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| Valetta on a Monday |
Day One - Getting there and getting settled
How do you make a Maltese Cross?
Well, a sure-fire way is to bang on the front of a bus with
a rolled umbrella as it drives away from the Bus Stop. The Driver, probably
thinking he has hit something or somebody, will fly into a rage. TW discovered
this technique as we attempted to leave Rabat for Valetta. Mind you, Maltese
Bus Drivers are far from placid individuals. Their careers involve negotiating
narrow streets with parked cars and also contending with some very crazy
drivers. They are sometimes looking for a ruck though. We saw one bus driver in
Sliema who was irate because a Mini was parked badly. He stopped behind it and
repeatedly tooted his horn whilst holding up a whole load of traffic. This was
a bit odd because there was plenty of room for him to drive past. We considered going up to him and telling him ‘you could drive a bus through there mate’
but thought better of it.
Our first journey in Malta was not on a bus but in a Taxi from
the Airport. We were arriving quite late so decided to splurge 20 Euros. The
journey started well, a nice Lady Driver was waiting at Arrivals with my name
on a sign and we were soon speeding towards our Apartment in town. The traffic
was horrendous but the journey went swimmingly until we reached the narrow
streets of Sliema. Our Driver could not find our street. She thought she knew
where it was but failed. She then resorted to a phone app. Not a good idea,
with one eye on the App sat nav and the other on the roads we sped around the
narrow streets. Meanwhile her next ride was calling on another phone. Lewis
Hamilton could not have done better on this nocturnal street circuit. We kept
going round and round at high speed. There was one particularly large pothole
that we hit four times! In the end we just asked to get out and walk but
miraculously we were in the right place.
Our genial Host was waiting on the step. Our Apartment was
on the 3rd floor of a traditional terraced building. Up we went in a
small lift and into our home for the next 4 nights. Our host was very chatty but
a bit over-sensitive about bad reviews. He had a nasty experience with another
UK customer and was worried that we might write something bad on a booking
site. We assured him that the place looked just like the ads and we would not
dream of it. However he did point out that he had Family in the UK and he knew
where we lived. Also, that Amazon did a nice line in fresh Horse Head
deliveries direct to your bed. Ooerr!
Having missed lunch due to our flight we decided we had better get
out and have a meal. We wandered up and down the Sliema and St Julians sea
front surveying the Restaurants. In the end we settled on a Tratorria on the
front. We had checked the prices earlier and they seemed OK. Unfortunately the
building had two entrances, one to go downstairs to the ordinary food, and a
second that took us into the best Fish Restaurant in the area, the Barracuda.
Having sat down and started to order we realised we were in the wrong place and
were surrounded by snooty people. We could either beat a retreat or sit tight
and eat something small. We decided on small. I had Squid in ink and TW had a
pasta dish. No beer or wine.
Lesson learned always check the price on the board outside
but then make sure you go through the matching door.
Day 2 Valetta
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| Across to Valetta - the view from M&S |
One of my simplest pleasures is get up early on the first
morning to find the shop and the bread and breakfast. Our place was in the
midst of the residential area, mostly lived in by ordinary people. It was a
sunny morning and streets were busy with people going off to work and children
off to school.
I walked a few streets and found no shops. I asked an
elderly Lady who led me to the local store. It looked tiny from the outside
(most buildings are on very narrow plots) but went back miles. It had
everything I wanted but I struggled to find any of it. I had to keep asking the
assistant. Do you have Eggs, ‘of course’ she would reply. Do you have Marmalade,
‘of course’ etc. Do you have porridge etc. It was a bit like going back in time, do you have Four Candles, yes of course Fork Handles!
So we ate a hearty breakfast and headed for Valetta.
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| St. Johns Cathedral |
It was a 15 minute walk to the Ferry and the short hop over
to the Old City of Valetta. A great place to wander around. Our plans for the day were not
too ambitious. First a walk around the City, a nice Beer sitting out in the
sunshine, another walk and a nice lunch sitting out. This to be followed by a
Tour of St John’s Cathedral. We did well and ticked all the boxes. The Cathedral
is superb and well worth the 10Euros. Oh, and the beer and lunch were not bad
either.
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| The beheading of John the Baptist |
The most impressive painting in the Cathedral, to our inexpert eyes anyway, was the depiction of the Beheading of John the Baptist by Caravaggio.
We ate at home in the evening, I tried a Maltese Wine, a nice Red also called Caravaggio, which
was rather good – hic!
Day 3 Medina
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| TW - thinking inside the box |
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| Medina in sunny Malta |
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| Medina Cafe with a view |
The old City is in the centre of the island. It does not
look very far but on the bus it took 1hr 15mins for our grumpy driver to
negotiate the traffic. It was a very wet day so we shared the bus with damp
passengers and steamed up windows. Medina is nice though with tremendous views to be had from the Citadel. We had a good lunch in a Café on the ramparts before our next
grump took us back to Valetta and then Sliema.
There are a lot of familiar shops over here and we very
adventurously bought our evening meal from M&S. Shepherds Pie!
Day 4 Sliema
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| Rooftop view, densely populated in Sliema |
After a relaxing morning in slightly better weather we wandered
the front at Sliema and had a nice coffee and cake at M&S. That sounds
incredibly boring but actually they have a 4th floor Café that
overlooks the Harbour so it’s certainly worth a visit. For our Evening Meal we were back on the
seafront at the aptly named Seafront Restaurant. It was good value as a nice
swordfish steak with wine landed at about 18 Euros.
Day 5 Off To Gozo for 3 nights
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| Victoria (AKA Rabat) up on the Citadel |
Another day, another bus or three. The drivers may have the hump but
the buses are good. A seven day bus pass costs 21 Euros and covers both
islands. The bus to the Ferry took about an hour and wound its way through St
Pauls Bay and Meliha. The short Ferry, 20 minutes ride, cost under 5 Euros
return. It’s quite a big 'push me - pull you' boat carrying cars so it seemed pretty stable. We then
needed to take 2 more buses. One with a Gozo grumpy driver to Victoria (Rabat) about 15 mins and then another Gozo grumpy driver to Gharb about 8 mins..
Most Maltese and Gozo people speak good English. Their own
language is closely related to Arabic so it is incomprehensible to us simple souls. They
are very friendly and even those involved in the Tourist Trade are not too
pushy. Imagine that, like anywhere, you can get ripped off if you are gullible.
Our host met us and took us to our rather nice Apartment in
the quiet little town of Gharb. The Gh is silent so we had to remember we were
staying in Arb! The weather was not good at all so we took a bus back to
Victoria for a wander. It’s a lovely old place dominated by a Citadel and
Cathedral. The Cathedral was a bit tame after St. Johns but so are most others -
anywhere. A big thunderstorm started as we wandered the ramparts so we scuttled
off for a coffee. There are lots of winding streets to explore with small specialist
shops around every turn. TW dragged me into another Church but this time there
was a service going on so we had sit quietly while the Priest was singing.
Our Dinner was at the Il-Kunvent Restaurant. Its an old
fashioned Family place. We had Hake wrapped in Parma Ham with Green Beans which
was lovely.
Day 6 Gozo - Dwejra and Ramla
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| White Hart GOZO |
The local attraction is the Azure Window at Dwejra, or at
least it was. It was a sandstone arch that attracted lots of visitors before it
fell on the 8
th March this year. Dwejra is still a nice place to
visit though. We walked there from Ghard. Lots of fossils in the sandstone. There is an inland sea with just a
small cave/archway giving access to the Mediterranean. On calmer days you can go
through the hole in a boat. Quite a nice place really with dramatic scenery. We
had lunch at the Azure Window Restaurant. I had Octopus but the sauce was a bit
too rich and repeated on me for the rest of the day. A good place to shelter from the rain. A very popular area for diving apparently.
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| Dwejra strolling |
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| Eye of a needle to the open sea |
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| Inland Sea |
Victoria is the hub of the Island in the centre and is like
the body of a spider with legs that extend to all the coastal towns. So to get
to Ramla Bay we headed back to Victoria first and then another bus. Ramla was a
good sandy beach. It was a bit cold and windy but we had a good walk and could
have done with more time to explore. We did manage to walk in some clay which
stuck like s*** to our boots.
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| Ramla Bay |
We returned to the Konvent (Il- Kunvent)for our evening meal
but this time we tried a Maltese Pizza which, to be honest, was a bit bland and potato filled.
The desert was good though, Imqaret - dates in pastry - very yummy.
Day 7 Gozo – Xlendi
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| Xlendi |
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| Xlendi |
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| Wandering at Xlendi |
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| Xlendi |
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| Tourists |
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| Paddling? |
Xlendi pronounced Shlendee was our destination of choice. Our
usual 2 bus jaunt on our first sunny day. A lovely walk on the cliffs and our
best Lunch enjoyed at ic-Cima. We sat up on the rooftop terrace and had some
very nice Fish. A lot of flats have been built here but the view out to sea
cannot be spoiled. Rather than 'double bussing' home we walked back to Gharb
which took about 1hr 30 mins and was exceedingly pleasant. TW cooked up very
tasty omelettes for tea at our Apartment.
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| The long and winding road back to Gharb |
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| Ta Pinu view near Gharb |
Day 8 Heading Home
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| Last Breakfast |
We were quite sad as we packed up in Gozo. It is quite charming.
Back to the ferry on two buses then another bus to a cafe by the sea in Malta where we had a spot of lunch.
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| Seaside Cafe for Lunch |
Then the final bus ride on X1 to the Airport and our Ryanair flight to Bournemouth. People moan about Ryanair but if you stick to their rules they enable you to boldly go to places you could not otherwise afford.
The airfares from Bournemouth to Malta were £70 each. The flights were great.
Car Park at Bournemouth Airport £30
Taxi to Sliema 20 Euros
Bus Pass for 7 days -21 Euros.
Ferry to Gozo under 5 Euros
Accommodation in Sliema about 80 Euros per night.
Accommodation in Gharb about 33 Euros per night.
Meal Budget - Dinner for about 50 Euros for 2 would be a good average.
Beer from 2 Euros for a Pint.
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| Cat in the Cabbages - TW gets artistic, |
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| Tank and Fly - a Pigeon Strike Force |
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| Sliema |
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| The sunsets on M&S |
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