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Blogs from Sliema, Malta, Malta, Europe
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October 13th 2012
Hello everyone It was a good idea to book a window seat for my afternoon flight here- flying over the Alps and then down the coast of Italy I could see Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples with Capri and then over Sicily – there was Mount Etna. And in the arrivals hall massive hugs from my lovely Richard and Catherine – just what I have been waiting for these past 7 months. Their apartment in Sliema is a penthouse on 6th floor with 2 terraces at the front and back – so great views over the rooftops to the harbour and across to Valletta. They live on a main street in Sliema and you can walk in a few minutes to the end of the Point to a nice new shopping mall or walk to ... read more
June 7th 2012
My grandmother grew up during the air raids on Malta in WW2, she immigrated to Australia from Malta in 1955 at the age of 13. During World War II, Malta became the most bombed place on earth. At the outbreak of World War II, Malta was Britain’s most important Mediterranean naval base. As such, it was to protect east-west supply lines while blocking the passage between Italy and North Africa. When Mussolini plunged Italy into the war on June 10, 1940, Malta knew for sure that it was destined to play a frontline role. Malta’s worst period of the war was in early 1942, when the air raids never ceased. In April alone, 6700 tons of bombs rained down on the island and on the 15th of that month a special message from the British king, ... read more
February 27th 2012
It was with a small amount of trepidation that I departed for Malta. On the one hand I'd be getting 4 days away from the drudgery of London in the Winter, and I'd heard good things about Malta in the Summer. On the other hand it wasn't Summer, I was going to be by myself, and the main reason for the trip was to run a half marathon for which I'd done bugger all training (Nothing unusual there!). Upon arriving I found a multitude of first impressions awaiting me. It reminded me a bit of Spain, with that dry feeling in the air and an apparent love of similarly beige buildings. It was a bit like England too, with the same road signs, British tourists everywhere, and even ex-London buses being used (until quite recently the ... read more
August 30th 2010
With summer coming to an abrupt end in London, the bank holiday long weekend in August was the perfect chance to get some sun in Malta, situated just south of Italy in the guts of the Mediterranean sea. 3 days of perfect 30 degree weather ensured and despite the efforts to apply sunscreen, the burns also prevailed. The highlights of Malta are the two "Blues", the Blue Grotto, a series of caves on the south of the island with perfectly blue water, and the Blue Lagoon, turquoise blue water in a bay on the tiny island of Comino. Given the only blue you see in London these days is Chelsea football club, we were in awe of these 2 sights and loved every minute there. We went to hit the capital Valetta on the first morning, ... read more
July 25th 2010
Hi Have just joined up with TravelBlog and hope I can get some info. Arriving in late August for a week and would love to know about the "hire car" set-up. Other areas claim that Malta is a "hell of a country to drive in" but would like to hear from people who have actually driven there. Interested in the difficulty, costs and any other issues people can think about.... read more
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July 20th 2010
Well, the sun is just as strong and the sky is just as clear as the last time I wrote! Everyday, I wake up sweating. What was I thinking coming here in the middle of the summer!? And to cap it all off, Blake has been giving me updates on the weather in Morocco which is usually a daily high of a staggering 50 degrees! Eeeep. So my Maltese life is becoming more and more routine now. My days are beginning to blend together and my familiarity of the island is getting better. In Malta, despite the insane heat, the summer is packed with festivals and events which I have been doing my best to take advantage of. During my first week on the island, Andrew and I were so keen to hit the beach every ... read more
July 19th 2010
Maria Dolores is her name and it is the catamaran ferry that brought me from Pozzallo to Malta. It is a young and sexy ferry and goes fast. In two hours she can do the distance of approx 100 km. To catch wednesday my train to Saracusa she should do it in the promised 1,5 hours otherwise I ll have to wait a few hours on the station. Arrived at Malta 12 o clock midnight took a taxi to Sliema where hotel Fortina is. The taxi driver asked the old or the new Fortina. I told him of course the new one and I was right. However the new one , also the nightprter was very proud of the new one ,looks like 20 years old. I checked first the possibillities for the Laundry. Yes. They ... read more
July 7th 2010
I'm one week into my latest IFMSA exchange in Malta and am loving it! How could you not? The architecture is gorgeous, the people are incredibly laidback and I have forgotten what a cloudy day looks like! I arrived here last Thursday with my 'rich lady sun hat' (as Andrew calls it) in hand ready to start my month-long, sun-filled adventure in Malta under the pretence that this holiday is critical to my medical education :) My first impression of Malta was indicated by instantaneous back sweat as I stepped off the plane. To say it is hot here would be a gross understatement! I'm not complaining in the least though - my skin hasn't seen the sun for at least a year, and it wold probably be a safe bet that I am among the ... read more
June 7th 2010
Today we are going to do a bit of catching up places we have missed on previous days. We had a good day but both our cameras batteries went flat today even though they were showing full charge before we left home. Maybe got something to do with all the flash photography today. We firstly caught the bus to Mosta Dome, which has the third largest unsupported dome in the world. This local church is certainly something to see as the dome is enormous. Like the other churches we have seen, the internal decoration is rich in red and gold. The most amazing thing about this church is that it probably should have been destroyed during the war. During an air raid in 1942, a bomb pierced the dome and landed in the church below without ... read more
June 3rd 2010
Today we went and did some exploring around Mellieha and Sliema. This involved an awful lot of walking and we should have had the iPod with us as we could have created a world record for steps taken in one day. We started out by leaving our villa complex and walking through the Santa Maria estate down to Mellieha Bay itself. The road is quite steep and on the way we passed hundreds of villas, some of which are huge. There is certainly an awful lot of money tied up in real estate in this part of Malta. Mellieha is situated at the northern end of the island and the bay is well protected by ridges on either side of the bay. As we got to the bottom of the hill, we noticed that there were ... read more
