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Published: July 12th 2015
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Sliema
The view from our apartment overlooked the sea - the swimming pool was part of our complex too! 16 June Soaring tens of thousands feet the mechanical bird flew high above the clouds, all that could be seen as I peered through my tiny window over my left hand shoulder was an amazing scene that can only be best described as a view over Antarctica or those with a sense of humour; an accident at a cotton wool factory. Flying with Thomas Cook the plane left Manchester at 6.00am and we landed in Malta at about 10.15am GMT before being taxi to our swish apartment with on site swimming pool.
Our first task was to freshen up before we hit the streets of Sliema. The street was littered with familiar names such as Burger King, McDonalds, Burtons (men's clothing) and where we would eventually fill our empty stomachs; Marks and Spencer - the Chicken Cesar Salad was heaven. It had been our plan to drive to the airport in good timing (we set off at 4.30am), complete check-in before finding somewhere nice to enjoy a hot cooked breakfast. However queues at the airport were miss-calculated and we were give little time to eat before boarding our plane!
In the afternoon we relaxed our tired
Valletta
The Capital City at night. Isn't it beautiful? eyes and feet with television and a dip in the pool.
17 June Our first proper day of the holiday brought a fun day, we spent the morning looking around the local shops and buying new sandals for my sore feet. We rested in the afternoon before heading into Sliema to eat in a restaurant called T'a Kris. We began with a traditional Maltese platter - a mixture of local recipes from the Island. I ate sword fish for my main, oddly it tasted a bit like chicken but was divine and recommend anyone who isn't allergic to fish give it a try.
Afterwards we took the ferry to Valletta (the capital city). I advise that you buy a weekly unlimited ticket of €10.00 (a adult return journey was €2.80) - under 3's are free of charge. In Valletta we walked around and viewed the historic buildings. We planned to take a proper tour latter on.
18 June We had all intent and purposes planned to take our 2 year old out to the Popeye Village on the East side of the Island. we took the 222 bus to Malieha where we had
Bubbles
Having my feet nibbled at by Dr Fish. to exchange buses for the 237. At €1.50 each adult the price was a bargain and could travel all day anywhere on the bus. However the bus service is unreliable and we found this out when the 237 failed to show and after waiting 45 minutes we gave up. Abandoning our initial plans we stayed where we was and made the best of a bad situation. We was lucky that there was a sandy hot beach and a café on the front where we ate. We roughly spent two hours there before heading back. After a exhausting journey we decided to rest our tired legs for the evening.
19 June Today was a relaxing day. We all took part in the Captain Morgan harbour cruise around Sliema and Valletta. This lasted around 90 minutes. The cruise was pleasant but was very hot and the on board commentary was poor, she was German and although she spoke English was difficult to understand.
Child free for the Evening my partner and I made the most of our time together. We sailed on the ferry to Valletta where we wondered around the streets and enjoyed the local nightlife. We ate at McDonalds followed by an ice cream where we sat and enjoyed our sweet cold treat in the square, it was peaceful watching young children play football.
We had a drink at Cockney's (bar) before catching the 22.00 ferry home.
20 June The €10.00 weekly pass for the ferry has turned out a bargain. We headed back to Valletta, the capital city of Malta where for €16.00 (for 3 adults) we watched 'The Malta Experience' - a 45 minute video on a cinema screen with commentary in 17 different languages about the mixed history of the Island and how it came to being as it stands today. I would advise anyone with a love of history to visit this and perhaps the hospital too!
Whilst in Valetta we headed to a shop called Charles Grech and is situated at the top of the main Republic Street. It was known by a member of our party and I am glad he did. At first sight it is a typical café but if you head inside and go downstairs there is a cavern full of cigarettes and alcohol. I don't smoke but was able to pick up my favourite tipple; Jack Daniels with Honey for €22.00.
Having searched the Internet the previous day we found that there is to be a food festival in Rabat with wood burning fire stoves brought over from Naples, Italy. We had planned to visit but like in previous attempts the local bus service let us down. This time it was the 203 which failed to turn up despite allowing ample time to catch it.
It was a huge disappointment but we headed up the road and found a nice open restaurant to eat, the fish and chips were delicious.
So far I had enjoyed my holiday and was certainly a different setting from that of Cleethorpes or Blackpool back home in the UK but the unreliable bus service had ruined the activities which I had planned to explore. As a result we decided to cancel plans to visit Comino and Gozo the following day which would have required catching a bus to the ferry.
21 June After a sleepless night caused by high winds and loud music both of which made a racket, we decided to make today a chill out day. Still, my partner and I managed to do something together. We went round the shops but it being a Sunday we found that most were closed for the day. We did find Bubbles open and we both enjoyed a 20 minute session with our feet dipped into a tank full of Dr Fish who would nibble at your dead skin cells - sounds discussing I know but was rather enjoyable and more than worth the €12.00 paid.
There facebook page can be found here.
In the evening we once again found ourselves child free so we went out for a meal, the lady's choice being Pizza Hut (how romantic). Afterwards we strolled around the sea front and had a caricature drawn of us both.
22 June I wrote my entry for today at the side of the swimming pool alone. My partner and her two year old decided top hit the shops whist her parents relaxed in the apartment. That morning my partner and I slowly got ourselves ready whilst the remainder of our party headed off to Valletta to do some sightseeing. we had a little look around the shops some more whist we waiting for their ferry to arrive. It was a fairly easy day for us. I went to the swimming pool in the afternoon alone whilst in the evening we stayed in and enjoyed a home made eat.
The day itself was hardly exciting and barely warranted a diary entry but after being on the go for most of the holiday it was rather nice to chill out and just do the normal things you would usually do at home in what was our last day before flying home the following morning.
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