I am seeing this bumper sticker "Sail Now; Work Later" all over the marina and it pretty much epitomizes my being here. I figured it would do no good waiting and sailing around the world with a walker and oxygen tank, so get on it with it now, baby!!! I am missing out on making a ton of money since I used to buy and fix up foreclosures and I hear there are just a few of those around the U.S. these days. But you know what? When I get to the end of this here path I seriously doubt I'll be saying "Dang. I wish I had bought just one more home!" No way, baby. In fact, I'll probably be kicking myself for not taking a bit longer on this trip.

This whole approach towards life started pretty early on for me. I can remember in my early 20s thinking "Hmmm. I can either work in my 20s and play in my 60s. or play in my 20s and work in my 60s." I chose the latter...and am I glad I did. I had more time and energy than money back then and I went for the gusto in life. And if you are thinking that strategy was just an excuse for me to avoid having to deal with the harsh realities of life, you are exactly right! And I haven't looked back. Once in awhile I catch myself looking in the rear view mirror. As soon as I do I snap my neck forward and put the pedal to the metal!!

That 'work thing' is way overrated, in my opinion. Too many people are out there chasing that almighty dollar and missing out on life. Life, my friends, is what happens when you are busy making other plans! I hope this compassionate butt-kicking gets one or two of you off your butts and into gear into pursuing whatever it is that is scratching the back of your skull!!

As for Malta, first impressions are spectacular. I expected the backwater country of Croatia to be too cool and it did not disappoint. Nor has Malta. This is a tiny island nation stuck out in the middle of this sea. There is no reason to come here. And yet it is way cool and I am so glad we got here.

We got into a marina yesterday. 22 euro = $25/nite. So ole cheapo 'splurged' for a couple of nights. We got a few errands done yesterday (groceries, cooking gas, etc.) and then had a chance to go into town later in the evening. The bus took us to the Valletta central bus terminal, and that happened to be at the front entrance to the walled city. So we walked across the (dry) moat and through the main gate which has been rebuilt in the last couple hundred years and looked around. I guess the British Navy staged a lot of WWII stuff out of Malta and that, of course, attracted the ire of the Axis powers who bombed the daylights out of this city. So everywhere you go you see these ancient brick walls with repairs done to them that are about 60 years old.

We had a very nice dinner at a small restaurant in town. (I had lamb, Will chicken and Ruth sea bass). There is/was a wine festival happening next door (somewhere in the castle) with live music and big-screen football (soccer). With the World Cup going on right now all of Europe (and the rest of the world) is keeping tabs with keen interest. Flags fly from balconies and buses. Whenever the 'home' team scores a goal you know about it with fireworks and cars honking their horns. It's nuts. Tonight USA plays Ghana. I plan to go to a restaurant/bar and take it in. Anyhow, the live outdoor music from the wine festival kinda got me a-shakin' and a-jivin' and wanting to dance. What I really ought to do is go back to that wine festival, dance, and watch the Americans play on big screen.

On the way back home from town we weren't sure where to get off on the bus, missed our stop, and did the full tour. The bus was packed with young people going out on a Friday night. It was fun seeing all the young folk going out on the town (especially the girls! :-)). It harkened me back a few decades. Only back then we weren't taking buses...we were 'cruising the boulevard' in whatever cars we had.
When the bus stopped everyone got off and we were the only ones still seated on the bus. So I went up to the driver and asked him what was going on and he told me this was the end of the line. Hmmm.
This might be a good time to exit the bus! We had to cross the street and take another bus back into town. That was our "big night on the town". Pretty exciting, eh?

June 29th is a huge festival and holiday in Malta and everyone gears up and gets started early for it. So the town is in full party mode right now. It's kinda fun...unless you are moored about 25 yards from the Black Pearl disco! No worries, though. I slept right through it. I guess Ruth wasn't so lucky.


You can't go more than a couple of blocks around here without seeing a building that is at least 200 years or more old. In fact, some of the ruins and structures are 2-3 THOUSAND years old!! Malta seems to have an odd influence of English, Italian, and some strange dialect I have yet to figure out. Malta has very close ties to Great Britain - so strong that they even decided to start driving on the wrong side of the road. Given the way Europeans drive, it makes crossing a busy street nothing short of a full-on adventure!

Like most Mediterranean nations, Malta has a 'quiet period' from 1 to about 4 or 5. Shops close around 7 p.m. and the bars and restaurants crank it up about 7:30 p.m. and go till about 1 a.m. (or Ruth tells me, in the case of the Black Pearl, 2 a.m.!)

The roads here are not made of marble, like we have seen in most other seaside towns. There is a ton of garbage on the streets. The garbage trucks drive around and two runners will throw as much as they can into the back of the truck. But they don't get it all for some reason so the rest just sits on the street. One thing Valletta has is a ton of is chandleries! I went into so many chandleries yesterday that I even started to pass up a few! Usually when I see one I go rushing in hoping they will have that odd part I have been looking for for so long. But no more. My plate is full. My list is checked off. Actually, I was feeling bummed that I was in a place with so many available parts and I didn't have more things broken on the boat! I just know I will leave here and the first thing that breaks will bring me mentally back to Valletta and I'll be wishing I had gotten a spare while I was here! Actually, I was thinking of buying another Jeanneau 45 and towing it behind as a "parts" boat!
We'll do one more day at the marina, then head off on Sunday to check out the islands (there are only 2 and a half) for the next few days before pushing off to Tunisia. Tunisia I am expecting to be kind of a dump. But curiosity says I gotta go see it. We will only be there 2 days. We will check out of the EU at the same time so I am hoping that will 'reset' the visa clocks. But these clocks vary with country, city, and customs office. So it is really difficult to know what is going on with that.