Some questions on living in Malta

1) Any recommendation for nice, clean, peaceful spots you can do yoga or read a book? Less frequented place with stunning view of the sea?

2) I have extreme dog phobia, I read many complaints on noise from barking dogs, i presumed they are all tame, are there many stray dogs on the street?

3) Coming from a place with almost all year round sunshine, I am curious how do the locals dry clothes in the winter? I see alot of apartments offering washer but not dryer? Do I need a dryer?

4) Generally read about the unpleasant temperature indoor during winter, what should i look out for when renting an apartment to counter/ease this issue? Double glazed windows? What else? Probably would be safer going for the modern looking unit than the old one?

Hi Clexa
Peaceful spots are plentiful ! Selmun Bay in the north near Mellieha is very nice!
Dingli cliffs too.....

I personally haven't seen any stray dogs! Its mainly stray cats but someone else may have a different view depending on where they live etc!

As for drying clothes, we are a small family and I've dried all of or clothes , towels and bedding all throughout the cold winter outside hung up on our clothes line! Its worked perfectly well. You may want to air smaller items in the warm inside on a clothes airer with a window open!

For keeping warm in the winter months if you get a couple of gas heaters and remember to keep the apartment / house ventilated , then you should be fine, or AC on a warm setting is great too. Electric radiators are sometimes expensive to run so just be aware! We bought a couple of large warm throws and put them on us if we sat on the sofa!
There is a careful balancing act of keeping warm/ keeping a window ajar to lt air circulate so mould and condensation doesn't develop but I pretty much did that when I lived in the Uk also!

Debbie 😊

Thanks Debbie! I'll be sure to check out Selmun Bay. Can't wait!

I read AAALOTTT of unpleasant experiences with mould in winter. I'd really hate to see that. Ugh. =/ But i guess it's all part of the experience living abroad. Hopefully I find some place nice and not too expensive. =/

Its really not that bad, if you keep on top of it and I wipe around the windows and keep it dry! Also a wipe around my balcony doors and window frames with a bleach based cleaner helps no end!
Yes good luck Clexa! 😁

1 part bleach 2 part water, just wipe over the walls.  When we moved in here I got a nice even spread over the one wall, took a few minutes to clean once and no returns the whole winter

I have been told that we have just been through an exceptionally cold winter, although it was a doddle after England. We tried oil filled electric heaters, but they were not up to much, except in small rooms, so we ended up with a gas heater. We already had two dehumidifiers, which our experience in England had showed, not only to dry the home, but also raise the temperature by a conciderable amount in the process. We do have double glazing which is worth looking out for, but have noted that sliding windows can let in a hell of a lot of draught, especially through the drainage vents, when there is a big wind blowing. We never had a problem drying clothes and just put them on a drying rack on the balcony. OK an extra pullover comes in usefull, but despite coming from a well insulated, double glazed, central heated home in the UK, we did just fine.

Electric blankets are worth buying, winter before last seemed colder to me, this year has been wetter but it's worth it to see the lovely green fields and wild flowers.