Blogs from Malta, Europe - page 35

Niisiis. Kolmas päev on käes ja me alles alustame kirjutamist. Ja Krisil hakkab raamatus viimane peatükk. See selleks. Lahkusime kodumaa pinnalt 14.juuni, lennuk väljus vist 17.10. Easyjet viis meid Berliini Schoenefeldi lennujaama. Hakkasime rongile minema, kui selgus, et tüüp, kelle juures ööbima pidime ei olnudki Berliinis sel päeval. Ta oli aru saanud, et saabume pühapäeval. No okei, midagi polnud teha. Siis trippisime kolm tundi ühest Berliini otsast teise ehk ühest lennujaamast teise. Lend Maltale väljus nimelt Tegeli lennujaamast. Meil olid suured kohvrid ja veel ka väiksemad kotid. Vahetasime rongi vahepeal. Astusime teise rongi peale, kui Kris küsib, et kus mu õlakott on. Uksed sulgusid ja nägin, et mu kott seisis pingi peal. Ja meie sõitsime edasi. Hüppasime järgmises maha, mina olin paanikas. Vahemaa näis väike. Kris oli nõus tagasi jooksma ja seda ta tegigi, nii et ... read more

Malta is made up of three islands, we stayed on the main island, Malta in the suburb of Sliema. It was overlooking a harbour and one of the delights of the area was the promanade that stretched for about 5km through two other suburbs. This was our first trip abroad and I'd played it safe by picking a type of package holiday where English was the main language. So we get to Gatwick Airport to be confronted by lines of Brit families and pensioners (what did I expect) all heading to Malta. When we arrive in Malta, Vickie (our tour rep from Thomas Cook) is there to meet us. To cut a long story short I thought I had landed a role in Benidom, it was just like on TV. Our hotel (The Plaza) was tired, ... read more

May 20, 21, 2008 RAGUSA, Sicily / MALTA Today was a short drive from Taormina to Ragusa in the very south of Sicily. This is another very nice drive through some beautiful scenery through the mountains valleys and lots and lots of seascapes from the high freeway. This is an interesting grain farming area with vineyards and fruit growing areas. In Ragusa there is not a lot to do but we took a walk to visit a local botanical garden and of course another large “Duomo” church. Wednesday morning we got an early start to catch the ferry to Malta from Pozzallo. This was a very comfortable 90 min. ferry trip on a new, fast, catamaran. B.C. Ferries could learn a lot from these guys. Malta is pretty small so we organized a day excursion through ... read more

Day 9 Malta - Valetta & Mdina Our excursion today took us to look at the ancient (quiet) city of Mdina and then we returned to look around the modern capital of Malta, Valetta. Paid for a sumptuous meal in the "Pinacle Grill" - very nice.... read more

Upon leaving Greece we went to another historical place, the Republic of Malta. It seems that at one time or another every country in Europe had a piece of Malta. The Phoenicians, Romans, Carthaginians, Ottomans, Arabs, Spanish, French and British all ruled this small, strategic outpost in the Mediterranean at some point. It is said that Malta has the oldest freestanding building in the world. It is a megalithic temple in the town of Gozo. The Maltese language is Semitic in origin but greatly influenced by the Romance languages and written in a type of Latin alphabet. Now English is taking over, especially among the younger, computer literate people. In the port of Valleta we tried to negotiate with some taxi drivers for a short tour around this fortressed island. But again being back in the ... read more