July 15, and it is my 56th birthday.
A man died right next to me at 10:45 this morning. We were walking by the Parliament, on the way to catch a bus to the beach. An older guy: one minute he was walking beside us, then I heard a sickening SMACK! and he was on his back on the pavement.
He didn't move.
The police were there almost immediately, they straightened up and crossed themselves.
I don't know if he slipped and hit his head, or had a coronary and died before he hit, but the sound is unforgettable.
One minute you are here, the next minute you are gone.
And that is why you should get out and do what you want to do, right now.
We spent the day at Mellieħa Beach.
Part of the day at any rate.
It is about an hour bus ride to get there. Seriously, only about twenty kilometers north. It is a scenic drive at any rate. Coming home it took a little longer. There was this car accident, and one car was left just barely blocking the middle of the road… one bus coming north, one going south and, well, you know the story.
Mellieħa Bay is that perfect color combination of blue-green, backed by a golden, fine sand beach. There is a big, red domed church perched like a castle on the hill behind us, and the town wraps around the bay.
We had a choice of the yellow, blue, white, green or orange umbrella section, so we chose the yellow. It cost €12 for two beds with nice pads, one umbrella, and then we bought two towels for €4. There is a little bar right behind the umbrellas, so it was easy to fetch up an ice cream or a beer. Or a beer.
I almost finished my last book, Gail napped a little and read, and we swam in the warm, shallow water. I had to wade quite a ways out to get to swimming depth.
We came back, cleaned up, and ate dinner at Ambrosia, where they have a simple, one page menu. Gail was not too sure about this, but we stayed and ended up with an excellent meal.
She had Confit of Pork Belly with honey ginger sauce, while I chose the Stuffed Quail with walnut cream sauce. They really do their reductions and sauces well. We had a bottle of red French wine from the Côtes du Rhône, then went out for gelato afterwards.