Thread: Malta

Map of Malta, Comino and Gozo

Blue Grotto

Mdina

Malta's George Cross recognition for bravery during WW2

Valletta Grand Harbour

Valletta

The public transport (and they are great fun to ride in too)

Marsaxlokk

Mosta Parish Church. The second largest unsupported dome in the world. The people of Mosta were very lucky to survive in WW2 when a Luftwaffe bomb went through the roof, skidded across the marble floor and into the vestry...it didn't explode.

So There's Churches and Grottos, What Else?
Enough for everyone. The St. Julian's area is for the young clubbers, it's fairly quiet during the day, but as night falls, everyone emerges and it turns into an all night party. Not my idea of a holiday, but if that's what turns you on? The old air base at Ta'Qali has been turned into a crafts centre. A great way of extracting money from tourists, and extremely boring if you aren't interested in jewellery shops, potteries and ornamental glass works. But, tucked round the back is the Ta'Qali air museum. Not big, but right up my street. They've got some nice exhibits and are busily rebuilding some real wrecks. They've also uncovered a couple of sad stories, for instance, they've rescued the Spitfire that took off one evening on a wartime patrol and wasn't seen again until they dredged it up 50 years later, 20 miles out to sea. They think the pilot got lost in the dark, ran out of gas and crashed into the drink.

Fort St. Elmo is at the far end of Valletta. It is a fort, you know, stone walls, battlements, etc., and just to prove it, every now and then you get treated to the local equivalent of the Sealed Knot Society re-enacting some famous battle or other. Great to watch, and pretty noisy. You might get lucky, as they do seem rather enthusiastic when it comes to filling the canons with black powder. One of these days, one of these relics is going to go off rather more spectacularly than expected. Just make sure you're out of the shrapnel line. The knights of St. John are also mixed up in there somewhere. Then Napoleon and the French and Nelson and the English. It's all very complicated, so studying a potted history before you go might be a bright idea.

There's also the sea. Malta has always lived on the profits of the sea. It used to be fishing, but these days, Malta's dry dock and ship fitting facilities in the Grand Harbour add considerably to the national income. There's still a lot of small fishing boats around, and a trip to Marsaxlokk Harbour is a must for photographers. Maltese boats have eyes painted on them - to ward off evil spirits, and the whole of the harbour is full of them - boats that is. Go on a Sunday, as it has a pretty good street market used by the locals. The 'hand-made' Maltese lace on sale is mostly imported machine made tat for the tourist market. But you can find bargains if you look. If you go during the week, there's a couple of cafes and a restaurant or two, but not a lot else - well the parish church is worth a look round, but nothing that special.

Oh, and the rabbits? The local rabbits breed like - err - rabbits, and during the war there wasn't a lot else to eat on the island. So during the siege, rabbits became rather important. These days, rabbits are revered, as one of the saviours of the island, so if a hotel is built on a rabbit warren, what else do you call the hotel?