Malta 2002

Luckily, on our flight, the clouds cleared enough to be able see the Alps.





The Maltese buses are something special, not least for the way that they seem to have survived for so long. Many of them are family owned, so the interiors tend to be "customised" a little. The bus fares are also very cheap, meaning not only that there are a lot of them, but that you can get from one end of the island to the other for about 25p. They must be proud of them, as the gift shops of Malta are full of yellow model buses. (The grey painted buses are the ones found on the nearby island of Gozo.)





The cars also seem to last forever. With little rain and no salt on the roads, there is very little sign of rust. As they also drive on the right hand side of the road, many of the cars will be familiar to the British, even if you don't see them every day at home. As can be seen, there is also a good market in handbooks and repair manuals. The Zephyr hearse (bottom left) had the registration mark RIP007. I apologise for the quality of some pictures, as they were taken from a moving bus.


Enough of the transport system, let's take a look at the sights. First up, it is the fishing village of Marsaxlokk.



The top set are a couple of the seashore, looking towards St Paul's Islands, where St Paul was reputedly shipwrecked in AD60. The final one is a gratuitous sunset shot. The second row shows the view from our balcony and a shot of us, drinking vodka and orange on the balcony at midnight.




We also went on a day trip to the nearby island of Gozo. The top set of pictures are Gozo, as seen from the ferry port of Cirkewwa. The second row includes an inscription on the wall of the prison - made by a medieval prisoner and only recently uncovered from centuries of lime - a fishing boat trying to avoid our ferry and the other Gozo ferry, coming the other way. The rest are( l-r) the harbour at Mgarr and the Cathedral at Victoria.



Some pictures of the capital city, Valetta. The top row were taken at Fort St Elmo, the site of one of Malta's most famous sieges, in 1565. The bottom row show (l to r) The Grand Harbour, the main street - Republic Street, and the view from the fort, looking towards Sliema.



The top row of pictures were taken in the original capital city of Mdina. It was used as the capital for it's high location, and the fact that virtually all of the island could be seen from the city walls. The centre picture shows the nearby National Football Stadium. Malta has a National Stadium. England doesn't. The first two pictures of the second row show the ruined temples at Tarxien. The final picture is a view taken from a moving bus, looking towards St Paul's Bay.




The top row of pictures features two shots of the Rotunda at Mosta. Although we passed it every day on the bus. we didn't find time to visit it properly. also to be seen is an example of the terracing that the farmers often use, this one seen on Gozo. The second row were all taken in Pietta, and the lack of quality can again be blamed on the moving bus. the final row shows two pictures taken at the temples of Hagar Qim, which look as though they were put back together last week. Finally, an example of the Englishness of Malta - we found a place called Diana's Pub.

If you are planning on going to Malta, then we thoroughly recommend the Baedeker's Guide, which we found invaluable. Be sure to get the version that includes the free map. The same scale as UK Ordnance Survey maps, it covered the whole island and was very easy to follow and even navigate by.