As far as cheap holidays go, this was right up there. The flights were good value. Then we got a hotel for 50 euro per night for the two of us including a huge breakfast. We managed to see so much of the country for very little. But the best bit was the bus from the airport....47 cents!
We arrived On Tuesday 24th May and went straight to Valletta (the capital city) for lunch. We had rabbit stew. It was great. I made a bit of a mess of myself trying to get all the meat off the bones, but I couldn't just leave good food on my plate. I must have looked far from lady-like because the owner/cook came out of the kitchen to visit our table. He looked so pleased that I was enjoying my meal. I make Kev so proud!
Then we went to our hotel. It was overlooking the coast (actually, Malta is so small that almost everything is overlooking the coast. The widest part of the country is about 25km).
Kev on the rooftop of our hotel, just above the ocean
We just relaxed for the rest of the day. We went for a stroll through the streets of Sliema. In the evening we walked along the water then had dinner at a restaurant which was right on the shore - the waves were crashing in front of us.
Kev - acting natural
On Wednesday the weather was beautiful once again. Malta is just great. It seems that every corner we turned had a little surprise for us.
Kev and Hele
After a relaxing morning, we decided to take a Hop On Hop Off Tour. Many times we have considered doing this, but never thought it was worth it. It was great. For the low price of 15 euros, we had a tour of the northern half of the country, which took us to many of the places that we had hoped to see. We got to sit in the open-air of the top deck of the bus and enjoy the amazing scenery.
Kev and Hele on top of the double-decker bus
We got out at Rabat and visited the catacombs. There was also a shrine to St Paul who was shipwrecked in Malta.
Tall, happy sunflowers
Then we caught up with our sister in-law's cousin, Dillon. (By the way, Steph is in my top nine of sister in-laws!). Dillon was able to give us a super-quick tour of Medina, which used to be the capital long ago.
Hele, Dillon, Kev (Kev bought another hat!)
Then we got back on the bus and made our way home. Again, we passed some amazing places along the way. We got back as the sun was going down. We had another delicious meal for dinner.
On Thursday, we got a free harbour cruise - it was a freebie for having done the bus-tour the previous day! Most people crowded onto the bottom deck of the boat, that wasn't much bigger than Gilligan's. We went up to the top with only a couple of other people, and were able to enjoy the 360 degree views and the gentle breeze.....
Hele taking it easy
Hele and Kev with Valletta in the background
Kev enjoying the harbour cruise - one of the many bays
The cruise was really really interesting. It took us into about nine little bays in the harbour. We were as pleased as punch.
After this we started making our way back to the airport. We had the pleasure of taking another 47 cent bus ride. Actually, there is a reason why the buses are so cheap.....
Kev and a bus
There seems to be a facination with Playmobile in Malta. We used to love these toys when we were kids!
Playmobil pirate
View from the plane
We returned to Rome in the afternoon. We were away for little over 48 hours, but it was a great holiday.
It looks lovely and ... well-deserved!!!
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