Malta—the first two days

Budapest was a whirlwind, so Don and I are looking forward to some downtime in Malta. We flew from Budapest to Frankfurt and then on to Valletta, Malta on Thursday, April 12. Since we didn’t arrive until nearly 10 p.m., we ordered a taxi ahead to pick us up and take us to LeMeridien, our new home in St. Juliens, Malta where we promptly crashed. The hotel is a four-star and is a lovely property—and definitely meets US standards. We have a large room with a balcony, bathroom with a roman tub and a shower, and all the amenities. There is an indoor pool and fitness center which has a spa and sauna, so we are enjoying those facilities as well.

Our first day here we walked along the shoreline stopping for cappuccinos and drinks whenever the mood overtook us (only about twice!!) We then took the ferry (just a five-minute ride) to Valletta, the capital of Malta. It’s a very old city, and we spent some time just walking the city streets, having lunch, and hiring a guy to take us on the 45-minute horse carriage tour through the old city. Then we took the water taxi back across the bay to St. Juliens; the water taxi puts you a little closer to the water, and you get a bit of the sea on you during the crossing.

We took a carriage ride in Valletta's Old City on our first day on the island

A shot of the harbour

Archbishop Street next to the square. We had lunch at Aaron's Kitchen, a very nice restaurant.

Street view in Valletta

We spent three days touring on the Hop-On-Hop-Off Red Bus

Since we had a good experience with the Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus Tour in Budapest, we decided to try the same thing in Malta. We went on the North Tour today. The highlight was Mdina, the ancient capital of Malta. As luck would have it, they were doing medieval reenactments all over town. We had lunch at Fontanello’s which is a tea room that has a great view—and two of the knights came in to have the famous chocolate cake! All of the people seemed to be having a great time. The only downside was that it started to rain, but in true island fashion, it blew off pretty quickly. Malta is also known for its silver filigree jewelry; Don and I watched the man making it at the crafts town of Ta’Qali—another highlight of the North Tour.

We  purchased the on/off tours to see the southern part of the island as well as to visit the island of Gozo next to Malta. This is really the best way to get an overview of the area. It’s very compact. The Maltese drive on the left-side of the road like the British. They are somewhat aggressive drivers from what I have observed; they don’t mind using the horn. I’m glad we are not driving on this island! There is a lot to see, so here’s the pictures. We'll fill you in on the South Tour and the Gozo Island Tour in our next post.

As luck would have it, there was a medieval fair in Mdina the day we visited, so here are some pictures of the residents in period garb.

I caught this guy taking a drink from his horn!

Fontanella's is a Maltese tradition, and you can see why when you see the view you get of Mdina (see below)

You can see those clouds rolling in that eventually dumped some rain on the parade for just a few minutes.

It was so windy in Valletta that we caught the street lamp going with the flow...