We visited the Malta Classic Car Collection with friends, Terry & Sue, during their stay with us. It is a private collection over two floors and, as well as a display of amazing cars spanning 50 manufacturing years, the museum also houses a collection of memorabilia dating back to the 1950's. There is also a cinema where we watched footage of the famous 'Mille Miglia'. We admired some fantastic original condition and restored cars that included a Triumph TR3, Mini Cooper S, several Jaguar E-types, Jaguar XK140 and C-type replica, Lotus Cortinas MKI & MKII, as well as several Alfa Romeo and Fiat sports models. We very much enjoyed our visit, one not to be missed by classic car enthusiasts.
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After 3 weeks of strong winds and rain in Syracuse, it was ironic that we ended up motoring to Malta due to lack of wind! Lack of wind there might have been but there was certainly no lack of traffic during our night crossing. It felt as if everyone had been holed up waiting for an opportunity to make a move and we were all out together; cruise ships, fishing fleets, yachts and huge tankers. At one point, we had to keep an eye on 20 vessels within our area of travel.
Upon arrival in Malta, we were greeted by Chris, the marina manager, and our friends Angie & Wayne. It was nice to see their familiar faces as well as other cruisers that had wintered in Malta last year too who had also returned. We didn't have much time to relax though as friends, Terry & Sue were flying out two days later to join us for a week. During their stay we familiarised ourselves with Malta again as we showed them around Valletta, Mdina (the old capital), Grand Harbour, Manoel Island Fort and a visit to a Classic Car Museum, travelling around on the colourful old Leyland buses.
There is still a lot of Malta for us to explore and over the next few months, we'll be keeping the blog updated with our stories.
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What a difference a year makes. This time last year, we spent 3 weeks in Syracuse with glorious sunshine, plenty of social entertainment and as much culture to visit as you could wish for.
This year, we have hardly been able to get off the boat for days on end due to the strong wind and torrential rain. The weather has held us hostage this time!
When the weather eventually subsides, we do have to make a run for it which is not a 5 minute job. We have to get the dinghy off the boat, round up the rubbish that needs taking ashore, gather the water containers as no trip ashore can be justified without bringing back some water and by the time we have done all of that, it has started raining again.
We have tried to use our hostage time to good use; our CD's are now arranged in alphabetical order and our books have been grouped into themes. Obviously, this was done during one of the longer incarceration periods. Chris has also taught me how to play rummy and our playing cards are now starting to curl up due to the continual use.
Yesterday was Chris's birthday and he spent it onboard as a hostage to the weather again. Last year, we spent the day in beautiful Noto and had a delicious Sicilian lunch. This year, it was very windy and we couldn't go ashore. So, I made a birthday cake for him. I wondered what it would look like when it came out of the oven. The boat was swaying from side to side so much due to the wind, that I wondered if it would be lobsided. But that turned out to be a small concern. The real concern came 10 minutes later when, in very strong wind, we realised that our anchor had finally had enough and had dragged, the first time in 2 1/2 years. So, in 33kn of wind (very strong for the non-yachties), we had to re-anchor but the cake still had 10 minutes to go in the oven. I had no choice but to turn it off. It was going to be ruined but that wasn't as bad as continuing to drag and hitting the land. After re-anchoring, the wind dropping and feeling calm again, I gingerly opened the oven to see what had happened. Looked pretty good and, as it turned out, it was probably one of the best cakes I have ever made. Though I would not recommend waiting for strong winds and your anchor to drag to achieve the same results.
It was still blowing late last night when we had had enough of playing yet another game of rummy and so, with the anchor alarm on, we agreed that we needed to try to get some sleep. All was well until about 5.15am when the alarm went off. You will never see Chris move so fast as that moment. Dressed in seconds and ready for action, we had simply changed direction and all was well. Back to bed.
Looks like our hostage time may be coming to an end as the weather seems to be easing over the next few days. Next time, can someone please pay the ransom a little sooner.
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