gozo-Malta ferries. I recall with nostalgia summers on its beautiful terrace where we had our meals, prepared by Cikku, under the vines; who can forget the breakfasts with homemade marmalade and jam and freshly brewed coffee; the iron beds, so basic, just like those at the convent; the rudimentary bathrooms in which water was sometimes little more than a trickle. And the swimming at Xlendi. But the Xlendi of today has few attractions for me except in early spring and late summer. Crowds change everything.
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One place which has barely changed is the photogenic Mgarr ix-Xini which has now gained some fame because of the unsuccessful film By the Sea. (Angelina Jolie worship has now reached evangelical proportions.) It is still a beautiful bay to swim in and snorkle. You can imagine how spectacular it must have looked in the days of the knights who left their galleys there for shelter and built a watch tower to keep guard.
We went early so we could park easily. The meal at the now famous restaurant was excellent and the men insisted on footing the bill.
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We had long decided that we must not forget to get some Gozitan honey. So one afternoon off we went to Ta' Mena where the children loved seeing the animals and the fruit trees at close quarters and Theo (4) was thrilled to be able to inspect - and touch - a combine harvester. I had no idea what this huge machine was but he soon informed me: 'It's a combine harvester, nanna.' He had seen them in his place of birth, America, but only across some enormous field. He is an expert when it comes to machines, trucks, trains...
So back to the shop for some honey and a conversation with Marnése Spiteri who spoke to us in impeccable English. I remarked on her unusual name. Mrs Spiteri explained that it was a combination of Maria and Genesia "after my two grandmothers." She is married to Joseph and they have two grownup children, a boy and a girl both of whom live in Malta. "I come from a family of eight sisters," she tells me casually. Eight girls under the same roof, four of us were more than a handful, but eight?
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Ta'Mena is named after Mrs Spiteri's mother-in-law Carmena. " She was the brains behind the Ta' Mena Estate and it is named after her. She was married to Frank who passed away on the 13th May this year. Friends wrote some lovely words in his praise in The Times," she says, proudly quoting some of the words.
Every year they participate in the President's Citrus Fest held in mid-January at San Anton. "We try to help by sending a gift of some cases of oranges from our orange grove and lend our coffee machine and orange juicer to the organisers," she explains.
Then we came to the honey which has become 'like gold' in her words. Malta honey, too, is hard to come by. I like to have some spare pots at home not only for us but also to give away as presents. Mrs Spiteri explained: "We produce most of the honey we sell in our shop. The beehives are moved from one place to the other according to the season. They will be in our orange grove in early spring and then in the fruit orchard. They will be near wild thyme and fennel in summer and carob trees in autumn and so on. We also have four farmers who produce honey for us. There can never be enough honey and unfortunately we are spending far too much time with honey out of stock. Bees are in extreme danger now and although there is a lot of talk there is no action from the authorities. Furthermore the general public seems not to care about this matter. This year we are losing entire colonies and let's hope that we will have some decent rain as otherwise we will lose everything." The lack of rain this winter has certainly not been a blessing.
The Spiteri family produce everything they have on sale which includes wines, liqueurs, cold pressed extra virgin olive oil, jams, tomato paste, sundried tomatoes, cheeses, pastries, etc. "We have plans to make all kinds of salamis and cheeses," Mrs Spiteri explains. They are waiting for the Planning Authority permits to refurbish their shop and set up a real agro tourism complex on their estate of 25 hectres in some valley in Marsalforn. We enjoyed speaking to her, bought jars of honey of all sizes, olive oil, Harry's tomato paste jam which he loves, marmalade and their wonderful fig jam, which I ate over two breakfasts. I tried to pace them over a week but it was impossible.
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I was very impressed with Marnése Spiteri, with her simplicity, capacity for hard work and command of English. What is this on-going madness of letting go of our valuable bi-lingualism? Mrs Spiteri regularly has foreign visitors. In our case, several members of my family do not speak Maltese as they are 'foreign'. Hadn't it been for her clear and precise use of English they would not have been able to follow the conversation. People like Marnése are the salt of the earth. If they believe in something 100 per cent they are prepared to make the sacrifices, take the punishment and put the effort behind it. It is what has kept these islands going through thick and thin. No pretensions, they simply get on with the job. How wonderful!