We took a walk around our Naxxar neighborhood this morning and came upon a little market, Casa Della Mozzarella.
Even the sidewalk in front smells of fresh cheeses. We enter just to look and the owner is behind his glass cheese counter. “Buongiorno,” he booms out over his incredible case full of amazing homemade cheeses in every shade of yellow to white.
We chat in english and a little french and tell him we’re from the States. “Bella. Where in the States?” We reply, “New Mexico. But it is not in Mexico.” “I know,” he says a little hurt that we would think he didn’t. “I know where New Mexico is.”
( We loved this. We meet Americans who don’t know that New Mexico is in the United States.)
“Wait” and he wags his finger. ” I have something special for you,” and he quickly ducks into the back room to emerge with two tiny paper cups of expresso, freshly brewed. Delizioso.
He calls to his wife behind the sausage counter and she brings us two fresh, moist lemon pastries topped with cherries. “Sweet,” she says, “for the bitterness of the coffee.”
As we walked out they both call “Ciao. Goodbye.”
What warm people and how nice they were to two visitors to their beautiful little shop on a Thursday morning.
MedFlies 
Sounds so delightful and civilized!!!! Is is beautiful there? How is your lodging?
The house is wonderful. It is like living in a corner of an old castle. It really does feel like being in another world. The countryside reminds me of parts of Sicily. It is green with grass and some trees but very flat. The shores are mostly cliffs but there are some beautiful sand beaches. Because limestone is the underlying rock, the color of the bays and coves is very blue. Beautiful. The island, 121 square miles is very flat. Climb up into one of the many stone towers here and you can see the sea surrounding the land.
Well, that looks awful. Try and make the best of things.
But, ironically, Richard it really makes me laugh. And it does help us to keep from running about willy nilly while we are at home.
Surprises at every corner. What a friendly encounter with the locals. What is the official language of Malta? Italian? Or is there a Maltese language/dialect? We have Santa Fe skies today (even though really cold, the sun is out in all its glory, the sky is blue with fluffy white clouds – such a break from all our grey days). How is the weather where you are?
Hi Maryl, The language of Malta is Malteze, a combination of Arabic and Italian. The sound is lyrical, sibilant and percussive simultaneously. Yes is “Iva.” No is “Le.” Thank you is “Grazzi.” Please is “Jekk joghgbok.” But the official language of Malta is English due to the Influence of Great Britain’s historical naval presence in Malta. All Malteze that we have met understand English. Though here in Naxxar, all may not speak it, especially in an outer village like Naxxar. From the look of surprise on their faces when we begin to speak Americans are less common visitors than Brits.
We are enjoying beautiful weather, sunny in the 60s during the day and, surprisingly, not much colder at night. But rain is expected on Sunday. We have seen birds of paradise and pansies in bloom so the climate is mild. There are many small palms, palm trees and cactus mixed with deciduous trees. A story about Malta’s trees is coming to Medflies in the future.