So much of our travels happens near wherever we’re staying. We did have a car the first weekend in Malta and we made the most of it, but walking is our normal mode.

Sliema is an affluent area with lots of new apartments and so it has construction going on all the time, but they are very respectful, not starting until 7:30/8 most mornings. It literally means “peace” in Maltese.

Our street had very little parking and it took me about 45 minutes to find something and the one way streets are never my favourite, but once we ditched the car I felt a lot better.

Out the back of our apartment, viewable from our balcony, is the parish church of Sacro Cuor; not particularly old by European standards but still very beautiful. We walked past it every time we went to the supermarket.

I’ll never forget how the church bell rings at random times. We always say, “well, there’s the 6:14pm bell!”

Our balcony was small but having it meant we could see on both sides of our building from pretty high up (4th floor) and because we were near the top of Sliema our view was pretty expansive. Not quite like Split, but close. 🙂

Our first ports of call are usually to get food and explore the neighborhood. This store at the top of our street, Spoons, was owned and operated by a sweet woman who apologised for having all her stock on the showroom floor. Case of having to! We bought our italian coffee pot here so we could continue our addiction.

Our kitchen is the place we hang out most, we do school here and I work here every morning. The grill on the balcony is a welcome addition; there’s something magic about grilled food.

The first week we had lots of little power issues, the washing machine and the stove were the culprits, but this meant we got to know our maintenance man. What a sweet and amazing guy, I really wish we could have attended one of his parties out in the countryside.

On the northern side of Sliema there’s this little petrol station, probably the smallest I’ve ever seen. You can rock up and grab petrol but I’m not at all sure whom you pay.

The Hole in the Wall is beautiful inside, all hardwood floors that reminded Alice and me of our tiny house dreams, and this cigarette bin lets you choose the Beatles or the Stones.

I’ve taken a lot of photos on this trip, but not many are worthy of being put in a coffee table book – this, however, I think makes the cut. Ironically I checked on the way back and behind that first door there is a bit of rubbish.

Sliema, our neighborhood is bustling and yet quiet at the same time, I think people here either work really hard or their apartments are in between renting to tourists. We are here at a time that is pretty cold, and so I reckon it counts as the off season.