Malta

Day 1,

All packed and unpacked and repacked when we discovered that Ryanair like 15kg for checked

bags and up to 10kg for carry on, so we had a nearly empty big bag and heavy filled to the brim carry on.

Drove to airport by a round about through the country sort of way and left the car in the long

term car park.

Through check in and away we went.

Malta, photos

We got the local bus .47c so cheap enough , into Valletta, they were having the final night of the fireworks competition so we stayed in for that, poor P dragging the big bag down stairs to the city walls. The fireworks were set off on rafts in the middle of the harbour, we watched 3 lots and there were still 4 to go but we decided enough and headed off to find a bus to our hotel.

Got off the bus and then had no idea where we needed to go, there were two girls there as well and a stranger gave us directions.

The hotel was lovely but the room was twin, I must have ticked the wrong box, ( still they moved us the next night) to a double, both rooms had balconies lovely views over St Georges bay and the 3 swimming pools.

Saturday

Lovely hot sunny blue sky sort of day. Out with the sundress and the pale uk style legs!

Moved to our new room, (all the rooms in the hotel face the water but this one is much better as further up the harbour towards the sea.) Got the local bus into Valletta and spent the day ( a Saturday and public holiday so shops shut) pottering round, checking the views and forts walls

etc. Incredibly clean every street is free of any rubbish at all. There were still street decorations up from when the Pope visited last week. Got another bus to Silima Bay and walked to St Julians bay, all on lovely harbours with lots of places to eat on one side of the road or lie in the sun on the other waterside.

Back through Paceville which is the nightclub part of Malta, they have only got 1 main street which is a street with stairs ( very odd set up) of nightlife/nightclubs and there were 4 Gentlemens' clubs so I think it might be the Stag do centre for Malta....lots of very loud music and people drinking, one of the bars had a swimming pool inside which must get a bit messy later at night ( they all close at 4am) Walking back through the next day ( we can get a lot more choice for buses over there it was all hosed down and looked quite drab.

Sunday Into town on the bus again ( it has a stop at the hotel door)

We went to a re-enactment display by at the fort, lots of men in old fashioned soldiers uniforms and shooting guns and firing canons, was annoying that they did the commentary in 4 languages so you had gaps in the action as they worked there way through all the options.

Then we got a bus to Marsaxlokk billed as a beautiful fishing village with lots of colourful boats, but it was a bit touristy all the cafes were full so we bought a bun and sat in the sun and watched the boats bob up and down.

The back on the bus ( they all cost .47c so very very cheap to get around the place) and we went to find the Tarxien temples, they were a huge disappointment, tucked into a suburban street, all the good stuff taken to the museum elsewhere, so it was essentially a pile of rocks....

Then we went looking for the Hal-saflieni Hypogeum “ one of the best archaeological sites in the world” we walked up and down streets and eventually asked for help only to find we had walked passed the door as it was an ordinary house front. Turns our you need to book at least a month in advance to get in... shame really three levels of underground chambers from3600BC.

On the way home we went to a models display not the girly type but little cars, soldiers, and mechanical things . Must say the working steam engines were amazing one man had drilled out copper wire...and made a mini scale model metal lathe so he could use it to make his models.

Monday Today we headed off to Mdina and Rabat, It was a lovely place so quite I think we were lucky it was the off season as I image the experience at the height of summer would be quite different. It is a walled city high on a hill and all the streets wind to confuse horsemen and invaders.

We watched a movie about early Malta and Mdina which was actually really good and showed how many times they have been invaded. We had a lovely lunch in a cafe on the walls with a fantastic view right to the sea.

We then caught the wee toy train for a tour ( 30 mins) throught the back streets and around Rabat the neighbouring city.

Back to St Georges and out for dinner in a lovely restaurant in St Julians with the boats bobbing below our balcony.

Tuesday Decided that we should do the Blue lagoon Camino boat trip today as the weather is forecast to get worse later in the week ( actually this was the worst day for sun and wind for the whole time we were in Malata, well done us)

The boat was a jet boat that seats 12, as it is early season they did not put on the big boat and the sailing boat was more expensive. We bounced our way there with the ones on the back seats getting totally soaked. The sun was not shining but I donned my snorkel and headed in to the Blue lagoon, it was beautiful but cold, P refused to get in and sat on the shore for ages finally jumped in and then got straight out again. I had my lunch then anothre swim and then changed and we went for an explore of Camino island, It is tiny only 4 people live there. We went up an old watch tower and then made out way back down the cliff top to the bay only to see them casting off our boat 15mins early.... P whistled and yelled and they saw us and waited, what sort of boatman does not know 2 people are missing....they had decised to leave early as the sea was getting up. It was a very bouncy trip back, swells of 2-3 metres, every one got soaked with freezing sea water, thank goodness I had taken a polar fleece. There were some very unhappy mums clinging to the sides of te boat getting water splashed in their faces just when you least expected it. Still it was an experience...

Wednesday to other harbours, Three Cities, area to Fort Rinella where we explored the underground bomb shelters that were used n WW11 what a dreadful time it must have been with 2399 hours of bombing. We then got a ride to the 100ton gun which fires a 1 ton shell ( never in anger) and saw another demonstration of men with guns.

Next door was the film set with huge water tanks and submarines, it is also the area they filmed Gladiator and Troy.

We then went for a walk around the area a lot less developed that Valetta. We noticed lots of people carrying bunches of weeds and eating something, we found a man selling them for 50c but as we were looking a woman who had just bought some came over and said they were wild peas and insisted that we take some of hers. They were yummy and yes they were peas but a different one to here.

Back to Valetts, past a huge cruise liner about 20 stories high, there seems to be a new one every day.

We visited St Johns Co cathedral, very beautiful and ornate with a fantastic dome and masses of gold and marble. They were very ostentatious the Maltese knights of st John.

Thursday Gozo, up and off to bus stop only to have the bus go past full up as it was 30mins till the next one we got a bus to a village asked the way to the bus we wanted and got to the ferry in quite good time. Walked onto the ferry no one took any money, got the bus up the hill and had a lovely day walking about the town. We wanted to go to the historic site where there is a temple from 3500BC but the bus only ran on the hour and we had missed it. Got talking to a couple of aussies and ended up sharing a cab to the temple very impressive. Then onto a windmill. We then went back to the square had a coffee and then headed back to the ferry, this time we paid.. so it is free to get there but it costs to get out.

Lovely day nice and sunny.

Went to Wagamama for dinner and had the katsu curry that said it was vegetarian, felt a bit sick and by morning everything inside had turned liquid and headed outside. Not a fun time.

Friday as I am not well we spent the day at the hotel on deck chairs reading in the sun and staying close to a loo.

Some buses later we got to the airport and flew home arriving at midnight to cold and rain.

It is raining and cold only 6deg here so spent day indoor.

Looked up recipe for the Katsu and it has chicken stock in it so no wonder I was so sick.. I am going to write to them and say just cos your pour the sauce over veges does not make it vegetarian...