Tag: malta

Exploring Malta : A Tiny Island Rich in History – Part 3

Monday 22 September

So farewell Floriana.

We left our flat in Triq L Argotti and walked along linear park called The Mall to the City Gate, the very grand entrance to Valletta. Turning right past the Parliament Building we walked through Upper Barrakka Gardens to get the lift down to the waterfront.

The Lift from Upper Barraka Gardens to the waterfront

At the Fast Ferry terminal we joined the queue for the ferry to Gozo, a big catamaran with room for hundreds of passengers.

It took 45 minutes of sailing along the east coast of Malta to reach the island of Gozo. From the harbour at Mgaar we took a 101 bus up to the small capital. In true Maltese style it has two names, the original name of Rabat and the Colonial name of Victoria.

Our flat has a great view of the Citadel a few hundred metres away, and is very conveniently almost next to Andy’s Supermarket, very handy for cold Cisk lager and other necessities.

It’s a steep climb to the Citadel which is on a crag overlooking the town. It has been fortified in one form or another since the Bronze age. The current Il Kastell dates from the 15th century, but with considerable improvement by the Knights. The population suffered from raids by Turkish corsairs for hundreds of years, and the population of Rabat went into the citadel every night.

The Citadel of Rabat, as viewed from our terrace

Corsairs are maritime raiders who are licensed by a country, so Turkish corsairs attacked Christian settlements all around the Mediterranean on behalf of the Sultan. The corsair Dragut became Governor of Tripoli and was killed at the Great Siege of Malta. The Knights were Christian corsairs, and attacked Turkish shipping and took slaves. France Drake was an English corsair working for QE1, and making a few quid for himself.  Pirates like Blackbeard only worked for themselves, and attacked all shipping.

The Citadel is big and impressive, and offers great views over the Gozo countryside. The cathedral looks a bit strange because the dome was never completed. The Maltese love a big church, honestly I have never seen so many huge Houses of God, He must be very pleased with his devout followers.

At the foot of the citadel walls is the oldest part of Rabat, with narrow quiet streets of pretty houses that look similar to those in Mdina and the other Rabat in Malta. The more modern parts of the town are made up of blocky flat roofed houses with quite rough roads and minimal footpaths, not very attractive. Our flat was on the fourth floor of a modern block, and the road to it had terrible footpaths, it was unpleasant to reach it by foot. The locals drive at about 40 mph around town, basically as fast as they can, and the traffic can be very busy.

Julie had a slightly upset tummy and didn’t want to eat, so I had a can of baked beans for dinner. Yummy.

Tuesday 23 September

We did our research in the guidebook and online and decided to try Ramla beach, allegedly the best beach on Gozo. The 102 bus took us through the outskirts of Rabat/Victoria , through Xewkija (no, I don’t know how to pronounce it) to a stop a few hundred yards from the beach. Maltese bus drivers seem to drive as fast as they can, so it can be quite exciting at times. 

Ramla beach did not disappoint us, it is a wide stretch of soft orangy sand like you get in Devon. There are three cafes and some clean toilets, but the cafes don’t open until 11 and we arrived at about 9.20. 

Ramla Beach

We got an umbrella and two recliners for 21 euros, worth the investment because it was Scorchio! The bed man carried them to the waters edge and we settled in for the day. It was gorgeous, a fantastic view of a calm blue sea and lovely warm water. I went snorkeling a couple of times and saw lots of small fish a few centimetres long, but nothing interesting.

Daniel Craig at Ramla Beach. Maybe.

It was great just reading our Kindles and phones, and passing comments on people who went past on the waters edge. Tattoos and unsuitable swimwear are always great topics for comments such as “ I would be very disappointed if one of my children came home with one of those on his/her leg” and “look at that costume, I have seen thicker dental floss”.

Just after 11 we got breakfast at Rosa’s cafe, we both had egg, bacon and fried onion Ftira. It’s basically a big bap which was enough for breakfast and lunch.

Julie and the Giant Sandwich

I would give Ramla beach top marks for quality and convenience. The returning bus to Victoria Bus Station felt like it was being driven by Lewis Hamilton, and took 17 minutes to get back.

After scoffing a delicious ice cream at Vanilla +, we discovered a shopping centre with a huge Greens Supermarket in the basement, the best shop I have come across in Malta.

The citadel is a delightful place to be at sunset when the sky is pink and you can see the sea at different sides of Gozo. 

The Citadel by night

The Pjazza San Gorg in the old town is a a good place to go for dinner. There are several restaurants around the square in front of the Basilica San Gorg. Unfortunately it was bell ringing practice that night. The bells are great for the first 15 minutes, but after 50 minutes it was getting very irritating. There are two bell towers at the front of the cathedral with two guys swinging the “clangers”, but they weren’t swinging them in time, it just sounded like random bongs that went on and on and on. 

Two bell towers and two out of time bells

Wednesday 24 September

Well it’s been an interesting day.

After consulting the guide book we decided to visit Marsalforn, which is a short bus ride away on the east coast. We caught the 310 bus in Capuchin Street and the bus tore along the rural road, slowing slightly in a village on the way.

Marsalforn is a resort town around a bay. There is a small sandy beach, lots of cafes and restaurants, and many many ugly blocks of holiday flats. It was very quiet, with and had an end of season vibe. However we found a nice spot on the beach and I went for a swim. The water was warm and there were lots of tiny fish, nice. A small group of ladies with hats on bobbed around in the sea together chatting for at least an hour. The water is very bouyant, so it takes no effort to just float.

But about three hours of Marsalforn was enough, so we went back to Victoria on the 310.

In the afternoon I went back to the Citadel and visited the Visitors Centre, the Old Prison, the Natural History Museum and The Historic House. You can get round all of them in about 90 minutes, and they are about as good as a small town museum in England, I would give them an E for Effort. The Historic House was the most interesting. It is a combination of five old dwellings with old furniture in it, like a low-rent National Trust house.

A “typical bedroom”, looks a bit shit to me

In the evening there was a thunderstorm, which was fun to watch on our terrace, until it started raining really really hard. The terrace flooded and then started coming in under the sliding windows. The lounge started filling up, so we got out the mop and bucket and towels to collect water off the floor. While Julie was mopping, I went out on the terrace and stamped on the drain until water started going down it. I think it was bunged up. After mopping 4 buckets (about 20 litres) of water off the floor of the lounge, the rain eased off.

Mopping the lounge during the storm

That’s never happened in and AirBnB before, normally they don’t leak in a big way.

Friday 25 September

A taxi picked us up from our flat, because we didn’t want to drag our bags up hill to the bus station. We took 09.45 fast ferry to Valletta and a 13 bus to Sliema. I have grown fond of the Maltese bus system, its efficient and 2.5 euros for every trip.

The Sliema Marina Hotel overlooking Marsamxett harbour is not luxuious, but it is convenient, on the waterfront close to the ferries.

Once we got settled in we walked across the peninsula to the massive Fort Cambridge development towards St Julian Bay. In places Sliema looks like Dubai, with massive blocks of modern flats overlooking the sea, and some of them cost over £2,000,000.

Fort Cambridge shopping centre

The seafront around St Julians Bay is very attractive, with lots of restaurants and bars facing the sea. There are also lots of bathing “beaches”, except there is no sand. You can sunbath on bare limestone ledges, and the walk (carefully) into the sea. I took a dip at Fond Ghadir, the sea was warm and slightly rough, but very pleasant to swim in. There were a few small fish, but nothing interesting.

Fond Ghadir “beach” there ain’t no sand

At the corner of Baluta Bay I took 10 seconds to look at a menu outside of a bar and a nice young man asked if I wanted a cocktail. 

No you dirty minded bastard, not in that way!

We were both easily persuaded and went into Piccolo Padre for 2 for 1 cocktails, and selected Margaritas. The food menu looked persuasively good, so I had Seafood Risotto and Julie had Frito Misto. There was enough food to feed 4 hungry pescatarians, and we needed more cocktails to wash it all down.

Fishy Feast

We left there intending to continue our tour of St Julians on a sunny afternoon.

Piccolo Padre on the lowest floor

After several minutes hard walking we came across another bar overlooking the bay with a 2 for 1 offer. It was hot, we were thirsty, and at £4 a cocktail it was daft not t0. So we had a Mojito followed by a Long Island Ice Tea.

In a party mood by then, we walked onto Paceville, the throbbing heart of youth culture in the area. After about 5 minutes we decided we were at least 40 years too old and got the bus back to hotel. 

Reasons to Visit Malta

It is easy to fly to

Its very hot and the sea water is warm

Everyone speaks English

The food is mostly Italian, but kebabs are widely available

The people are friendly

Its small but there is a lot of things to see and do

The buses are great

The cocktails are cheap

The history is incredible

Valletta is a wonderful interesting lively city

There are a few great beaches

You might see Robbie Williams for nothing

Exploring Malta: A Tiny Island Rich in History – Part 2

Friday 19 September

Across the Grand Harbour from Valletta are the Three Cities of Senglea, Birgu and Kalkara, which occupy promontories reaching out into the harbour. To reach Senglea we walked to Floriana bus station and took the No. 1 bus.

Three Cities of Senglea, Birgu and Kalkara

Like most places in Malta, Senglea is heavily fortified. After the Ottomans had laid siege to Malta, the Knights of St John put enormous walls and gun platforms around every major settlement. The Knights really annoyed the Ottomans by taking as many of their merchant ships as they could, Malta was a real hornets nest to them.

Senglea is entered through massive gates, and beyond is a grid of very quiet streets. All the houses are typical Maltese, with enclosed wooden bay windows on the first floor supported by stone corbels. It all looks ancient, but in fact 75% of the houses were destroyed in the War, so most homes are reconstructed. We went into the massive domed basilica, all the churches in Malta are huge. Inside it is clad in marble, red velvet and gold leaf. There are huge chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, it probably looks like the White House will in a couple of years time. Sumptuous Baroque would describe the style. But most of the church was bombed during the war and it was rebuilt in the 1950s.

Senglea Balsilica

The streets are very quiet and peaceful, with a few small local shops, it feels like a village rather than a city.

A quiet street in Senglea

Walking down a side street we looked over a dry dock that held an enormous sailing yacht which was discovered (by using Google Lens) is called Eon and is owned by a media billionaire called Barry Diller. It’s 94 metres long, and its masts towered over the houses.

At the tip of Senglea is a little garden with a small guard tower overlooking the harbour called La Guardiola, which has a stone ear on it.

Senglea has hardly any cafes or restaurants, it really is a quiet village. There are a few places to eat on Dockyard Creek, facing Birgu.

We walked around the shore of Senglea to the next of the Three Cities called Birgu or Vittoriosa. Its original name was Birgu, but it held out against the Turks in the Great Siege and was renamed Vittoriosa by the Knights. It was the original capital of the Knights before Valetta was built.

The Knights of St John

A bit of background on the Knights of St John (or kehniggats as Monty Python would call them). They were founded in 12th century Jerusalem as Knights Hospitaller to care for poor pilgrims on their way to the holy sites in Palestine. They then took up arms to protect pilgrims against Islamic forces and became increasingly powerful and built some big castles including Crac de Chevalier in Syria. They were booted out of The Holy Land by the Islamic forces, and settled on the island of Rhodes in the 14th century, which they then fortified. They had a fleet of ships which harried Ottoman shipping and generally pissed off the Turks. They were rich because the Knights owned estates all over Europe (including at Hampton Court) and got a lot of support from monarchs and the Popes for fighting Islam on their behalf. They annoyed the Turks so much they set siege to Rhodes in 1522 with 200,000 men and some very big cannons. The Knights retreated once again to Sicily first and then the Pope gave them Malta in 1530. Once again they fortified it and made their capital in Birgu to begin with, before they built Valletta, which was named after their Grand Master Jean de Vallette. They stayed in Malta until 1798 when Napoleon occupied it on his way to Egypt. The French had Malta for a few months until the British Navy took it from them. Hoorah! It was “ours” until 21 September 1964 when Malta became independent.

Jean de Vallette

Birgu is bigger than Senglea and has a bit more to see. We visited the Inquisitors Palace, which was where the Roman (not Spanish) Inquisition was based. In the 17th century if you didn’t conform to Catholic rules you could face the Inquisition, which was a religious court. Most people got a good telling off, some went to prison, occasionally people were tortured to get a confession and then executed. All pretty standard stuff for the time. It a moderately interesting museum, but is a great place to go when its 30 degrees outside!

At the tip of the island is the massive Fort St Angelo, a huge castle guarding the harbour which was a military base until the British Navy left in 1979. During the war it had cannons and anti aircraft guns. There are some rooms showing short histories of the Fort and the action it saw in the war.

If you want to know more about Malta in WW2, read Fortress Malta by James Holland. It can be a tough read since many of the pilots and submarine crew don’t survive, but the courage and fortitude of the Maltese and British forces is incredible. Malta was the most bomber place in the war.

Our friends were staying in the next of the Three Cities, Kalkara. They had a quirky flat with a great view over the harbour and Valetta in the distance. We didn’t see much of Kalkara, but did have some very good G&Ts.

On our walk back to the water taxi in Birgu we went past a big gathering of locals beneath the walls of Fort St Angelo. They had all gathered for a Super Bingo night, which only happens once a month for Big Cash Prizes.

Super Bingo Night in Birgu

Saturday 20 September

Valletta has something interesting around  every corner. This morning we walked past the impressive Parliament building and the ruined Opera House towards Upper Barraka Gardens. I spotted a building called the Spazju Kreativv  which I think means Creative Space. It is a repurposed fort built but the Knights of St John, and it has incredibly thick stone walls. It was displaying photos by John Agius, British-born but of Maltese heritage. 

He took photos of celebrities for magazines, and they were brilliant, all his subjects.looked beautiful and glamorous. But his pictures of men were the wittiest, especially Bill Nighy and Ewan McGregor.

I was itching to see more wartime stuff, so we descended into Lascaris War Rooms beneath Upper Barraka Gardens. They are tunnels dug into the limestone from where the British combined forces fought the Axis powers. There are many rooms stuffed with weapons, mannequins in uniform and display boards telling stories of the war. It is almost overwhelming in its details. There was a restored control room with a big map of Malta for showing where the Axis bombers were and how many fighters the RAF had to put up against them.

After lunch we took the bus to the town of Mdina in the centre of the island. It was the capital of the island when it was occupied  by Arabs in the ninth century, but declined in importance after the Knights of St John took over.

 

It is a small small walled town that is perfectly preserved from the 18th century and earlier. It has narrow streets and high stone walls, and very few people. There were hardly any locals, a few restaurants and souvenir shops. It felt like being in a film set rather than a town, which it was for A Game of Thrones. It sits on top of a hill so there are amazing views over Valletta.

It’s a short walk to the twin town of Rabat, which is where all the people had gone! Independence Day celebrations were just starting in he town centre, so.the place was buzzing. There were re-enacters dressed as soldiers and a display of beautiful vintage cars. I fancied the red MG.

There are several huge churches, as usual, and a good selection of restaurants.

We took the bus back to Valletta where more celebrations were taking place. At the city gate there was some sort of political rally with lots of flag waving, and all the speeches were Maltese. So we went to upper Barraka Gardens to enjoy the view of Grand Harbour at night.  Since we were close by  we used the lift to the waterfront to go to the Fast Ferry terminal to buy tickets for our trip to Gozo.

Sunday 21 September 

Another day, another bus trip, this time the 44 to Golden Bay. Anticipating a busy bus, we arrived at our stop early and it was really quiet. There wasn’t much traffic and the trip only took half an hour.

Golden Bay is much better than Mellieha. It is much bigger and is sheltered  by cliffs on both sides. The umbrella hire is a reasonable 26 Euros for 2 umbrellas and 2 sun beds, because I am semi-ginger (a new term I invented) I need my own umbrella. I also kept my shirt on so I don’t burn again.

The sea is shallow and it’s basically bloody lovely, and extremely popular. So we were very happy to lay on our recliners for 5 hours with the occasional dip in the sea to cool off.

Golden Bay

I observed that many of the ladies wear tiny bikinis barely covering their bums However their male partners all wear big baggy shorts. I conclude that men don’t care about having pale bums, but women are very concerned and must have tanned behinds. Discuss.

We left before the rush at about 4 and it was a fast trip back to Floriana. The rural landscape of Malta is made up of small fields with rough dry stone walls. Most of it looks uncultivated, soil does not look very fertile after several thousand years of cultivation. In some places there are big greenhouses, and all the diary farms keep their cows in sheds.

Back at our flat we climbed the 63 steps to reach the door of the flat, the climb has become tiresome.

Our flat was right at the top

Valletta is very busy in the evening and there are a huge number of restaurants and bars. Just for a change we didn’t have Italian food, but chose a Turkish restaurant. I had a mixed doner, Julie had a falafel wrap.

Walking through a square near the Grand Masters Palace we heard rock music and went down Archbishop Street to the Babel Bar. A trio were playing brilliant popular rock songs to a very appreciative audience, including: Pink Floyd, The Beatles, the Stones, Green Day, Oasis, Dire Straits and even a bit of James Brown. A very appreciative audience were singing along and buying lots of beer. It was easily the most fun I have had in Malta!

Superb band at the Babel

Exploring Malta: A Tiny Island Rich in History – Part 1

Malta is the smallest member of the EU, it is a proper pocket sized country right in the middle of the Mediterranean. The entire country covers just 122 square miles with a population of about half a million people. Greater London covers 607 square miles with a population of about 8.5 million people. Malta is about the same size as the Isle of Wight, tiny but incredibly packed with history.
It’s been occupied since Neolithic times and has megalithic monuments older than the Pyramids. Because its in the middle of the Mediterranean, every man and his dog has occupied it: Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Swabians, Angevins, Neopolitans, Holy Romans, Knights of St John, The French and then us, The good old British Empire until 1964.
Everyone built something out of the beautiful limestone the island is made of. There are a huge number of megaliths, walls, castles, fortifications, batteries and massive stone keeps. All the many occupiers have left their mark on this tiny but resilient island.


If you enjoy history, like I do, the island is absolutely stuffed with it, so many historic sites rammed into a small island that also has a hot southern European climate where everyone speaks English! What’s to dislike?

In fact the state of Malta is an archipeligo of three islands, Malta, Gozo and even tinier Comino. The people of Malta speak a language which is an amalgam of archaic Arabic, Italian and English. It sounds Arabic sometimes but it also has the sing-song rhythm of Italian. It’s the only Semitic language to use the Latin Alphabet. The street and place names look Arabic, but often celebrate the names of long-dead British colonial administrators or admirals.
I really like it.

Tuesday 16 September 2025

We flew into Luqa, a former RAF airstrip but now a modern and sophisticated airport and got a taxi to our flat in Floriana. Floriana is a district just to the east of the capital Valletta which was created in the 17th century when another line of city walls was built to give more protection to Valetta.

It is also very conveniently is where the excellent bus station is, which is the best way to explore Malta. Car hire gives you more options I suppose, but the roads are quite rough in places and you can’t have a long boozy lunch can you?
To reach our flat we climbed 5 flights of stairs and 63 steps, then it was another flight between the bedroom and the kitchen. We had a tiny balcony and the sea was visible at Sliema in the distance. It didn’t have a great sea view, but it was only a 10 minutes walk into Valletta where most of the historic sites are.

Floriana


We ate at the Blazunetta restaurant our first night, which was good Italian food. My minor gripe would be that the Fish Risotto was actually a Fish Paella, but it was tasty.

Wednesday 17 September

We walked through a linear park called The Mall into Valetta, which is a tiny capital of Malta covering a very modest 0.21 of a square mile. The “city” was built by the Knights of St John as a highly fortified settlement after the Great Siege in 1565 when the Ottoman Turks tried to conquer Malta. The Turks had a good crack at besieging the Knights, but didn’t succeed and the Knights built up the castles and walls to make it a lasting bastion of Christendom against Islam.
The Grand Master of the Knights was Jean de Valette, so the new capital was called Valetta.

Valletta and the surrounding towns are built around the two harbours, Marsamxett to the north, and Grand Harbour to the south. These are what made Malta such a desirable place.

Valletta and the harbours


It’s a grid of streets with a big gate at one end (designed by Renzo Piano) and a huge castle of St Elmo at the eastern tip. In the middle is the Co Cathedral of St John, a lavish Baroque overdone church full of pictures of suffering Jesus and saints getting murdered in imaginative ways.
The exterior has a relatively plain limestone face with twin towers, the interior is like a collision between a Faberge Egg, Trump Tower and an art gallery. Lavish doesn’t do it justice, It’s also very very popular, so the experience is a slow shuffle culminating in seeing the Caravaggio painting The Beheading of St John the Baptist. I prefer a nice landscape with a few naked nymphs to a beheading, it just doesn’t work for me.

St Johns Co Cathedral

The heart of Valletta is a very busy place, like Florence, Venice or Dubrovnik, but walk a few hundred yards to the eastern tip of the peninsula and it is much much quieter.

Republic Street at night, its busy

Overlooking the sea is the enormous St Elmo’s Fort, a massive stone fortification that guards the entrance to the Grand Harbour. It was besieged by the Turks in the Great Siege 1565 for 4 months, but ultimately fell to vastly superior forces. After the Turks gave up trying to capture the main fortifications of the Knights (it’s a very long story) they gave up and went home. St Elmo’s was enclosed in another fortress which has stood for almost 500 years.
The fort is very impressive in itself, giving amazing views of the Grand Harbour. It is also home to the National War Museum which is really good. It is housed in a series of rooms dedicated to different periods of Malta’s history, from 3,000 BC to accession to the EU in 2004.
What impressed me the most, was a case holding the George Cross medal given to Malta after the long bombing campaign by Italian and German aircraft in the War. Malta suffered over 3,000 air raids by Italian and German bombers, because British ships, submarines and aircraft stationed on Malta disrupted the Axis invasion of North Africa. Eventually it was the launching place for the invasion of Sicily.

On top of the castle were these control towers for the fast firing 6 pounder guns used to shoot Stuka dive bombers out of the air.

World War 2 gun control towers on St Elmos fort


In the afternoon we took a boat trip around the Grand Harbour and all its arms that divide the urban area around Valletta into a series of peninsulas. The harbour is huge, and is the commercial heart of the city and a frequently a stopping place for the world’s biggest cruise ships. Our little tour boat followed the MSC World Europa, a floating city with almost 9,000 people aboard it. The tour was really good and helps you get a grip on the complicated geography of Valletta and the neighbouring Three Cities.

MSC World Europa


Close to where we are staying is a big open area called Independence Ground, and on it an enclosure and stage had been constructed for a concert. Who was on? Only Robbie Bloody Williams! We had finished eating some pasta on our balcony and we heard the opening chords of “Let me Entertain You”. So we dashed (carefully) down six flights of stairs and walked for 5 minutes to a square in front of Oratoju San Publju church, an area outside of the fence but where we could see the big screens and hear the band very well.
So for the next two hours we saw a free Robbie Williams concert,which was very good! My God that man has an enormous ego, and overshares on an epic scale. He didn’t really need to tell thousands of strangers about his mothers dementia, it felt like he was using his mothers illness to draw attention and sympathy to himself. But it was a fun concert.
Robbie was followed by an Italian DJ who we listened to from our balcony until 12.30, there was no chance to sleep.

The Ego Has Landed, beyond the fence

Thursday 18 September


Malta only has two good beaches, Melleiha and Golden Bay. We walked to the bus station and took a 41 bus to Melleha.
The trip took over an hour with many stops in the Valletta suburbs, passing the spectacular Mosta Dome, a neoclassical church with a huge domed roof. All the churches in Malta are huge, they are very devout Catholics. The bus went through Melleiha village and then down a winding road to the beach, where there is a good stretch of white sand covered with umbrellas. It’s very modest compared to beaches in Spain or Italy, but it’s good for Malta where most swimming spots are just rocky ledges.
The sea was warm and rough, there was quite a breeze blowing. I tried a bit of snorkeling, but there was nothing to see apart from dead sea grass. There was a cafe about 10 metres away from where we reclined reading our Kindles. As usual I got a burnt chest and shoulders, the sun always seems to find a way to get through the parasol and get me.


In the evening we met some friends in Valetta and had dinner at Ortygia in Strait Street, a very long street that was popular with the Royal Navy and was known as ‘The Gut’. Some of the streets in Valetta were decorated with flags and hangings for the Independence Day celebrations on 21st September.