Blogs from Malta, Europe - page 7

Woke up this morning to the sound of construction from a building across the street but opened my curtains to see the beautiful bay of Xlendi, so all was good with the world again. I headed downstairs to breakfast and it was so lovely to be sitting right by the water, enjoying a coffee and something to eat. There was no rush today so I enjoyed the moment. Around 11ish I caught the local bus into the town of Victoria as today I wanted to eat to the Red Beach in Ramla. Regardless of where you want to go on Gozo, all buses connect at the Central bus station in Victoria. You purchase a ticket on board for €2 and that will cover you for the next couple of hours, which makes getting connecting buses easy. ... read more

Valletta is the capital of Malta and built by the Knights of St John during the crusades. The Maltese cross represents the Knights of St. John which had 8 orders or regions. The crosses adorn the magnificent Cathedral of St. John. This is a pristine and picturesque spot to dream away the day.... read more

It has been quite a stressful year so far with a lot of family related worries so a break away was definitely needed ? I had wanted to go to Malta for as long as I could remember, all the history and the fact Valletta is a UNESCO heritage site, combined with the nice weather seemed to make it the ideal destination ? . We generally like the idea of self catering because of the flexibility it offers and that combined with the lack of hotel choice in Valletta, meant Airbnb seemed to be the best choice. A house in the city centre that slept 6 with all the usual facilities ticked all the boxes. Flight wise there was a good selection but Andrew's determination that we weren't using Ryanair meant a trip to Gatwick for ... read more

Had a very relaxing morning with domestics & a swim around 11am. Expecting another hot day. We picked up another talinjia card (tar lini ya) for the bus & have a few rides left on it so we thought we'd go back to Birgu in Vittoriosa. They were setting up for an enormous gastronomical & lantern festival, where all the lights will be turned off & the city lit with candles. Food stalls being set up everywhere to try Snails, Rabbit, Horsemeat, Octopus & Swordfish. Huge bakery stalls. Once again we erred on caution & decided to stay away from the crowds & perhaps the food... Heading into the heart of Birgu city we came across 'The Norman House' the oldest house in Birgu built by the Normans in the 13th century ontop of what has ... read more

The mamas went off to Birgu (a short ferry across the bay from Valletta) and T and I headed out early to visit some megalithic temple complexes on the south side of Malta (sounds far, but wasn’t - about a 30 minute bus ride). Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra temples were built starting in 3600 BC (that’s BEFORE COMMON ERA folks!!!) Older than olden times, even. Older than the great pyramid. Older than Stonehenge. Like, super, super old. Wow! We were rewarded for our early morning arrival by having the place almost to ourselves which was probably a good thing because I full-on nerded out while I was there. “T!!! They used to have dwarf elephants here!”...DWARF ELEPHANTS! Sweet jeebus, that is cool. After the temples, we took in an entertaining movie that had animations to show ... read more