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"There's always a plan, but unexpected things happen and we just go with the flow. Though I do believe that fate and destiny often play their part"
sailing blog
As the saying goes - "time flies when you're having fun". It's slipped by this past week with such stunning speed that our feet have hardly touched the ground. Here's a quick catch-up on all our recent comings and goings, before I forget how much has happened in such a short space of time. Last Saturday we experienced the most amazing day ever. I am, of course, referring to Em's wedding. In my humble opinion it was the best wedding in the world, but I guess I would say that wouldn't I. The sun shone brightly, the quintessentially English country setting was exquisite, the bride looked truly breathtaking and the occasion couldn't have been bettered. We cried and we laughed in equal measure. A bunch of lovely people celebrated the union of a wonderful couple with song and dance that lasted long into the night. Then, we all met up again in the morning for a "full English" before we said our farewells to the happy couple as they departed for a well deserved honeymoon in the Greek Isles. The next few days were all about knuckling down to tons of admin, paperwork and generally getting things sorted whilst we were back in the UK. There was stuff to get repaired in the rental house ready for new tenants, getting another house on the market, helping James with his affairs (not the female kind - just more paperwork) and a couple of work related meetings for me thrown in just for good measure. Busy, busy busy you could say!
On Wednesday afternoon we hopped on a train to the airport for the flight home to Malta in anticipation of a bit of R&R in the sun. However, those nice French Air Traffic Controller chappies had other plans for us (the word w**k**s sprung to mind). After an hours delay in the airport bar (not really a hardship) we boarded the plane only to be told by the pilot that we'd be sat on the tarmac for another hour and a half due to the ATC strike. At that point I vowed never to drink french wine again, eat fois gras or look up the dresses of can can girls. Well, two out of three is punishment enough - let's not be too hasty about the vino shall we? Come to think of it - I'm not sure I'm prepared to miss out on any of them, but I'm still bloody annoyed. By Thursday morning we were back aboard Comino and feeling nice and chilled again. Not for long however. Come Saturday, we had birthday celebrations for a friend to contend with, which in these parts means an all day beach party followed by a restaurant dinner. I had barbecued ribs, which basically looked like a whole pig on a plate. Nicki had lamb shank, which resembled an entire lamb on a plate. The next morning we were up at the crack of dawn - obviously still feeling as full as a Catholic School. Being the hospitable people that we are, we'd asked Jane and her sister, Becky, to come sailing with us. By eight o'clock I was slaving away in the galley cooking a little Italian pasta dish ready for the evening and by nine thirty we'd slipped our lines for the two hour journey up to Selmun Bay. It was a scorchio day of swimming in crystal waters with occasional nibbles and drinks to keep us nourished. My pasta supper seemed to go down a treat, so much so that we somehow decided to stay all-night at anchor and enjoy the weekend to the full. And so Monday morning arrived. At some time not long after dawn, we lifted the anchor and gently motored our way back to Manoel Island Marina so that Jane could go to work. As for me and Nicki, we'll be hibernating in the aft cabin for the next three days and not receiving any visitors at all whilst our bodies recover from the excesses of the past week. If there was a branch of the Betty Ford Clinic in Malta, I reckon we'd be in it by now.
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A FEW PICS OF COMINOClick a photo to enlarge and use side arrows to scroll through.
COMINO IS CURRENTLY HEREDID SOMEONE SAY SEAFOODOn our journey from Portugal to Greece we enjoyed amazing seafood almost everywhere we stopped. Finding the local fish market was always a priority because seafood was so plentiful and so reasonably priced. And, the displays were a feast for your eyes.
Locating a market sometimes meant pounding the pavements in searing heat, but if you kept your eyes peeled, you often came across a little clue. The pic below was a rather less than subtle advert for a fish market - it was eight feet tall.
Freshly cooked onboard, a plateful of giant prawns, baked in wine and garlic, washed down with a few glasses of local vino, was like heaven. Watching the sunset on the boat eating a meal like that was the epitome of "living the dream".
Now we're in Greece we've another favourite to savour. I'm talking about fried Calamari. It's usually good, but every now and then it's off-the-scale fantastic. At Natalie's Taverna on Kontokali Beach in Corfu, it was nothing short of epic.
We're based in Lefkas now and It's been a bit of a mission to find somewhere just as good. And we have. Rakias is a mere ten minute walk from the marina and this little fish market, with its very own taverna attached, is quite sensational.
Oh...and it's also worth mentioning that, on occasions, a bit of barbequed Octopus is on the menu at some of the tavernas we frequent. Can I resist....no. SUNSETS AND DRAMATIC SKIESNo filters, or any other monkey business, have been used to enhance these images.
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