We were returning to Malta in a bid to complete Linda’s citizenship application. When we were last there some five months earlier, we had hit a snag by not having some original documents (even though we had provided them to the Maltese Consulate in Melbourne when making the initial application).
Meanwhile, my ferry sailed into the Port of Barcelona on time and on a pleasant evening. I made the short drive to the hotel where Linda was staying to be welcomed with a selection of deli items she had bought from a nearby supermarket. It was late in the evening so we stayed the night, heading off the next morning.
Girona was a comfortable hour and a half drive to the north. I had previously arranged, with the leasing company that we have the repairs, from the damaged sustained in Rome, done at a Renault Dealership in Girona during the two weeks we would be away in Malta. ‘Great idea’, I thought, and it was easily organised over the phone with our lease car assistance company, however, when we got to the local repairers communication was very difficult as no one spoke English! We managed as we usually do and we were exceptionally pleased with the service of the leasing company. They originally offered us a rental car but when I told them we were flying to Malta for two weeks, not only did they organise a taxi to our hotel but another taxi to take us from the hotel in the morning to the airport, plus another taxi to take us back to the Renault dealership on our return!
There was not a lot happening in Girona but we did manage to find a nice bar to enjoy a couple of drinks and a serving of patatas bravas.
On arrival in Malta, as we were traveling light, we took the local bus to Senglea- one of the ‘Three Cities’. We booked an apartment in Senglea for the first week as it is where my father was from and thought it would be nice to spend some time there. It is also a short ferry ride into Valletta where we would be making frequent visits to the citizenship office, the first of which, would be early the next morning. We were armed with original certificates we had painfully organised to be shipped from Melbourne. Not just one copy but two, just in case one got lost! Our first step was to get our marriage registered in Malta. This was necessary to obtain Linda’s ‘residency card’ which could be used as a temporary passport as the whole process of the application was supposed take at least a year.
At that point in time Linda had overstayed her time in the European Union. Even though we had a letter stating she could stay in Malta until the application was complete, it was not ideal for traveling around the rest of Europe as we were and could have potentially caused major issues – it was important for us to get this card.
So there we were, all our ducks in a row, feeling confident but not cocky and presented all our docs and application to register our marriage. The receptionist at the department we had been frequenting was reasonably pleasant and seemed to be sympathetic to our cause. Maybe because she wanted it to be finalised so we wouldn’t be standing over her desk all the time!
“Good news”, she said after browsing her computer screen, the application for your citizenship has been processed, you will receive a call very soon!!
We could hardly believe our good fortune! We didn’t have to worry about a residency card now and proceeded to enjoy the rest of our stay in Malta while eagerly waiting for ‘that phone call’, but it never came. Yet another visit to the office. We were frustrated that we couldn’t talk directly to those that were supposed to call us. We were concerned that the documents were being sent to Australia. “No, I told them myself that you are collecting from here”, we were assured by our friend in the Citizensip office.
Needless to say, we boarded the plane to go back to Spain with no residency card, no citizenship papers and, I was sitting next to an illegal alien!!!!
Not long after we landed in Girona we were driven to the dealership to pick up our car which was all fixed and waiting for us. No charge to us, not even an excess/deductible! There really is no better way to get around Europe. We immediately headed south (bypassing Barcelona as we would be returning for a house sit there in a few months time) and stopped at the beachside town of Salou for the night. Driving out the next morning was a little difficult because of heavy traffic. It turned out a stage of the World Rally Championship was being held there. I couldn’t believe it. I used to be an avid supporter of the WRC and here I was in prime position to watch it but we had to keep moving. We needed to get to our booked accommodation in Valencia.
Valencia was a city we had heard so much about and were quite excited about spending some time there. In a similar fashion to our visit to Vienna, we booked an apartment on the outskirts of town and used their efficient transport system to get us to the centre of town.
Valencia did not disappoint at all, it was everything we heard, the architecture, the gargoyles, the citrus trees in the plaza’s. I particularly wanted to see the harbour area as well but we would get the opportunity to do that when we drove back up north. There was so much to see in the centre of town including the fresh food market, which was massive and had such mouth watering delicacies every direction we looked. What impressed me the most was the bar in the middle of it all – an excellent means of taking the ‘chore’ out of shopping!
It was time to continue our journey south. Almunecar is a small town on the south coast with Malaga a short drive to the south and Granada a similar distance inland and we were due there to look after two dogs for three weeks.
Read about it in the next blog.