I like this place

Published: September 6, 2008 at 9:17am

Pantelleria is beautiful, and it’s just perfect for misanthropes like me who love the sound of silence and hate having lots of people around. You read a book, you go for a swim, you lie around all day, and I imagine that it’s not enervating, but wonderful.

Of course, there’s none of that for me – yesterday it was vineyards, and today it’s more vineyards and wineries and all before lunch. Then a vertical tasting of passito, but before that I’m going for a swim in what the schedule declares to be my ‘free time’. Then we’re getting busy again.

They’ve really got it right on upmarket tourism here – silence, everything very, very simple and plain, and the hotel is a contemporary version of what Ta’ Cenc used to be like but no longer is. Of course, we couldn’t ever have done it ourselves except with Gozo, because there are just too many of us and we all need somewhere to live. But there are just 7000 local people here, and quite frankly, if I were one of them I would top myself. But as holidays go, it’s amazing. Despite being volcanic, and the stones being dark instead of pale like ours, the terrain is remarkably similar to ours – heart-tuggingly so, because landing on the little air-strip all I could think was that this is what Malta must have looked like 200 years ago. In terms of our sanity and economy, it’s a good thing it’s no longer like that, though. There are compensations, like not having to live the life of Panteschi, which is what I think they call themselves.

I’m going to be back here for longer, I’ve promised myself. Oh, and there’s an internet connection in the hotel’s little reception room, via satellite link no less. So this post is beamed up and beamed down again. Consider yourself lucky.




10 Comments Comment

  1. A Camilleri says:

    Hmmm, maybe now that you intend to whet our appetite, the forthcoming magazine issue should include a special offer from Virtu Ferries, for some first hand tasting of the hot doughnuts, the pistacchi-covered kannoli, the lemon liquors, the seafood pasta, the wines and …. whatever else you’re going to be tantalizing us with! :-))

  2. Amanda Mallia says:

    A Camilleri – Latte di mandorla, torroncini, arancini al ragu’ (you never find any as good anywhere in Malta), sugar-encrusted almonds, vino di mandorla, limuneddu (Sicilian limoncello) …

  3. A Camilleri says:

    poor Daphne, having to cope with all this on top of the wifi incident

    (Daphne – I know. It’s a damned hard life.)

  4. Gerald says:

    do you really believe that people find such drivel of any interest?

    (Daphne – Drivel warning: Well, you were interested enough to read it and comment, weren’t you? If you want the highbrow stuff, go to Facebook and read all about Charlon Gouder and Claudette Abela Baldacchino, or log onto Joseph’s page and play videos of him making speeches. That should make for a thrilling Saturday night.)

  5. Amanda Mallia says:

    Gerald – You may always go back to your classical music reviews.

  6. John Schembri says:

    When I happened to be abroad , working , I used to have rice , fried rice , lice and more flied lice , no bled and when I finally found spaghetti Bolognese I was served a sort of pasta alle gengive with white sauce. Enjoy the food Daphne.

  7. Chris II says:

    Just a point of interest – Pantelleria and Malta used to share very similar languages (there is written evidence that French businessmen used to utilise the services of Maltese interpreters as they used to speak the same language).

    In fact there are still words (of Semitic origin) that are very similar to Maltese words including the name of a village – Rrahali (in Scilian Rekale)

    I thought of sharing this information, as I also think that this Island is an ideal place for a couple of days of complete rest and quiet enjoyment.

    (Daphne – That’s because the Maltese and the Panteschi both spoke Arabic dialects, having both been settled by people who were originally from Tunisia, via Sicily.)

  8. Chris II says:

    Daphne not exactly from Tunisia as Sicily was governed by Arabs coming from various Arabic countries – from North Africa.Middle east and even further. The ones that settled both in Malta and Pantelleria were expelled from Sicily (for one reason or other in the 12th century.

    (Daphne – you’re wrong there. The citizens of Mdina were Muslims when Roger the Norman arrived in the 11th century. It was their slaves who were Christian, which is why they went home by ship when freed. And yes, the language we speak is derived from Tunisian Arabic and no other. If you don’t believe me, ask Professor Albert Borg, an authority on Maltese who teaches the language at university level.)

  9. Gerald says:

    I only said that its drivel coz I’m usually stimulated by the debate on this blog. Amanda you can check out http://www.classical.net for my reviews which are very much alive and kicking – at least 20 a month in fact! And don’t tell me its free advertising coz i don’t get paid for them either :)

  10. Chris II says:

    Daphne – I was quoting another eminent academic of the Maltese Language – Prof Joseph Brincat (Il-Malti Elf Sena ta Storja). Also there are very strong indications that during the Arab rule, the Islands were almost uninhabited.

    This recent (last 900 years or so) immigration from Sicily to Malta, has also been corroborated by a published population genetics study (Capelli C, Redhead N, Romano V, Calì F, Lefranc G, Delague V, Megarbane A, Felice AE, Pascali VL, Neophytou PI, Poulli Z, Novelletto A, Malaspina P, Terrenato L, Berebbi A, Fellous M, Thomas MG, Goldstein DB.Population structure in the Mediterranean basin: a Y chromosome perspective. Ann Hum Genet. 2006 Mar;70(Pt 2):207-25.).

    Just a point of info Felice AE heads the University Molecular Genetics team.

    Yes it would be interesting to get both Albert Borg’s and Joseph Brincat’s point of view.

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