Outdoors
Fresh air, lightly seasoned with cement.
There is nothing quite like the great Maltese outdoors: the wide Mediterranean sky, the warm stone underfoot, and air so fresh you can practically chew it, lightly seasoned, as it now is, with a fine dusting of cement.
Step outside and breathe deep. That bracing top note is silica; the earthy finish, diesel; the lingering warmth, a fresh pour curing somewhere just upwind. It is invigorating in the way that only genuinely particulate air can be. Visitors with sensitive lungs report a heightened awareness of their own breathing, which is, surely, a kind of mindfulness.
The outdoor itinerary writes itself. A coastal walk, accompanied by the percussion of a seafront site. A country ramble, soundtracked by a rock breaker two valleys away. A quiet moment in a public garden, briefly, before the consultation period closes on the application to build over it.
Pack accordingly: sunhat, water, and perhaps a light scarf for the dustier stretches. Keen birdwatchers should bring binoculars, the better to enjoy the cranes. And do pause, now and then, to fill your lungs with the unmistakable air of the islands.
Fresh air, lightly seasoned. The great outdoors, served the modern Maltese way.
