Blogs from Malta, Malta, Europe - page 7

No that doesn't stand for rock and roll nor even running and ranting. It actually stands for rest and relaxation. Us?!?! I had heard about this illusive idea and was even allowed about 30 minutes of it once before Claire started getting itchy feet and wanted to climb a mountain. We planned to go to the beach today and sit, read, relax....and write our blogs of course. There aren't many sandy beaches on Malta and so they get quite busy with people who spend each and every day of their holiday there. The trick is to find one without pumping music and at least a bit of sand to put your towel down without having to pay extortionate prices for a lounger and an umbrella. I'm not sure what makes people think that it is okay ... read more

Today ended up being like the Cannonball Run of sightseeing. It hadn't started like that but, as usual, things with us rarely go to plan. What we had expected was some rain and so we decided to walk some of the Victoria Lines figuring it would at least be cooler today even if we did have to wear our raincoats. Which we both forgot. Not much use back at the apartment. Duh The Victoria Lines are walls that were built some time ago with forts along the way and it 'may' be possible to walk the whole 12 kilometres or so. We weren't going to find out but we drove to one of the forts instead planning to walk at least a bit of the way. Bingemma Fort looked like somewhere Nazis would hang out planning ... read more

'There's a fish market on a Sunday market' they said, 'we spent over two hours there' they said. I'd love to find out who they are and why they made us drive almost as far as you can on Malta without driving into the sea. I've been to the fish market in Seattle where they're chucking huge whale size cod (well almost....) all over the shop. Now that's interesting. Lining up a few fish in front of you on a market stall isn't. Tagging it onto a tat market with a few fruit and veg stalls isn't exactly a tourist mecca. Fine for the locals I'm sure with a nice array of fruit and veg stalls as well but, and you may have guessed this already, I won't be rushing back... Lovely little bay though and ... read more

I'm sitting in our cheap hotel apartment (room 101 -yikes!), overlooking the pool with high fencing that is totally failing to obscure the crane to the left and building works behind it. Not that it matters to Glyn and me as we are usually out during the day. However, it did amuse me to see all the tourists grilling themselves earlier by the pool in what is a rather ugly setting complete with building noise and dust. Each to their own I guess. The seashore is about a minute's walk away with plenty of room to get over cooked there instead. As always when Glyn and I go away, the day started early and so we left at 2.30am to catch our 6.00am flight from Birmingham. We boarded the Ryanair craft all full of hope and ... read more

Malta is positively heaving with tourists during the summer months, but still a surprisingly popular destination in winter. The islands of the archipelago are rich in the history and unique culture of the Maltese; what a thrill to be finally able to visit! From Barcelona bargain hunters can snap up a cheap fare to Malta with a stopover in Rome, my visit to the Basque region of Spain providing the catalyst for this exciting new travel destination. Due to it's strategic location Malta has long been attractive to foreign powers as a naval base, with the islands having lived under many different rulers down through the millennia. Featuring a temperate climate, Malta can be the perfect getaway from harsh northern hemisphere winters, and I'm glad to be able to base myself in the resort town of ... read more