A couple of firsts - my first time on holiday in November; my first time to Malta; amazingly my first new country since Hungary in 2008 and without being to modest... a visit to the only other person bar myself with a first class hons degree. (Shameless Egotitical blowing of trumpets over.)
Despite another late take off as well as Birmingham Airports best efforts to delay proceedings with a fire drill, we eventually landed at 'Malta International' at 22.10. With all the busses long gone I grabbed an expensive cab to Msida, now home to lifelong acquaintance 'Haz'. After narrowly avoiding a hug off the fore mentioned, he did his best to suprise with having both Coffee and red Wine stocked. A good start.
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View from Haz's balcony
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Haz looking suspiciously on
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Haz started the drinking early Friday morning
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Haz playing chef - very worrying
Msida
Clifftop Sunset /
Dingli Cliffs
Having wondered the streets of Mdina for long enough, we got of the next bus to the Dingli Cliffs, one of the more remote areas of the island. Over 250 meters high the cliffs run along the western shores and offer a great vantage point for any semi committed photographer. As it was late in the day we had the place virtually to ourselves which was ideal as we fooled around taking photographs of Bruce Forsyth impressions!
The late November sun soon began to drop quickly, melting into the Mediterranean exposing some great reflected light of the rocks. A photographers dream! Still, I didn’t want to hand around to long after dark as I’d heard persistent rumours that this was the place the local mafia disposed of their unwanted cars. One glance over the cliff top went some way to supporting this theory. I only hoped they were empty before they went over!
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View of Sky over the sea
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A scene that reminded me of Eire
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Sunlight reflected of the rocks
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Meglamania moment
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View from Haz's balcony
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View from Haz's balcony
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View from Haz's balcony
Dingli
Capital City /
Valletta
Valletta is a sleepy capital, with a strange mixture of old British colonialism and with a look and feel of southern Italy. Red Telephone Boxes sit next to gelaterias but all with a distinctive Maltese twist. Like almost everywhere else on the Island there is an abundance of Churches, some of which we took the time to visit. St Johns Cathedral is the largest and most impressive though. Despite its fairly modest exterior the interior is as lavish as any of its contemporaries.
Unlike most other Capital cities, Valletta seems to close at dusk with few shops open after 6pm. With many of the more popular Bars and Restaurants based in Sliema and St Julian’s, Valletta appears to go to bed quite early!
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Street detail in Valletta
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A British influence on the uniforms
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News from back from home
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The Maltese Labour Party HQ
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Could be San Francisco
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Old English typography
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Haz admiring a pair of statues
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Red Telephone box in Valletta
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Valletta Lighthouse
Valletta
The Blue Grotto /
Wied iz-Żurrieq
I’m not sure if fatigue or apathy had sent in, but neither Haz or myself could muster much interest in getting in a boat for a 30 minutes too look at the famous Blue Grotto. Recharged after lunch with a moody waitress (just smile!) we took to the cliffs that overlook the grotto. Offering just as good views of the Grotto as the boat, we felt vindicated and slowly climbed back up the clifftop to main road.
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Tiny village of Wied iz Zurrieq
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Prickly pear cactus
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Clifftop view of the Blue Grotto
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Grey Sky overhead
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Zoom on a tour boat
Blue Grotto
Temples /
Hagar Qin
A little bit of a Samuel Johnson moment – ‘Worth Seeing, but not worth going to see’ could sum up the megalithic temples of Hagar Qim. Without being a complete philistine the disappointment was more the fact that the temples now resembled some sort of miniature Millennium Dome with their protective covers. I’m all for conservation, but they do look very ugly. The revamped Visitor Centre was informative but the temples themselves just lacked a bit of interest to me. I guess its difficult to appreciate how old the stones were (after all they were older than Stonehedge), but I left feeling a little underwhelmed. I’m certainly no druid.
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A three thousand year old window
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Model Temples
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A very old stone alter
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Calendar v1 - 3000bc
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Temples & their new roof
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Former target practise island, Filfla
Hagar Qim
The Old Capital
Mdina
Having left Valletta we travelled to the centre of the island to the old capital, Mdina. We wondered the quiet narrow back streets with the other odd tourists, but if we though Valletta was sleepy, Mdina was in a coma. Having seen most things above ground, we tried our luck underground and visited the catacombs of St Paul in the twin town of Rabat. The catacombs dated back to Roman times and had recently been visited by the Pope; now it was our turn. Somehow though, it didn’t retain our attention, but without being despondent we found some more catacombs. This time we visited the subterranean complex of St Agatha’s.
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View from the middle of Malta
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Red Telephone Box & Catholic Church
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Plumb LBW
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Fair Stage - More money
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A photo of a photo
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Crypt
Mdina
Paceville
St Julians
Paceville is where all nightlife seems to happen on the Island with bus loads of youngsters heading for a night on the tiles. Although the clubs and bars would have looked out of place in Ibiza, the major difference it seemed was that almost all the revellers where local or students. Bar the token Aussie you always run into, everyone else we encountered was Maltese and under 30. In fact ive no idea what age you need to be to drink in Malta, but there were some very young looking people out and about - PS watch out for the toilets – The Male symbol on the door seems just a suggestion!
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St Julians at Night
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Haz struggles to keep up pace
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Friday Night Paceville
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Haz contemplating life
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St Julians and the cross
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Haz decides to turn street
Paceville
Maltese Bus Ride
Valletta
I’m informed the Maltese Bus service is to be radically updated which would no doubt benefit many on the Island. There is though, something very quirky and unique about the islands busses, a feeling of stepping back in time. Many of the busses are at least several decades old, some must have seen Maltese Independence in 1964! The Bus Station in Valletta serves as the heart of the network, with almost all routes passing through it. Natives and tourists alike cram on to the rattling busses, some literally hanging onto the open door! All fares are either 47 cents or 1.16, but don’t expect to get any change - Trying to pay with a note is a little more dangerous than the busses themselves!
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Valletta Bus Terminal
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Bus Detail
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3 Generations of bus
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View from the drivers seat
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No tick
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Face like the back of a bus
Valletta
Gozo and Comino
Malta
Another day, another island. This time we headed north to catch the ferry to the smaller but equally as attractive twin island of Gozo. Despite being barley 20 miles apart, It took over 2 hours by Bus, Ferry and Taxi two get from Mdina to Victoria, capital of Gozo. Having stowed away on the ferry, or so we thought (payment required on return trip!), we somehow missed the connecting bus at Mgarr. Having politely declined a taxi offer, we reluctantly went back with tails between our legs. In fairness, Greg the Taxi Driver only charged us 2 euros each which wasn’t much more than the bus. Haz even fixed his radio, so he could listen to his Irish love songs very loudly. A surreal moment. Like all other day visitors we travelled to all the scenic spots, box ticking landmarks at a rapid rate; albeit from the top of a an open top tour bus, despite Haz’s protestations!
