Category Archives: Food

What we are eating and where we mention food.

The Medina and Special Ramadan Dinner

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Today we made sure to have a big meal in the marina complex before leaving to go sightseeing. We each ordered the biggest breakfast on the menu, the Arab breakfast. It came with eggs and bread, as well as a healthy serving of a thick soft cheese covered in honey. The cheese is different than anything we have had before.

We can see how it would be easier to be faithful to Ramadan when there are no restaurants open, you get to go home from work early, and everyone around you participating. But we don’t know how the people who work in Port Yasmine Hammamet do it when they have to watch tourists stuffing their faces and don’t get to go home early. So we asked our waiter about fasting. He said it was a way of life and you just deal with the headaches and thirst and stomach pains. When we pressed him about how hard it must be to serve food while not eating, he commented it would be a heck of a lot harder for him to resist Tunisian food than it is to resist the western food.

Anyway, we drove back to Tunis. Yesterday we forgot to comment on the driving. Driving in Tunisia is significantly better than in Italy or Turkey, but still crazier than America. The roads are nice and wide, which helps a lot. In Tunisia, red traffic lights are viewed as a yield sign. They slow down, and if Continue reading →

Diving and Exploring Tunis & the Coast

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Today we started the day by going diving. The dive center is near the marina office. We met at 0800 and piled into a large speedboat. The boat took us out about 15 minutes away from the marina to a site called Rochio Venus. It is a nice dive site, with excellent visibility and warm water.

Like in Greece, there isn’t a whole lot of color in the water here. There is a plant we believe is called Posidonia that dominates the area. Posidonia looks like thick, long grass. It is green near the roots, but turns white higher up on the grass blades. We saw it in Crete, as well, but there is not very much of it there. Eric said he felt like we were flying above grain fields.

In and amongst the Posidonia is a round, green, delicate plant about the size of the top of a soda can that looks like a green flower. There is also a Continue reading →

Fuel and Food in Malta

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Today it was roasting hot when we woke up. We aren’t sure of the temperature, but it had to be at the very minimum in the mid 90’s Fahrenheit with very high humidity. It wouldn’t surprise us if it was in the hundreds, both in degrees and humidity. It was time to get fuel. The first thing we did was move the boat to the quay in front of Fort Angelo, which is at the tip of the finger that Vittoriosa is on. This is a picture of Kosmos before we moved her. We had to throw it in so you can see just how beautiful Vittoriosa is.

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Fort Angelo is a tourist attraction, but is currently closed for renovation. The fuel truck pulled up a little while later. We Continue reading →

Welcome to Gozo, Malta

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Today we went to the island of Gozo. The drive to the northwest tip of Malta island took a little over an hour. As the crow flies it is only about 10 miles, but we were following the coastal road that winds in and out of the numerous inlets that grace the island and make it so picturesque.

Outside Valletta, the buildings are scattered in and amongst farmland and raw land. The raw land looks much the same as Sicily, except with more agave plants. We wonder if they make tequila here. We are told that Sicily produces blue tequila, but we didn’t try it. And yes, we saw agave plants in Turkey and Greece, too, but they were few and far between. Other than grapes and olives, we couldn’t tell what the farmers produce locally. We like this shot because it gives you a good idea of what some of the vegetation looks like, not just in Malta, but Sicily, Crete, and Bodrum, although the assorted plants aren’t normally quite so close together. It is arid, so the plants need space between them. The cactus in the foreground of this shot is dominant in Sicily and Malta.

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Anyway, between the nice landscape, the stunning ocean views, and the occasional adorable little town, it was a beautiful drive. The ferry runs every 45 minutes. We found out that motorcycles Continue reading →

More Exploring Valletta

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Today we took the scooter back to Valletta. We had lunch in a small café in what seemed to be the heart of downtown. The café had a food menu and a separate multi-page hot chocolate menu featuring flavors such as meringue, caramel, strawberry, banana, peach, whisky, hazelnut, white chocolate, pistachio, and more. We couldn’t resist, we had to try one of these gourmet hot chocolates, so Christi ordered one. What came out was not flavored milk, this was truly hot chocolate. It was thick and rich, the same texture as hot fudge sauce. We are guessing it probably is made just like hot fudge except using milk instead of butter. Eric got another beverage off the specialty drink menu, vanilla Italian crème. It was also a very thick, hot liquid, and tasted similar to crème brulee.

After lunch, we headed over to The Barrakka Upper Gardens. As far as the garden part goes, it was nice, but not impressive. There are more concrete walkways than garden, so while the plants are beautiful, there simply aren’t a lot of them. What is impressive, though, is the fabulous views of Grand Harbor. It is the best viewpoint we have seen yet in Malta, and there are fabulous views everywhere. In the first shot, you can barely see the marina in the left finger. The second shot is of the harbor entrance.

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From there we went to the Grand Master’s palace, the residence of the head of the knights back in the day. Now it is Continue reading →