MALTA

It is difficult to settle down into work again after such an amazing holiday but it has to be done. 2 weeks into January we pack up at Firewood farm and we go back to The Farm to house sit and look after Boris. This time it is for 8 weeks. We enjoy it here and Boris is a delight. Over our time here he has become less and less aloof and now loves to sit on my knee at night while we watch a movie or some tv. Whilst house sitting we don’t go anywhere as we really need to be around the house all the time. So for the next 8 weeks we pretty much stay at home, apart from our swim at the club daily, Scots spin once a week and doing puzzles on weekends and generally just enjoying our time at the farm. I have a group of girl friends that get together once a month and go out to dinner to a different restaurant each time. So I get to try a number of different places around Horsham town. We also have lunch at the club with a couple we met at Slinfold campground which is so nice to catch up.

Of course I have to start planning our next holiday as there always has to be something to look forward to, so we start looking at what we can do. Initially I had wanted to go to Malta, but a lot of places are already booked out for April and so we figure maybe we should just get in the van and go to Wales, so that is what we plan.

Early March and what we believe is our final house sit at the farm is over and we have found a lovely place to rent a room in. It is an old BnB where they no longer do the BnB thing, but rent the rooms out instead. So we move into a lovely room with an ensuite. There are 2 other rooms rented and the couple have 2 teenage sons who board at school but come home from time to time. It is in a lovely rural location – we are getting quite used to living out in the countryside. So sadly say farewell to Boris. We work out that we have spent 5 months of the last 11 months living in this house so it almost feels like home.

I have a friend I chat to at the pool and she had just come back from Malta and tells me all about it and how cheap it was and how you get the cheap packages. So, that night I go online and find out that we can do an 8 day holiday in Malta for 210gbp each which includes airfares, accommodation, breakfast and dinner plus hotel transfers. So, Wales is thrown out the window and I book our holiday at the end of March for Malta. Now we are excited as this will be our 29th country and I have wanted to go to Malta since I was a little kid. Friends of the family used to spend a lot of their holidays there.

The day after my birthday we head off on the plane. Thompsons are a very good organised company and they have their own planes. The flight is about 3.5 hours, about the same from Aussie to NZ. We land and are directed to our bus that will take us to our hotel. We are staying at the Mellieha Bay Hotel which is quite near the ferry that goes to Gozo, but on the bus route, so that all buses will get us into Valletta or other places on the way. The bus ride is about ¾ of an hour. It is about 8pm when we get there and we check in along with the other 40 odd people on the bus. All rooms in this hotel look over the bay. The room consists of 2 single beds – they all have this but we push them together and hope neither one of us falls into the middle – a fridge, tv, bathroom of course and a balcony with a wonderful view. It isn’t 5 star but is quite comfortable and we won’t be spending much time in it anyway. We head down to dinner which is a huge buffet style with lots of choice.

We decide to walk up to Mellieha the next day which is about a 5km walk up the hill. It was quite a walk up the hillside to the top. We stopped on the way for a coffee and snack. It was quite a warm day as well. On our way back down the hill my foot started to hurt quite badly but I had no idea what was wrong. By the time we got back to the hotel, I could hardly walk and when I looked at it, it had swollen badly in the top middle. I put my foot up and we sat and read until dinner time. Dinner was anytime you wanted to front up to the restaurant up until 9.30pm. Every night was slightly different and you could get a carafe of wine for 3euro to have with your meal. We could have bought all inclusive but I didn’t think it was worth it as alcohol wasn’t that expensive and we didn’t want to be beholden to drinking and staying for lunch at the hotel.

The next day we decided to get the ferry to Gozo and visit Xlendi (pronounced Shlendi). We were within a couple of kms walking distance but my foot was badly swollen and very painful so we caught the bus. The bus only cost 1.50euro for up to 2 hours travel which was so cheap. The ferry across to Gozo was only 4.50euro each return also incredibly cheap. We met a fellow on there who was with his dog and what a small world. He had sailed with Scot’s boss back in Australia at CG. He said he wouldn’t mind exchanging houses so we gladly gave him our email address, so we hope he contacts us as we would love to go back. We caught another bus after getting off the ferry but there were a lot of people around and we found that if you didn’t push in and try to get on a bus like everyone else, you never got on. So we had to join in and push our way amongst the crowds to get on. Victoria is the main town on Gozo and we took another bus from there to Xlendi. This was where we believed some of the filming was done for By the Sea movie with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. What a stunning place and it was a magnificent day. We head to a little café that Christian on the ferry recommended and order a drink and a pizza for lunch.  I am getting a little worried about my foot and although it doesn’t seem like DVT we can’t figure out what else could be wrong.

We sit in the sun and decide we will go for a swim as the water is calm and beautiful, but this is thwarted by us talking to another British couple who are living in Malta and trying to get their own App up and running.  We end up chatting to them until about 4.30 when we decide we need to head back to the bus stop and back to the hotel.  These remote places only have a bus going every hour so it is a long wait if you miss it.  Although the couple we have been drinking with have offered us a lift, he has had more than a few wines and we aren’t comfortable with him driving us, even though he says everyone drives after drinking there.  Our bus isn’t long and we get back into Victoria to catch the next bus down to the ferry.  Everyone in Malta speaks English as it is taught in school from a very young age so getting information is really easy and most things are written in English.  We get the ferry back to the port and then a bus over the hill back to the hotel.  We sit on our balcony admiring the view and watching the action on the water.  There is a miniature yacht racing convention on here and they are all racing off the little jetty in front of the hotel.  There are reps from a lot of European countries as they all have their flags flying.  Dinner is the usual buffet with a variety of food available.

The next day – Friday turns out to be a holiday here in Malta and although we have been warned it will be busy we still decide we want to go back to Gozo to see more places, so we head off reasonably early to try and beat the crowds, but the bus gets to the top of the hill and we can see the next 2kms in front of us is a solid traffic jam.  The driver tells us all that if we want to catch the next ferry we will have to walk as he won’t get there in time.  So off we go, half running, hobbling down the hill past all the banked up cars waiting to get on the ferry.  When we get to the terminal and walk in we realise that this was a very stupid idea.  Half the country is trying to get across to Gozo and it is just crazy.  So we decide it may be best to stay at the hotel today and avoid the craziness.  We catch a bus back to the hotel and position ourselves down on the little beach in front of our room.  The water although a little cool to start with is very refreshing and we enjoy a couple of swims.  The water is crystal clear.  Nearby the hotel is a camper site and during the day many campervans have turned up and it is quite full. It is a lovely place to stop up for a few days overlooking the bay.

We enjoy a peaceful quiet day sitting here reading and swimming until later in the day.  I am still in agony with my foot so after consulting the rep from Thompsons we decide to get to a local doctor in the morning.  We sit around the pool for the last part of the day but the wind is up and it is a little cool so we head for our room.

The next morning we take a bus up to Mellieha where the doctors have their rooms in the pharmacy and you just wait your turn in the queue. The GP is lovely and assures me i dont have DVT but isnt sure what the problem is exactly. (We find out a week after returning from Malta that i have broken my 2nd metatarsal bone in my foot although we have no idea how). I am relieved it isnt DVT so we decide to head back to the ferry and over to Gozo. We want to see the small village on the other side of the island Malsaforn. We take the bus to the ferry and catch it across to Gozo. Not so many people around today as they will all be at their destination already. From Victoria we take the bus to Malsaforn. Another lovey place with crystal clear waters and not so many people about. We have a wander and stop at a little cafe with outside seating. We feel we need a dose of Vit D from the sun as we are both very pale and pimply from no sun for months. After lunch we continue to wander but i am spoiling things not being able to go as far as we normally would. Probably just as well i didnt know i had a broken bone or we may not have done any walking at all. It is funny here as you see many apartments that have the shell built but they may have only finished one and someone is living in it and the rest are for sale. So people may live in a potential building site for months or years before it is all completed. We love this place as much as Xlendi although it is a bit larger. Late in the day we head back to the hotel for a sit on the balcony and a drink before dinner again.

Sunday is market day. We decide we wont do the Thompson tour to the market and we head off on the bus to Marsaxlokk. We have to change at Valetta and it appears that again half the population are all trying to get there as the bus queues are huge.  You cant be shy here either or you will never get on a bus as everyone just pushes and shoves to get on. Its not my favourite thing about here but it cant be helped as buses are the easy option. The market is mostly fresh food, fish with some souvenirs and occassional chintzy rubbish. It is packed and slow going which is great for me. There isnt much for us to buy but it is interesting looking at local produce. It is the start of strawberry season so we buy some and they are lovely. On our way back through the market we stop for a coffee at one of the many cafes. Coffee and cake for less than 5 euro, not bad at all. It starts to rain as we leave the market and i think many others have decided to go as well as the bus stop is crowded. After not being able to get on a couple of buses because we just werent pushy enough, we walk to the previous stop to get on first and this works well. We then get off in Valetta and decide to have a quick look around before our next bus back to the hotel. We are delighted with what we see but there isnt the time to spend here unfortunately so we head back on the bus to the hotel. Scot wants to see the red tower up from the hotel and i just cant walk another step, so he goes off to wander and explore the countryside. Near the red tower on the hill he comes across what appears to be a derelict resort where it isnt clear if it ever got finished or if it has just fallen into disrepair. Close by here is the village they built for the Popeye film from the mid 80’s that starred Robin Williams. We dont have the time, but it looks quite cool from the pictures we have seen and is now a popular tourist attraction although more for the kids we think.

Monday and we decide our last full day has to be on Gozo again. We head over to Xlendi where we hope we can have a swim this time. Unfortunately for us the wind has got up and this side of the island is too windy to swim so we decide Malsaforn is the best place to be today. There are numerous other locations we wanted to go but with distance walking ruled out they will have to wait until another day. We did want to see the famous place with the hole in the rock, but unfortunately the bridge of the rock was washed away only a few weeks ago by severe weather. This is a shame they have lost one major touristy location. Malsaforn is not as windy and we enjoy a day in the sun. Scot braves another swim which i would have enjoyed but havent mastered the art of changing discretely on a beach with many people looking on. Scot doesnt give a shit and just down trou’s anywhere like we have seen the Germans doing most places. After an enjoyable day, a cider on the beach we head back. Our last night and we wish we had another week to explore.

Our final day, we head on the bus over to Saint Pauls Bay to post some cards and check out the area. It just isnt the same when you cant walk the distance so we give it up as a bad joke and catch the bus back to Mellieha where we stop for a pizza lunch and a coffee. Our bus back to the airport leaves about 4.30, so we head back to the hotel to pack our bags and await the bus. What a great place to holiday. Lots of nature walks to do, lots to see, history and nice food. I hope we get back here to see and do more. Our plane gets into Gatwick about 9.30pm, we get home about 11pm and it is up earlyish for work the next morning 😣 and reality again.

Unfortunately i cant put captions on the below photos at this point as i am doing it via the tablet which wont let me caption them