In November of 2003 I spent a long weekend on the island of Malta. I flew from Gatwick on Air Malta and stayed at the Golden Tulip Vivaldi. The hotel was fine. It's a standard business hotel although located in an area that seems to be full of bars catering to 20-year-olds.
The fishing boats had eyes on the bows.
Something you notice right away are the buses on the streets. Although not all of them are this old, many of them are. The drivers drive like crazy also. The buses were a bargain (maybe the only one on the island). I used them to get around. Really the only problem is not knowing where to get off, but the drivers were helpful and would tell me when we got to my destination. Most of the routes converge on a big bus terminal in Valleta (where this picture was taken). The best thing to do is to get a bus route map at the tourist office, which is located on the right just as you enter through the city gates of Valleta.
Valleta is surrounded by huge walls. There must be a lot of limestone around here because the walls alone would take a tremendous quarry and all the buildings are also made out of the stuff.
There is a lot to see, including many museums. The one that I liked the best was called the Lascaris War Rooms. They are carved into the rock deep into the middle of the picture above. The exhibits weren't all that exciting, but they had a narrated audio tape that was very well done. It told the story of the siege of Malta in World War II and the attacks by the Germans. Eisenhower's office was in the war rooms when they were preparing for the invasion of Sicily.
The place was held by the British for several hundred years. English is very widely spoken and there are plenty of English touches (below) although there seems to also be a strong Continental influence.
I visited the palace armory and the war museums. The guy at the war museum ticket desk claims that the horse-cab drivers are crooks. I didn't test his theory and just walked everywhere.
In the town of Paola there are two sites that date back from around 3000 B.C. One, an underground necropolis, is called the Hypogeum. Unfortunately, I couldn't get in. You have to go there and make a reservation (apparently they don't take reservations by phone). The next open slot was after I was due to leave the island.
The other site is the Tarxien Temple. There are some very large stones there; a sign near some bowling-ball sized stones surmises that they may have been used to help move the large ones. The picture on the right below shows a relief carving of an animal.
This town used to be the headquarters of the Knights of St. John before they built Valleta. It is surrounded by a very impressive wall and has a great fort at the end. Apparently part of the fort has been given to the Knights of St. John. It's interesting to hear they still exist. The fort seems to be undergoing renovation.
I had a very good lunch at a restaurant just through those gates.
These are two temple sites near each other on the Southern coast of Malta. They're also supposed to date back from 3000 B.C.
The coastline is riddled with caves. The largest is called the blue grotto and serves as a tourist attraction. It's very convenient that the village that serves the grotto is within walking distance of Hagar Qim. The winds were pretty high and I didn't feel like getting wet, so I saw the caves from above rather than from a boat.
