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Published: June 18th 2010
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Today is a day of relaxation after the 21 hour stint yesterday to Sicily. Yeah right, dream on baby!
After breakfast we went to St Pauls Bay to have a look around a few shops. We had seen a kitchen item in a restaurant and were hoping to find something similar but with no success.
We then went for a drive to the south of Malta where we visited the Neolithic Temples at Tarxien. These temples are as old as the ones on Gozo and date back over 5000 years. They were discovered in the 1930s by farmers who complained about big rocks when they were ploughing the land. When the archaeologists excavated the area they found the form of the temple which actually consists of three connected temples.
A lot of the original stones have been removed to the Museum of Archaeology for safety and conservation but the carvings on some of the alter stones are amazing for people with rudimentary tools. There is one alter that has carvings of two bulls and a sow with piglets.
After Tarxien we then drove around the area before heading to the pretty fishing village of Marsaxlokk further around
the coast. This village is set in a lovely bay and all the fishing boats painted in traditional colours make a spectacular show. There is a port and a power station in the bay but it’s easy to ignore it. They are actually doing up the quayside and by the look of the work being done, a new wide promenade will be in place very soon.
We had a very good lunch here at one of the many restaurants fronting the harbour and then we headed off again following the coast around through Birzebbuga and through to the old airfield at Hal Far. Part of this area is now used to accommodate asylum seekers from North Africa.
It was time to head back to our villa for the evening but on the way back I had one more thing to do in Malta. I used to go to school here at a place called Tal Handaq. We had looked on the way over to the south but couldn’t find the place so we took the chance on a turn off on the way back and found it. The school has a new building but many of the old
Nissen hut classrooms that we were taught in are still there. Unoccupied, but still there nonetheless. It certainly gave me a tinge of nostalgia as I spent two very happy young teenage years at this school in the 1960s.
Back on the road and to the villa. Whilst we had been away in Sicily two couples had occupied to other apartments so we met them and arranged to have drinks later that night. We went for dinner at a little restaurant called ix-xatba at Mellieha Beach. The meal was superb, possibly the best we have had on Malta. I had grilled groper and Gina had rabbit that was cooked to perfection. Much better than the previous rabbit she had tried.
Back to the apartment for our final night and a few drinks with our new neighbours. Actually turned into a very late night and we didn’t go to bed until 2 am.
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