Melting in Malta: Mellieha

the plan to visit malta came about when i found out that our family lawyer - a friend of my college friend - just moved there. she diligently helped us on my son's case and i really wanted to personally meet her and thank her.

the small country, while pretty dense for its size, doesn't get a lot of love from tourists. thanks to game of thrones, the country became a subject of curiosity and more visitors had been visiting steadily. since i've planned to visit with lovro, i knew that we couldn't do much and allocated only 6 days. but after that trip, i realized that was a mistake. there was so much to see and do in malta that we could have easily taken 2 weeks. 6 days felt quite rushed, especially with my limited mobility, my 4 year old and that wicked summer sun. nevertheless, we made the most out of it.

Mellieha

our first stop was in mellieha. i wanted to take lovro to see the popeye village and so i decided to stay close by, and based on what i've found online, this town has a beautiful coastline and is famous for its beaches. just a short bus ride to cirkewwa and a ferry ride away from there is the popular blue lagoon, a spot in comino island just off the coast that is known for its azure-colored water. we arrived in the afternoon and i have arranged for an airport pick-up with the owner of the apartment. the driver announced that it was 42 degrees outside and as we drove by i couldn't help but notice that the land was barren. there were hilly views but they're mostly brown from lack of vegetation, and trees were few and short. the apartment owner greeted us and explained all we needed to know about our stay, and his living room was filled with a million flyers of things to do all over malta. it was perfect because i have not really prepared much for this trip and was thinking to just wing it.

summer days are long, and lovro did not want to nap, so after a bit of rest we decided to explore the area. i was told of a playground nearby, and thought the little one could use a bit of playtime. it will be two blocks away, he said, after the church. what he didn't explain was how beautiful the facade and courtyard of this church was! it was the sanctuary of our lady of mellieħa.

when you exit the church patio, the beautiful coastal view awaits. like a wonderful surprise. and at the end of the road, next to the cemetery, we finally spot the playground. a playground with a view, at that!

that evening we had a dinner date with Catherine, and i booked a table at the second highest-rated restaurant in TripAdvisor, Rebekah's. i had the chef special of traditional maltese rabbit dish. food was great, and the company better.

Comino Cruise

when i spoke to our host about a plan to spend the whole day in popeye village, his immediate response was NO. he figured the 'park' is too small to spend a whole day at, and suggested that we go only in the late afternoon. the heat would also not make it enjoyable for lovro, he stressed. so in the morning i've decided why not take a cruise to comino (or anywhere, really) to see what the whole blue lagoon buzz was all about. i was preparing breakfast when the couple occupying the other room in the apartment came around and we chat for a bit. they were heading to cirkewwa that morning, and offered to take us there since they rented a car. there was a comino ferries co-op booth and the boat ride costed only about 9 euros round-trip so we opted for it. 

the blue lagoon looked great in the flyer photos but even more amazing to see with your own eyes. 

the beach was of course packed with tourists, but that was expected for such a beautiful place in the height of summer. and for 9 euros to get there, i can't really complain. i initially thought of not even having to leave the boat and just cruise back immediately, as i wasn't sure if lovro was going to like it. but he did, and he himself asked that we get off and hang out by the beach and eat some fries. 

it was scorching hot by the time we had to leave, but we needed to go back to the apartment as we had a date for our next agenda for the day.

Popeye Village

Catherine agreed to join us for this trip. she said she's always wanted to go there but it didn't seem fun to go without bringing a kid along. popeye village is actually the film set of the 1980 musical which was converted to a theme park and became a major tourist attraction in malta. initially our host said that if we visit late in the afternoon we only pay half the price. but that was not the case - we still paid 17 euros. maybe for locals?

we arrived around 4, and the village closes at 7. luckily it's small enough that we didn't feel rushed and still managed to see almost everything. we could've taken it slower though, but with the sun melting us away, that wouldn't have been so fun either. 

there was a floating playground but i believe you'd have to pay extra to go there. we weren't prepared to get soaked though - i didn't bring swimsuit. plus, lovro the scaredy cat didn't want to go there. 

we saved the best for last. we went for a boat ride which gave visitors a good view of the village from the sea. also, anchor bay is really beautiful. the boat ride is included in the entry ticket.

we managed to be out the door just as they've announced that the village is about to close. we took some more photos of the magnificent village before we headed to the bus stop, only to realize that the bus will take 20 minutes to arrive. luckily, a guy driving a coach passed by and asked people where they'd be going. he took a few of us who were probably going towards the same direction and charged us 2 euros each. in the philippines, we call this kind of transport agreement as "colorum". interesting to see this exists in this more ancient side of the world too. 😆

bye bye popeye village

Grosetto Province in Tuscany

after a brief stint in cinque terre our next destination was: tuscany. en route, we did a rendezvous to see the leaning tower of pisa - because it wasn't much of a detour anyway. i've seen it in the past, during winter, so it was nice to be able to see it again in the summer. it was a saturday so there were loads of tourists. we did the obligatory pose.

we had lunch near the tower, and after that we drove four hours south to the province of grosetto. the drive was absolutely amazing: the picturesque view of the rolling hills and towering cypress trees and vineyards was in itself quite an experience. we also passed by a few sunflower fields which got me all excited, so eventually paps decided to exit the highway and turn in to one of the fields just so i could get a photograph of a tuscan sunflower field which had clearly been an object of desire.  

for the summer break, my inlaws rented a very nice villa in the ancient medieval hill town of sorano, in a place called residenza piancasale. the residence has a few houses in this old farmhouse, and the compound is lined with olive and fig trees. 

via www.piancasale.com

under one of the big trees was a hammock. my favorite spot. i was trying to nap there once, but lovro wanted to be with me. he was forced to hang out there with me and despite his protestation he eventually slept for more than an hour. his body couldn't resist the relaxing sound of the leaves rustling from the gentle breeze.

just outside the fence a lovely horse comes by to visit, and we'd feed her with carrots. then she'd hang around for a bit so we can pet her then would go off again. 

the most sought-out facility in the guesthouse was most definitely the pool. everyday the family would just hang out and go for a refreshing dip because the scorching heat was really too much to bear. i tried to swim once, but at this point the wound on my foot has not completely healed and it seemed better to keep it dry.

via www.piancasale.com

i did, however, truly enjoyed just passing by the poolside to smell the sweet scent of lavender.

we also enjoyed early evenings when the grazing flock of sheep would be coming by, led by about 4 shepherd dogs. we were advised not to come too close as the dogs would be barking, and that if we attempt to touch any of the sheep, they would definitely bite! 

although we spent a considerable amount of time just chilling here, we did get a chance to explore the towns too. and drink wonderful italian wines and enjoy the cuisine, of course. 

sorano

sorano town proper is quite small but definitely beautiful. we've come there maybe twice to dine and walk about but honestly the place is not as compelling as the neighboring town of pitigliano. the food was great though, and we learned after more than a week of staying in tuscany that this was nothing short of standard. according to wikipedia, the main sights of this town are the orsini castle, masso leopoldino (tuff stone carved into a terrace) and vitozza cave settlement and fortress. we visited none of these. we just happily walked around because everything was pretty. also, during the day, it was maddeningly hot anyway.

pitigliano

from the long and winding road to sorano emerges a very beautiful facade of the town of pitigliano. the sight of it was truly inviting, so it was hardly an option to not visit.

we walked about despite the heat and saw a few people huddled against a water fountain, right at the remains of a 16th century medicean aqueduct. apparently it is called fountain of seven taps. 

there were some nice shops around this town too, and it was a delight to browse through local products. there are restaurants everywhere, much to the delight of hungry travelers like us.  

the houses here are stunning! i had to stop myself from photographing every single one of them. 

sovana

we also visited an even smaller town of sovana - with about only a hundred inhabitants! it's really cute, and you can explore pretty much the entire town in about an hour. and mind you, there is free wifi in the center this town! haha

we had about half an hour before niek, anneleen and maartje arrived (they walked from piancasale) so we had enough time to explore before dinner. 

i looked up which are the best places to eat around here and this restaurant was highly recommended in TripAdvisor: eehGia Bistro. the food was really good, definitely worth the visit. for lovro i ordered ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese and garnished with truffle because there wasn't much option for a child. surprisingly, he loved it! he ate so much of it! the serving was generous though, so i managed to dig in too. i didn't take a photo, but here's one i found in tripadvisor:

photo by tripadvisor user Errichiello C

we ended that meal with some chili chocolate truffles and coffee for the men. what a delicious treat, truly the gem of that little town.

tuscan wines

no visit to tuscany is complete without sampling local wine. we found a vineyard about 15 minutes drive from the villa and we were lucky to be the only visitors that afternoon so it was like a private wine tour and tasting. hurray! we went to sassotondo and met with madam carla who owns and manages the winery. 

the vineyard is about 9 hectares dedicated to red varieties and 3 hectares to whites. for the reds they grow ciliegiolo, sangiovese, teroldego and merlot and the whites are trebbiano, greco, sauvignon. the old cellar was dug into the ground in a tufo cliff (volcanic ash compressed into rocks) 14 meters down where the barrels enjoy perfect natural humidity and temperature. after visiting the cellar, we were seated in a room to sample five wines for €15. lovro, who of course had no business to be interested in what's going on, took his afternoon nap in the arms of his opa.

the wines were good, and we have a car with an empty trunk, so i guess it's pretty obvious what happened next.

the next day, i cooked a popular filipino dish called adobo and we paired it with one of the wines. it was a good combination!

after dinner, bruno - the owner of the villa - came by to pick me and maartje up for a tour to his wine cellar. mams and paps had been there before and were raving about it, so it was imperative that we get to see it too. it's not everyday that you get a chance to be in a cellar that used to be an ancient entruscan tomb after all! 

 bruno explained that he only makes wine for his own consumption and for family, friends and guests of the villa. he does not add sulfites in them, he confided, hence they are not meant for storage and bottling. well, lucky us then!

in broken english and with maartje somehow being able to decipher some italian, we spent a good amount of time in that cellar talking while drinking some really good wine. we also sampled some white wines. outside, there was a thunderstorm which just added to the charm of the evening. and all the more reason to stay in, and drink more!

bruno assured us that we will not have a hangover the next day. i can't remember how much we had, which meant we probably had a lot. what a great evening that was!

terme di saturnia

while having glasses after glasses of wine, bruno stressed that we must visit this natural hot springs in saturnia. we were already aware of this place, because he showed a beautiful photo of it to mams and paps and they were indeed planning for us to go there. however, we only got to visit after anneleen and niek already left. it was about a 45 minute drive away from the villa.

via www.consigliamidove.it

a more realistic photo from my iPhone

when we got there it was around 11 and the mighty sun was punishing. it was also quite a feat to walk up to the terme given my broken foot, so we could not explore the entire area completely. we stayed on the side channel where there was good shade and less crowd. however the current was very strong, and the sulfur didn't seem to be kind to my healing wound, so i had to get off the water after about half an hour. i took photos of the family then.

under the tuscan sun

and so we stayed in tuscany for more than a week and it was definitely an enjoyable summer. before leaving we shopped for some italian essentials of olive oil and salsa tartufata (which we've been having every single day) and of course we had boxes and boxes of tuscan wines. it was nice to have such a laid-back holiday surrounded by olive trees and beautiful flowers and equally nice to see quaint towns with exciting history and natural attractions. tuscany is definitely a region everyone must visit at least once in their lives!