Three weeks after vacating our Yaletown apartment, we’re have a home again. We’ve settled on Gharb, a tiny village on Gozo, the smaller of the two islands in the Malta archipelago.
It feels like the end of the world.
We’ve really lucked out with the villa we chose. It’s a three bedroom, three and a half bathroom stone house just down a tiny (too small for cars) lane from the centre of of the village. The building is over 150 years old, and has walls that are at least three feet thick. It’s been 25 to 28 degrees in the middle of day, but our house has remained remarkably cool. We’ll see how things feel when it’s 35 to 38 Celsius outside, but so far so good.
There’s a pool out back, and beyond that some fields, another little town and the azure Mediterrenean. If you sit in the pool and look east, you can see the Basilica of Ta’Pinu, a huge church that the pope visited in 1990.
It’ll take some getting used to this place. As I write this, the only sounds I hear are the tiny, chirping birds in the olive tree outside, and the occasional bleating of the two goats from down the street.
Once the cable guy comes on Monday, we’ll be all set up. I’m really impressed by that speed, by the way. Here I am on a tiny scrap of land in the middle of the Med, and we can get Internet access in less than a week.
Check my Flickr stream for photos of our villa and Valetta. Web access is tight this week, so I’ll organize, tag and all that crap next week.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
That looks gorgeous, Darren!
That’s gorgeous! Beautiful indeed.
guess the “rural malta” quip was not exactly spot on then was it?
Beautiful, Darren! I’m looking forward to all the photos. I’m sure that pool will be very inviting in the next couple of months. And 3 bedrooms? sounds like extra space for some visiting friends… 🙂 Would love to see pics of your street and your kitchen and meals too. I’m always interested in the day-to-day routines. Enjoy!
I’m sure it’s really beautiful but don’t you worry about smog withdrawl?
Darren.. what are you paying on rent? No pain, no gain and all that…How much per month?
3 rooms.. gee does that mean we can visit? (JK!)
Look forward to reading your adventures!
Jacques: Truly, that connection time was probably the fastest I’ve ever experienced. Maybe it being a small island is a plus–there’s not that much demand, and no giant corporate machine to get lost in?
Bobby: Roughly the same as a one bedroom Yaletown apartment.
Darren, sounds good and reasonable.
Congrats on your new crib!
bobby
Arid, dry, with blue sky. Lots of mint tea & olives added to your diet. It’s been so long since I’ve been to the Mediterranean, and Vancouver is so cool and damp. Reading these entries and looking at these photos are like a tonic.
Thanks, Darren.
Nice pad Darren. We just got back from a week in Punta Cana, which makes me even more jealous of your adventure!
Keep up the good posts and great pics.
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