Blogs from Malta, Europe - page 8

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Europe » Malta October 12th 2017

Today we took the public bus to Mdina/Rabat. Mdina is a small fortified baroque “city” that is adjacent to Rabat. The bus was an approximately 30 minute trip and it was packed. I bought a card loaded with 12 bus trips even tough I’m unlikely to use all of them...it was cheaper than buying our bus trips separately and I can always leave the card with any unused trips behind for the next guests in the apartment. Mdina was compact, beautiful and very pleasant to walk around despite the throngs of people. Lots of shade and very breezy (not sure where the wind was coming from because Mdina was surrounded by high walls). We took in an exhibit about the history of the Knights of Malta (a.k.a. Knights Hospitalier; Knights of the Order of St-John) which ... read more
Street in Rabat
St-John’s Co-Cathedral - Valletta
Evening stroll in Valletta

Europe » Malta » Gozo October 11th 2017

An early start to Gozo (Għawdex) entailed a bus to Cirkewwa to catch a ferry. The hour on the bus took us through St Pauls which is built up with resort type apartments. The ferry crossing took 35mins & i was out sitting on the deck before we had even left the port....so was some other lonely person looking for real air.. The ferry sails past Comino island, very sparse, rocky and apparently especially good for diving. One of the top diving places in the Mediterranean. The water is beatifully crystal clear because of the rock. The entrance to Gozo port is very pretty and colourful with boats. The town perched above the small port. I remember reading that Gozo horticulture basically produce the vegetables for Malta. We aimed for Victoria on the bus 10 mins ... read more
Gozo main square Indepenzia Misrah Il took
Misrah street
Misrah street

Europe » Malta » Malta » Valletta October 10th 2017

Although we had planned to do a walking tour of Bucharest on our last day there, we’d already seen all the sights listed on the tour so decided to skip it. Instead, Ma and I went for a walk around our neighbourhood including Parcul Cişmigiu. Lovely park with a small lake in the middle..,maybe more of a pond, but big enough for row boats. Super chill with lots of folks sitting around enjoying the scenery. My favourite part of Bucharest was the Village Museum and further afield it was Bran Castle. As lovely as Romania has been, I am looking forward to moving on to Malta. For a change of pace from all these hotels, we rented an apartment in Valetta right in the heart of all the old timey stuff we want to see. Plus, ... read more
streets of Valletta
The view from our terrace at dusk
Waterfall in the park

Europe » Malta » Malta » Sliema October 10th 2017

That week went really fast. The folks are flying out today & we move to new acommodation a 10-15min walk from here. All packed & our host kindly offered an extended check out time which helped immensely seeing as check in at the new place is 2pm. Sad saying goodbye to Mary & John as they 'Suntransfer'..ed off to the airport at 10am. We had a great week together! For us it turned out to be an easy shift & we were in our place by 1pm. Our place is a Studio type with a kitchenette, 3rd floor, modern, swimming pool on the same floor....perfect. We walked down to Sliema waterfront past all the street restaurants & the ferries. There appears to be a shift in tourist numbers compared to last week when we struggled to ... read more

Europe » Malta » Malta » Rabat October 9th 2017

A cool day & early set off. We decided to go all the way out to Rabat. An hour journey first to Ta Qali (te Arli) an old air force base with airplane hangers overtaken by Artisans with offerings of hand blown glass, filigree jewellery, lace, ceramics, olive wood, ironware (knights daggers etc), very basic setup but the produce is very remarkable. We watched the glass being hand blown. Very quick & skillful & there was plenty for sale. To see it being made certainly made you appreciate the price. A few hours were spent admiring the skills as we went from hanger to hanger. Brian somehow happened to notice an Aston Martin 1958 classic collectable (worth 900,000nzd) amongst a group of classic rally cars sponsored by Mdina Glass. The Mdina & Valletta Glass manufacturers are ... read more
Our stairwell
Our Triq
Our apartment deceiving

Europe » Malta » Malta October 8th 2017

Great decision to go to the three cities today il Kalkara in Cospicua, il Birgu in Vittoriosa, il Isla (senglea). Being Sunday it was all quiet on the street & on the buses. Last night Valletta had it's annual 'Notte Bianca' a huge festival that attracts over 70,000 & apparentley it ran all night..to which we decided not to attend to avoid the crowds. This into all hours event definitely made the street scene this morning sparse compared to what we had experienced the rest of the week. A straight run to Valletta on the 21 bus. Change to bus 3 which took us to Riche in Birgu. A very sunny and warm day. In previous time, Senglea, as well as Cospicua, were the centre of Malta's elite and intelligentsia. The Second World War rapidly altered ... read more
Birgu Triq
Birgu square
Birgu square Sunday

Europe » Malta » Malta » Sliema October 7th 2017

Walk along the promenade to Sliema. A 3+km walk and ended up at 'The Point' plaza which came out the other side at the Sliema ferries. The promenade is a fabulous and easy walk along the seaside..the sea still recovering from the thunderstorms so quite rough on the rocky shorelline. Lots of people and families out enjoying the sunshine and the breeze.... read more
Promenade
Rocky Sliema
Rocky Sliema looking to Paceville

Europe » Malta » Malta » Marsaxlokk October 6th 2017

A fishing village on the south east of the island. Another couple of buses...& yes they were still having problems. We made it around midday. The drive through town centres in the middle of the island provided an insight to the real island life away from the tourist areas. Dry fields marked out with stacked limestone rocks, olive trees, grapes, fig trees. Very dry & quite red soil. Beautiful sunny day by the water that we needed to seek shelter under the market umbrellas. Many tourists still coming in 'on tour' & the seaside restaurants were doing well selling local produce from the sea. The local fishing boats called 'luzzu' all dotted around the bay making the harbour picturesque in colour. Marsaxlokk name comes from marsa, which means "port" and xlokk, which is the local name ... read more
Marsaxlokk Church
Inside
Marsaxlokk

Europe » Malta » Malta » Sliema October 5th 2017

Good sleep, always when it rains.. We made a go of it & went into Valletta...bus from Leyland just around the corner. It was light rain but manageable. We had a great stroll down Archbishop Street. Lovely shops & usually there would be many diners on the pavement. The city is beautiful with it's huge limestone blocks on the super grand sized buildings. Influences are many including Sicilian, Arab, French, Greek, Phoenicians, Turkish, Nth African., Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Normans, Spanish, Knights of St John. We walked back up the hill via Merchant Street to the Battery Salute point. We could see quite clearly across the natural deep harbour to the 3 cities & all the shipping movement. It's really nice to share travel experiences with Mary & John who share the same passion...& really nice to ... read more
St George Cross awarded to all the people of Malta
The rain made it very colourful
Except here

Europe » Malta » Malta » Sliema October 4th 2017

....they say it will pass....of course it will! We have been so lucky with our weather so far but I think for Mary & John the weather back in Scotland was better. We made it out for a walk from our place through some lovely streets that have been able to retain the older style homes original to Malta with their boxed in verandas. Many have painted their doors & shutters & verandas bright blues, reds, yellows. It's really nice against the yellows hues of the limestone blocks. Not far from us in Balluta Bay, their are many high rise apartments replacing these older style homes. It is great to see some areas are being retained as they are unique to Malta, however the new apartments are good for their economy. Many British will reside here ... read more
Flooding malta today




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