05/23-24/2022: Homeward bound

After a night at the Hilton Rome Airport, we learned of a much easier way to return to the airport than the route we took to get to the Hilton. We even found a trolley along the way and, since we knew the drill for checking in, we were at the Delta line pretty quickly. The one concern was about the COVID test requirements for a test taken the day before travel, but after a bit of discussion with the agents, showing a boarding pass from yesterday (don’t throw out a boarding pass if your flight is delayed/cancelled!), and a copy of the test results from 5/21/22, we got checked in. Then through Security, passport control, and immigration and then the long walk to the departure gate. We kind of felt like pros, having done all this yesterday.

We boarded the plane on time. The plane was essentially 60% empty, the whole last third of seat rows vacant. Our assigned seats were in front of two children who kept sticking their feet into our seat backs. Christine nicely asked them to not do that (yeah, right) and so we asked if we could change our seats. We did, and then lots of people started moving to the back of the plane. The lead flight attendant was not happy since now passengers were spread out all over the plane, but that’s the way it goes. We were delayed a bit pulling back from the gate and during that time there was a banging sound coming from underneath the plane producing some anxiety, but we eventually departed.

The flight was fine and we landed at JFK. We cleared immigration, retrieved our luggage and then set off to find the AirTrain to take us to the hotel shuttle pickup area. That was all accomplished easily. Thank goodness for trolley carts, however, in the rest of the world that we explored trolley carts are free. Not so in the U.S., to my consternation, but I forked over $6.00.

We got checked in to the Hampton Inn and had a restful night. We were having breakfast and Christine had a little incident. She was trying to open a cup of fruit cocktail, and in pulling off the foil lid, she was also apparently squeezing the plastic cup, so when there was an opening in the foil lid, all the juice squirted up into her face and all over her torso. Yuck! A sticky mess ensued and Christine was quite upset. We got that all cleaned up back at the room and then set off for our next travel challenge, the NYC subway.

We took the shuttle back to the AirTrain station at Federal Circle at JFK and rode it to the Howard Beach station. That AirTrain is a great service, especially since it nicely connects to a subway route into Manhattan. We mastered our MetroCard reload, had a challenge pushing two suitcases through the turnstile while trying to get our bodies through, but soon we were seated on the A Train. Nineteen stops later (about 45 minutes) we were wandering around Port Authority trying to find our way. A guy, who we first thought had an official role, asked if he could help us. He nicely escorted us to an elevator telling us exactly where our bus would be departing from. He, we and another man were in the elevator. After pushing the floor buttons, the door closed and nothing happened. Both the men were pushing buttons trying to get the doors open. Nothing happened. The other guy pushed the emergency bell and then he called the emergency number to report that we were stuck in elevator P1. He said this happens all too often. Someone on an intercom said help was on the way. We heard noises on the other side of the door. The door was being pushed and at one point, a couple of fingers were seen trying to pry open the door, but the door wouldn’t open. Eventually, after more pushing and whatever else they were doing, the elevator started to move and we were on our way to the 4th floor. We were awfully glad to get out of that elevator. The man escorting us talked with a bus person to confirm our gate and then he asked for a tip. Okay, I had been had by a very clever fellow who must spend his day picking out confused people to escort so he can get a tip. I gladly gave him a dollar.

There was just a bit of commotion prior to our departure when the driver showed up, had some kind of a loud disagreement with a bus attendant and stormed off. The driver came back shortly and said we would be departing from a different gate so we all trudged down to another gate. We boarded and were soon on our way. There were about 30 people on the bus and I think 25 of them got off at the only stop the bus made, Monticello. It seemed like many of them were regular route passengers. Before long, we arrived in Binghamton and our friends Eve and JoAnn were waiting for us. It was nice to see friendly faces.

So, after 6 weeks of travel we arrived home happy, tired, and very grateful. We had a wonderful adventure, one that I’m sure we’ll be processing for weeks to come. One of the reasons I do this blog is for us to remember all that we did. You can’t imagine how often we look something up on the blog to jog our memories. But again, I appreciate you, dear readers, for being with us and especially those of you who comment. We revel in your reactions, thoughts, ideas, and comments. So, thanks.

And to give you some anticipatory information, our next big scheduled trip is in October. We have a cruise booked starting in Athens with stops in Cyprus, Israel, and Santorini Greek isle). Pre-and-post travel has yet to be planned, so stay tuned.

05/22/2022: The joys (not) of travel

We awakened at 4:30 a.m. for last minute packing and putting the apartment in order. Our eCab was waiting for us at 5:30 as scheduled and off to the airport we went. At that time of day traffic is very light so it only took about 15 minutes to get to the airport. Our flight from Malta was to Rome and then from Rome on to JFK in New York.

Once in the terminal it was pandemonium. The queues for every flight departing that morning we’re lined up. You have to look at a big board showing what line you’re supposed to be in and about 20 flights were all in the same row. There were hundreds of people. We waited patiently in line and in about 45 minutes we were at the check in counter. We were told that we had to retrieve our luggage in Rome and re-check in with Delta. Rats!

We left Malta pretty much on time. For the first few minutes it was lovely seeing Malta, Comino and Gozo from the air. Then we settled in for the flight and landed in Rome in about and hour and 20 minutes.

If I thought the Rome train station was confusing, the airport is worse. Arrivals come in Terminal 1. It seemed like we walked 5 miles to get to luggage pickup. Along the way, you have to scan your passport and then go through immigration where you again get your passport scanned which opens a little gate and then you have to stand on a marker and get your photo taken which then opens another little gate that allows you through. Christine had a little trouble with that and was stuck in between the gates for a while until the camera got a good photo. We collected our luggage and then couldn’t figure out which way to go. Fortunately, we were able to snag a trolley to tote our luggage. We managed to find someone to ask how to get to departures. He kindly pointed us in the right direction with very specific directions that he made me repeat back to him. Off we went outside terminal 1 towards terminal 3, another long walk.

As you would expect, the Rome departure terminal is huge. Again, you look at a big board to find what check in row you need. At least it was by airline and we found Delta where a couple hundred people were queued up. We joined the line. During the wait they had agents asking for the COVID test report and checked passports so that by the time we got to the counter, the check in and luggage drop off was relatively easy. So that went okay and we were off to security. What a confusing mess that was! There were no clear instructions anywhere so we weren’t sure how to proceed. Some lines had agents yelling at everyone; our line barely had anyone to ask what the protocol was. And all the bins for putting your stuff in were jammed up in a long line. Of course, because we travel with computers and iPads, all that has to come out of backpacks and into bins. It was hot and frustrating, but we finally got through security and into the departure terminal.

And of course, right into the duty free shops, which I swear was the biggest, longest duty free I’ve ever walked through. Once through that, it was another 5 mile walk to the gate area. Our backpacks weigh about 25 pounds and so with those slung over a shoulder or on a back, it gets very tiring. We decided to take a break and have a cup of coffee and something to eat. We found a place where there were tables but all the chairs were taken. I managed to snag one chair and sent Christine off to get our food and coffee. Everyone was doing what I was doing, looking for chairs. As soon as it appeared someone was leaving, a swoop of people rushed over. Fortunately, the people right next to me started to get up and I asked that when they stood up, could one of them push their chair in my direction. Nicely, they did just that and Christine and I had a cappuccino and a little nosh, both seated.

We then walked another long way to find our departure gate, E22, of course at the end of the concourse. At least we got our exercise for the day. Our Delta flight to JFK was scheduled to leave at 12:30 with boarding starting at 11:45. That time came and went with an announcement that departure time was pushed back to 1:30. Then another announcement that departure time would be 2:30. Then another announcement that departure would be 3:30. Uh-oh! Not a good omen. Finally, an announcement came that the flight was canceled. Yikes, now what?? I had a Delta app on my phone and had received a notice about the cancellation and it gave me an option to re-book. I saw that there were several available options the next day so I knew we could probably get to NY tomorrow. The bigger issue was where to stay tonight.

I have a Hilton app on my phone so I quickly started looking for Hilton hotels near the airport. Within a couple of minutes, the Hilton Garden Inn was booked up. The other Hilton brand options were not near the airport, but there was a Hilton right at the airport. I quickly made a reservation via the app. So with a room reserved, I then re-booked our flight.

We had to go pick up our luggage, but didn’t know where, but knew it was probably at baggage claim. Christine had heard something about carousel 10 so that’s where we headed, another seemingly 5 mile hike. We had to once again go through entry immigration into Italy since we were leaving the secure area of the airport. Once at baggage claim, confusion and pandemonium as everyone was kind of in the same boat of fretting about hotel rooms, re-booked flights, and where’s my luggage. Christine spotted our bags, fortunately. So, we had luggage, a room (hopefully), and boarding passes for a flight tomorrow. So now we had to get ourselves and our luggage and backpacks to the Hilton, which supposedly was a 5 minute walk (not). Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a trolley so we had to set off pushing and pulling our luggage with backpacks on. A consultation with Google maps gave us an idea of where to head.

Along the way, I did spot a trolley and quickly ran over to retrieve it. That made our trek to the Hilton a lot easier. Of course, the airport doesn’t want their trolleys to leave the premises, so there are barriers along the way. We decided to try and navigate our way through many parking ramps and managed to get lost and turn the wrong way. Christine flagged down a car coming out of a ramp and a very nice guy pointed us toward the Hilton, which we could now actually see. The parking ramps all had exit barriers bars and were just at the height to block the trolley from going through. We finally figured out that unloading the cart enabled us to get the trolley under the bar by lifting up the front of the trolley and pushing the back down under the bar. Scofflaws we are! We did this a couple of times and finally raced across a busy street to get to the Hilton entrance. We did have to abandon the trolley at the edge of a parking lot on one side of the street before our dash across, but we arrived at the Hilton where, as we expected, there was a queue for check in. I wasn’t 100% sure our reservation would actually get us a room, but thank goodness, it did. We were so very relieved, totally exhausted, very sweaty, and pleased as punch to be at the Hilton (I’ll fight with Delta later to see if they will reimburse at least something for the high Hilton room rate). We even got a coupon for 2 drinks at the bar, complimentary bottles of water, and free breakfast in the morning. Nice!

A funny thing is that sitting in the airport waiting for our departure to JFK, I had just clicked check in to our Hampton Inn at JFK when they announced the flight cancellation. Since I was already checked in, I couldn’t change the reservation on the app. I tried calling the hotel from the airport, but the connection was bad and all the number prompts weren’t working and I couldn’t hear what was being said. Once in the hotel room at the Hilton, I called again, and after a little finagling, I managed to get the Hampton to switch our reservation to Monday night. Hopefully, we’ll get there. I also was able to change our Megabus reservations to Tuesday from Port Authority to Binghamton. Let’s hope all the new arrangements come to fruition.

We rested a bit and then went down to the restaurant for dinner. It was quite busy and so we had our drinks in the bar waiting for a table. I think Hilton is very smart to have limited seating in the restaurant and asking everyone to wait in the bar until a table is ready. I’m sure they make quite a lot on their bar business by doing that. Hilton prices are pretty expensive, Christine’s Aperol Spritz was 13 Euros and my bottle of Schweppes lemon was 8 Euros. Good thing we had a coupon for complimentary drinks. We had a nice dinner and shared a Greek salad and lasagna, the smallest portion I’ve ever seen, but very yummy.

So what a day of challenges. I’m very happy that I had a working cellphone, thanks to an Orange Holiday SIM card that has carried me through the entire trip even though it was all in French and I had a French phone number. But it worked and Google Translate got me through all the messages and instructions for making the thing work. Traveling means having to put up with things happening and adjusting. But, it’s all my fault because early this morning I said to Christine that we had been relatively lucky with our travel and that with very minor exceptions, a couple of missed trains and the delay in getting into the Naples train station, everything had worked out well. Then I said, I shouldn’t have said that because I probably jinxed us. Indeed I did. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

05/21/2022: Final Day in Malta

So the end is in sight. Today is our final day in Malta and the end of our nearly 6-weeks of touring. What a great adventure it has been. We really hate to leave.

This morning we kept an eye on the yacht in the harbor. She departed, but then shortly returned and moored a little longer. We started planning our packing and pulling things together.

We had arranged with Christine’s cousin Carol Farrugia to meet for lunch so we met her in front of Fresco’s, the restaurant right next door to Peppi’s. It was lovely seeing her and catching up on the news. She’s a great one for storytelling so we were entertained. Lunch was delicious, although I ate way too much and might have stressed out my stomach. We walked Carol back to her apartment. Carol is experiencing knee and foot pain and so it was a slow walk. She and her husband are dealing with a fridge on the fritz and so we didn’t get a change to see Joe as he was meeting a repairman. At any rate, it was a wonderful visit with Carol and very nice to see that, in spite of knee issues, she is doing well.

After returning to our apartment, I did most of my packing so as to be out of Christine’s way a little later. We had made COVID test appointments at a clinic in St. Julian’s. These were made online several days ago. The U.S. is one of the few countries in the world that requires a negative PCR or antigen test with sample taken one day before travel. We walked over to the clinic and found it closed. We didn’t know what to do. The clinic window had various information about hours of operation, none very encouraging. There was a number to call, and so I did. I explained we had a 4:00 p.m. appointment and the man who answered the phone said he’d be there in 5 minutes. Meanwhile some other women showed up saying they also had appointments at 4:00. Hmmm, something didn’t feel right about this. I joked to Christine about the 5 minutes being Maltese 5 minutes, and I was right about that because 20 minutes later a guy came up to the shop and opened the door. Our stress levels were on the rise for sure. It was all quite confusing and didn’t feel very organized or professional. Christine had gone done the street to get a cold drink and so I let the other women get their tests done. With Christine back, we went in and gave our information to the first guy. He explained the process, that we’d know the result in 15 minutes and be given a report and then in an hour the report would also be emailed. That sounded good. Then another guy took our swabs which couldn’t be very informative because the swab was hardly in a nostril. I pulled out a credit card and the first guy said to please pay in cash and there was an ATM up the street if I didn’t have enough cash. Up the street I went, but the ATM was out of service. I scrounged around and got close to the 70 Euros due for the 2 tests, but was 6 Euros short. I explained this to the guy who took our swabs and he said of course he’d accept 64 Euros. Thank goodness for that because there wasn’t another ATM in sight. He gave me a receipt and sent us on our way. We asked about the written report that we expected and he said it would come via email in an hour, but he didn’t want to really deal with us anymore as he was turned away and not really talking with us.

So we left to return to the apartment feeling like we had been had. An hour later, no email; 90 minutes later, no email; 2 hours later, no email. By then I was pretty frantic thinking that we’d be stuck in Rome not being able to board the plane without a COVID test report. Finally, about 2-1/2 hours later, emails arrived with our reports. I double checked the info on the report against what the U.S. requires, and it was exactly right. Thank goodness! What a stressful episode.

With COVID tests at least digitally available, we breathed a sigh of relief and were able to relax and have our final dinner at Peppi’s. Christine, the smarty that she is, had reserved a table on the deck, and so we sat in a beautiful spot overlooking the bay. It was a nice evening and we watched the sun go down and enjoyed melon and parma ham and a really yummy walnut breaded brie cheese and blueberry jam dish. Both were delicious. After our trying afternoon, it was the perfect way to end our time in Malta.

After packing a bit, Christine was ready for a gelato, so we got gelato and sat on “our bench” below the terrace across the street from our apartment. It was lovely sitting there watching the sparkling lights on the water and hearing the sea. A very nice ending to our stay.

In the morning we get picked up by cab at 5:30 a.m. (ugh) to get to the airport for a 7:30 flight to Rome. Then we fly to JFK in New York where we’ll spend the night and then take a bus back to Binghamton. After nearly 6 weeks away, I am all too ready to be home. I’ll write a short post to let you know that we arrived home safely. Thanks for coming with us on our trip. I appreciate your comments and am happy to share our travels with you.

05/20/2022: Nearing the end

Today is our next to last day in Malta and we’re nearly at the end of this big trip. It’s been quite amazing.

I don’t have much to tell you about today other than the seas remain quite rough. The breakwater where we walked the other day near Dragonara is getting quite bashed by the waves. Where we sit on our rocks is totally wet where the waves break over the rocks. The white of the breaking surf is so pretty to watch.

It definitely was a very low-key day, at least for me. Christine had a bit of a small adventure. After she spoke with a man the other day who had been stung by a jellyfish off our rocks, she has been disinclined to swim in the sea. So, to get a swim in, she walked over to the Neptune pool. She had a lovely swim and then a bit of a surprise when a man walked into the shower room. She wasn’t sure whether she was in the wrong place or he was. Anyway, she had a lovely swim in the Neptune pool and spiritually communed with Eve during her swim. Eve has made use of this pool during past visits, so they can share that.

Christine off to the pool

Other than that, a lunch in the apartment, and a nap, the only interesting thing was the arrival of a large sailing yacht in our bay. It was a surprising site seeing her arrive. The yacht’s name is Rhea and she flies the flag of the Netherlands. I looked her up on a maritime locator website and was able to confirm her location. She’s 48 meters long and 8 meters wide. She’s a very lovely thing to see out in the bay. We thought she probably came into a safe harbor to get out of the rough seas. The maritime website says her next intended port is Marsaxlokk, a lovely fishing village on the southwestern side of Malta. Even in St. Julian’s Bay she was rolling quite a bit with the choppy seas.

For dinner we went to Peppi’s again. It’s convenient, the food is good, and when we can get a table on the outer deck, it’s a great spot to enjoy the approaching evening. Christine was smart and made a reservation for tomorrow night so we can spend our last night at the best table on the deck.

Because my gut is still not 100%, what I wanted for dinner was a nice bowl of chicken soup. Guess what the soup of the day was at Peppi’s? Right you are, chicken soup! It was delicious and just what I had been hankering for all day.

After dinner we walked through the park that stretches from near Peppi’s all the way up to Exile. It was a very nice evening to be out. I wanted to walk to Exile point just to see what kind of wave action was going on on the seaside. It was getting dark by that time so we didn’t see much but we learned that the club at Exile is a happening place on a Friday night. What is funny to see is all the cellphone screens lit up along the rocks where people are congregating to party in the approaching darkness. We ended our day with a gelato sitting on a bench along the water.

Low key, but another nice day in Sliema, and quite frankly, we are happy to be in this Airbnb. It does feel like home.

05/19/2022: Sail Around Malta

A couple of days ago Christine said she’d like to do a sail around Malta. Every few blocks around Sliema there is a tour company hawking various day trips and when she spoke with one of the vendors, she learned that Thursdays are the sail around Malta day. We mulled that over for a couple of days but in looking at the weather forecast we noticed that Thursday there was to be 20-25 mph winds. That didn’t make being out on the sea very appealing. Besides, with my stomach troubles lately, boating might not be a good thing in rough seas. But, Thursday morning, feeling much better and in spite of the weather, we went for a day-long sail around Malta on a big 2-masted vessel called Faith 2 (I didn’t ask what happened to Faith 1). Even though I say sailed, this vessel does not use sails, so we really motored around Malta.

The tour company picks up customers by bus and takes you to the harbor area referred to as Sliema Ferries. This is where all the tour boats begin and end. We arrived fairly early but the boat was already pretty full. All the upper deck outdoor space was taken, which was fine because we didn’t want full sun all day. We sat along the starboard side on a narrow cushioned seat. Since we were sailing to the south out of the harbor we wanted that side because it would be closest to land. The boat holds a maximum of 254 passengers, but there weren’t that many on board by the time we left, which was good. I’d say there were probably 125 on board. On leaving Sliema Ferries, we saw the sights of Manoel Island and Valletta.

After leaving Sliema Ferries we sailed past the entrance to the Grand Harbor. From the entrance you could see a couple of cruise ships docked down at the Valletta Waterfront. It’s a narrow channel getting into the harbor and we saw a cruise ship sitting out at sea waiting for its turn to enter.

We actually took this same trip around Malta in 2016. We both have very vivid memories of things we saw and we were excited to see all the beautiful, rugged coastline. While Malta is one of the most densely populated places on earth, most of the population lives on the eastern side of the island. In contrast, the western side is much more desolate and there are huge cliffs of limestone. As you might remember from photos of Gozo, the Maltese islands are sedimentary rock that was pushed up from below the sea and Malta forms the crest of a tilted block.

The various landscapes we saw were so interesting. There were areas where the limestone was scoured very smooth and there were many caves carved into the limestone everywhere. The southern edge of Malta is lower than the cliffs to be seen farther up the western side. For the first third of the voyage the island protected us from the winds coming from the northeast, so being on the sea wasn’t bad at all.

Christine was very happy to be sailing.

From the southern coast we turned northward up the west coast and the topography started to change, and so did the wind and seas. We started seeing taller limestone cliffs with beautiful striations and caves.

We got a buffet lunch on board, which was quite a hoot with the increasing winds. The buffet was served in a protected area on the ship. We lined up on the port side, got a paper plate, filled our plates with nice food including cold cuts, pasta salad and green salad and all the fixings. Once you had your plate, you existed the serving area down the starboard side and as soon as a person rounded the corner, salad and other lunch things flew off plates in the wind and people wobbled along to their seats. It was pretty funny seeing people trying to hold the food on their plates while trying not to fall over. Everyone finally seemed to have eaten something, but I’m sure the crew will be cleaning all kinds of food from places where it stuck on the deck.

We sailed past the area where Malta’s Blue Grotto is located and I was surprised to see that the small boats were working today. Typically, with rough seas, the small boats don’t go out. If the weather is better tomorrow, we may try to get to the Blue Grotto.

Next came the Dingli cliffs, the tallest cliffs on the island. You can clearly see the various layers of limestone here. The way that the cliffs are sculpted by wind and water is really beautiful.

A little farther north there was an area where the wind had scraped the vegetation off the limestone leaving white patches on the hillside that I though looked like snow. And there were ledges of beautiful smooth limestone where there were some boulders sitting on the ledge.

Every part of the coastline is so different and so interesting to see how the limestone has been affected. Christine was loving being on the water.

The cruise included a stop at Comino, the smallest of the Maltese islands, whose claim to fame is the Blue Lagoon. We’ve been to the Blue Lagoon a couple of times and so we weren’t that interested in swimming there. It has become a 3-ring circus with vendors selling all kinds of cocktails, especially in cored out pineapples, and unless you rent a chair and umbrella, there’s no place to sit other than high up on sharp, pointy limestone. A real problem for us was getting off the boat and up the embankment. The gangway was high off the ground and you had to time your leap off when a wave had crested and the gangway was going down. Once off the boat, the climb up the steep embankment was a challenge. Some guy passing by, holding a pineapple cocktail, grabbed Christine’s hand and led her up the rough terrain. He didn’t give her much time to be scared and just kind of marched her up the hill. It was nice of him to do that and Christine was appreciative.

We had planned to hike out to St. Mary’s watch tower rather than swim. However, to do that, you have to make your way along a very slanted path that was slippery, while holding on to a rope. We went a little distance, but Christine was a bit overwhelmed by the challenge so we turned back. Instead, we walked around a point to a small bay, nearly deserted, and sat by the water for a while taking in the beauty of the area. Gozo was just across the channel and we reflected on our nice week in Gozo.

We carefully made our way down the hill back to the boat. We still had another hour or so before departing, but it was nice to sit in the shade and relax away from all the action at the lagoon. Christine chatted up some women fro the U.K. Eventually, it was time to leave and we set sail at 5:00 p.m. for the hour-and-a-half sail back to Sliema Ferries. And what a voyage it was!

We now were out in the sea on the eastern side of Malta, right in the path of the 25 mph winds. The seas were quite rough. Fortunately, because we had returned to the boat early in Comino, we had seats in the back of the boat in a somewhat sheltered area. We sat next to a couple from Belgium and in the course of our return to Sliema, we shared the very rough ride and all the commotion going on with people on the ship. No one could stay on their feet very well. A few folks fell causing everyone to cry out for that person. Folks up on the top deck kept having their bags fall down to the lower deck from the rocking boat, nearly knocking people below on the head. The crew started handing out barf bags, which several people made use of. The boat would list sharply to one side and everyone would make a noise. Then the bow would rise up and down and everyone would moan. It was quite a time. One of the U.K. women who was sitting at the back across from us decided to go into the totally covered area down below. This was about 25 feet away from her. After having seen people falling while trying to walk, she scooted across the deck on her bottom which caused one of her friends to laugh so hard I thought she’d fall out of her seat. It was a momentous journey, one that I don’t think anyone will forget. I think the captain did a great job keeping things under control and commenting on the conditions as choppy seas and hoping everyone was having a good time. Fortunately for me, I was feeling much better that day and so did not suffer too greatly from the wild ride. Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of the last part of the ride because I was hanging on with both hands and couldn’t manage to operate a camera.

After we returned home, wind ravaged but happy, we treated ourselves to a pizza at Peppi’s. It was yummy. And that was the end of a memorable day.

05/18/2022: Valletta

Today we go to Valletta, the capital city of Malta. It’s a peninsula that juts out in between two harbors. It is a fortified city totally surrounded by very high walls. It has about 7,000 residents and the entire city is just 0.25 square miles. Of the European Union countries, it is the southern most capital and the smallest capital. The entire city is a UNESCO world heritage site. Every street has something of importance to see and the city is sometimes referred to an open-air museum. We’ve made many trips into Valletta and so we weren’t exploring today. We wanted to do just a couple of things.

The first was to visit Sa Maison Garden, which is actually in Floriani, the city you go through to enter Valletta. We stumbled upon this garden in 2016, and have visited it each time we’ve come to Malta. There really isn’t anything spectacular about the garden. It has a long history, like everything in Malta, and traces its roots back to the Knights. It was in British hands for a long period and there are regimental carvings made into the bastion walls. During the late 1800s, when there was also a house attached to the garden, it was rented to Lady Julia Lockwood, and the name of the garden became Her Ladyship’s Garden. There are 5 levels to the garden and there is kind of a plant nursery along the base of some of the fortification walls. It’s just a nice, quiet, shady spot to visit. There are great views of Marsamxett Harbor and the Msida marina. And the Knights Gardjola, the watch tower, is fun to visit where you get 360 degree views of the area.

We then walked through Floriana and cut through Argotti Botanical Garden. Near that garden are some historic buildings, a water tower that was part of an aqueduct system bringing water to Valletta developed by Grand Master Wignacourt, and a small, round chapel (still in use) built by the Knights.

We walked past St. Publius Church and the area known as the Granaries. Publius was converted by St. Paul after he was shipwrecked on Malta. He was the first bishop of Malta and later became a saint. He is considered the prince of Malta and is revered. The area in front of the church is known as the Granaries. Granaries are pits dug into the ground and covered by circular stone slabs. They were primarily used for the storage of grain. Granaries can be found throughout Valletta and Floriana. The first granaries were built by the Knights to provide for storage within the fortifications in case of a siege.

Independence Mall runs to the city gate entrance to Valletta. The city gate has disappeared and now it is a bridge walkway across the moat around the fortification walls.

We walked down the main street in Valletta, Republikka, along with thousands of other tourists. There are cruise ships in port today, so that makes everything very crowded. I was also amazed by how the main street now caters to high end shopping and so many of the storefronts have been modernized. It takes away some of that historical feel you should get when you walk around Valletta.

We had lunch at Caffe Cordina’s outdoor seating area sitting near Queen Victoria’s statue at the Bibliotheca, Malta’s National Library. Then we went to tour Casa Rocca Piccola, a museum we’ve never visited but had always had it on our list of things to do.

Casa Rocca Piccola is the lived-in home of an ancient Maltese family called de Piro. The 9th Marquis de Piro and his family live in this palace, which goes back 400 years. The place is full of art and artifacts collected by the family over the centuries.

It is one of the very few homes in Valletta that has a garden courtyard. The reason there are no gardens is due to the absence of available water during the time these places were being built. So a garden, with a fountain, was quite unique. There was also a unique pet on display in the garden, a lovely blue and gold macaw named Kiku. There were also 2 red-eared turtles who are also residents.

It was fun walking through the rooms and exploring all the things that this family has collected. In the library, there were family records going back to the early 1600s on the shelves. We also liked looking at all the family trees and certificates awarded to each de Piro marquis. You could also see lots of family photos all over the place, which really made it feel like we were in someone’s home.

One last thing about Casa Rocca Piccola is that a huge bomb shelter had been dug under the house during WWII. It was kind of creepy going down into the maze of tunnels and into the various rooms. Valletta was heavily bombed during the war, daily for more than a year. With the British fleet headquartered in the Grand Harbor, it was the target, and Valletta suffered incredible damage.

We enjoyed our visit to Casa Rocco Piccola and then headed to our final destination in Valletta, Upper Barrakka Garden where the view of the Grand Harbor is spectacular. On our way, we walked past the Grand Master’s Palace, which is under renovation, but the Maltese balcony that rounds the corner and its brackets are great.

With the cruise ships in, Upper Barrakka Garden was crowded. I took a few photos of the harbor and we then headed to the bus to go home.

We stayed in for dinner, eating our leftover lunch and just hanging out. After two days of walking and being active, I was tuckered out. I’m still not feeling 100% so I didn’t mind a low-key evening. Hopefully I’ll feel well enough for a big day tomorrow.

05/17/2022: Sliema (3)

Today we decided to wander around what one could call the big hotel district. The water we see out our balcony is St. Julian’s Bay. To the left of us are smaller bays, Balluta, Spinola, St. George’s. The Sliema promenade goes along the water’s edge to Spinola, which is in the town of St. Julian’s, and then the area known as Paceville is up the hill and goes down to St. Geoge’s Bay. Paceville is the party district where all the young people hang out. It gets very rowdy at night. We definitely avoid that area. The nice, big hotels are out towards the Dragonara Casino and around the swanky Portomaso community. That’s where we headed.

Little Balluta Bay is picturesque with the big church there. Also, there is a very famous, big apartment building that had its heyday in the 1920s and 30s.

Along the promenade are many restaurants and a very nice swimming pool. As we passed by we watched a swimming lessons for about 10 squealing little girls. They were having so much fun kicking and blowing bubbles.

Spinola Bay has a small active boatyard and there are lots of boats moored here. It’s especially beautiful at night as there are many restaurants with lights reflecting in the water. And you see luzzus.

We were happy to see that we could enter a small garden area in front of the previously blocked off Spinola Palace. The original building was built by one of the Knights of Malta in 1688. There was nothing around it when built and it served as a summer retreat and a hunting lodge. The building was turned into a military hospital and continued in service until the early 1900s. The government has some plans for the building and so there has been some renovation done. It is one of the few historic building still standing in this section of St. Julian’s and Paceville.

While we were walking an old Malta bus went by. When we were here in 1985, this was the only bus around. They are quite nostalgic and there are some still around but now only used as specialty buses.

We walked over to the Hilton. On our way we were taking some photos of the building next to the Portomaso Tower that I think looks like the back of a ship. A nice lady asked if we wanted our picture taken, so here it is.

We had a cappuccino at the Hilton sitting on a terrace overlooking the pool. It was so quiet there! We agreed that maybe we should give up our little, noisy Airbnb and stay at the Hilton. They have several nice pools, but the downside is they don’t seem to have very good access to swimming in the sea.

We then wandered around the Portomaso marina and walked out to and around the sea wall. Poromaso is a very nice facility, definitely the high rent district. After paying a gazillion dollars to buy a condo there, the yacht club probably charges you a gazillion dollars to take care of your yacht. I guess if you have both the condo and the yacht, money is no object.

We then walked out to the Dragonara Casino. It’s on a little peninsula sticking out into the bay. The palace was built in 1870 as a summer residence for the Scicluna family. It opened as a casino in 1964. When we were here in 2016 we actually got players cards entitling entry and wandered around inside. Once was enough in the casino, a dark, dreary place that had red velvet everything. It does have a lovely restaurant that is just inside the rows of columns down the right side, so that is bright and airy.

We then walked over to the Westin for a drink. The Westin has doubled in size since 2016. It’s a nice property, too, with a pool. The good thing about the Westin is that it does have a deck access to the sea and a nice area for sea swimming.

Our final trek was to St. George’s Bay. I think Christine really wanted to get to the Corinthia Hotel, but I didn’t have it in me to do that. We did walk past the end of St. George’s Bay where there is a beach. The beach clubs catering to youngsters blare loud music and everyone has a drink in their hands.

That was a lot of walking and by now, I was ready to go back to the apartment. We hopped on a bus and were back home in short order. I took a nap. And for dinner we walked back over to Spinola Bay and had dinner at Raffael’s, one of our favorite Maltese restaurants. Christine had timpana, a baked macaroni dish her mother made so she was happy. I ate kind of light because I’m not 100% yet.

So a day of exploring and seeing familiar things and finding some new things.

05/16/2022: Sliema (2)

We’re acclimating to our apartment and feel okay being here now. It’s such a great location for exploring, getting the bus, being near a little market, and within walking distance along the seafront promenade to “downtown” Sliema. Mainly, it’s just too darn noisy due to the street noise.

We went for another swim this morning. We’re having such beautiful weather. Our jellyfish patrol ladies weren’t on the rocks, it must be just a weekend thing for them. Hopefully we’ll see them again before we leave. I didn’t have as difficult a time getting in the sea today. It’s definitely cold, but it is so nice bobbing along in the sea. The water is beautifully clear and you can see a lot of fish. Christine went a long distance down along the bayside in her swim. At one point I lost sight of her, which always scares me, but before long I spotted her. We sat out on the rocks for a while, but the sun is very hot so we have to be very careful about burning. Christine is getting quite a tan, except for her nose, which burns. I just burn, so I’m always covered up.

We had lunch back at the apartment and then walked to the shopping area of “downtown” Sliema on the hunt for the Body Shop store. It is located in a big shopping mall. Because of the sun, we opted for changing our route away from the promenade to some of the shady side streets. I like walking the streets because just a block or two away from the sea, there are not giant condos, just lovely 2-3 story old Maltese limestone houses with lovely balconies. Most of the old house have a step up from the sidewalk, then there’s an outer door and an inner door. Between the doors you typically find beautiful tile. One of the things I have a vivid memory of the first time I came to Malta in 1985 is that early in the morning ladies would be out on the sidewalk scrubbing their steps and the tile between the doors. You don’t see that much anymore. I am also fascinated by the doorknockers. The Maltese word for door striker is il-habbata.

We found the shopping plaza and the Body Shop store. Christine was happy to purchase the size jar of coconut cream she wanted. We then strolled along the Sliema Ferries front. You get a great view across the harbor of Valleta, the fortified capital city of Malta. It was weird seeing St. Paul’s Cathedral, one of the very few Anglican churches in Malta, shrouded in scaffolding. It is undergoing a gazillion Euro renovation and I read that the UK’s Prince Charles chaired a committee to fund raise for the project. The large domed church nearby is the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The two churches are the foundation of the the famous Valleta skyline.

We could also see a bit of Fort Manoel which is on a very tiny island called Manoel Island. This fort is supposedly under renovation and there is/was to big a big development of the island, but it didn’t appear that there was much being done.

We walked to an area called Tigne Point. During British rule, Tigne Point, a peninsula, was the location of several barracks and Fort Cambridge was a battery located in the area. After the British left in 1979, all the buildings fell into decay until early in the 2000s a huge development occurred. Tigne Point is now a very exclusive residential area of huge condos and garden apartments and a very, very swanky shopping mall. Some of the architecture of the barracks has been incorporated into the exterior of the mall and part of the battery has been renovated and is a nice walkway overlooking the harbor.

We made our way back to the apartment. I had a nap. I thought I was feeling better, but after all that walking, I felt very tired and rundown, so a nap was just the thing. We went to dinner at Peppi’s, which was too noisy as we had to sit inside rather than on the deck. After dinner we strolled around the area. We watched a dance exercise group working out above the rocks in the park. The leader was fantastic and worked her followers really hard. I would never be able to keep up with the steps as it was fast and furious.

The park above the rocks has a couple of play areas for kids. Lots of families bring their kids in the evening. The promenade is quite an active area especially in the evening. I love strolling along and walking past a bench full of locals have animated conversations with their neighbors in loud Maltese. The park is also home to lots of cats. Cats are rampant all over Malta. Here in Sliema there are several cat villages where locals have created sanctuary space for cats providing sleeping quarters and food. And in the park their is a large cat statue on top of one of the buildings.

So we come to the end of another day in Sliema. So much is familiar and that makes it fun to wander around seeing things that we know and love.

05/15/2022: Sliema (1)

This will be a short post today. We didn’t do much because I’m not feeling well. I picked up a touch of intestinal upset, probably all those mussels I had the other night. Other than enjoying our view and watching all the activity in the bay, we laid low and stayed in most of the day.

A new pickup location for tourist trips was built across the bay at the entrance to the Portomasso marina and so we saw two tall ships come to pick up the day trippers. I didn’t take photos of all the activity in the bay, unfortunately. On weekends, all kinds of boats come into St. Julian’s bay to spend the weekend so there was a lot to watch.

The one thing we did do was go to “our rocks” for a swim. In past visits we had spoken with a group of older Maltese ladies who come to spend the morning on the rocks, swim, and gossip. We called them the jellyfish patrol because on our last visit they would search for jellyfish and use a plastic bag to scoop them out of the water so they could swim safely. I spotted the group this morning so that encouraged us to head down to that area and go for a swim.

When we arrived we asked how the jellyfish were and the 4 women all enthusiastically said no jellyfish and the water was beautiful. It’s not easy to get into the water because of the jagged limestone in most places, but these women all pointed the way for us to go in. And Christine was off for a nice swim.

The water temperature in Sliema was just slightly higher than in Xlendi, 63 degrees. I stood up to my knees for a very long time and finally took the plunge. I’m not much of a swimmer these days so I just floated for a while. Although cold, it felt good to be in the sea. I waited for Christine to loop back to where I was so she could see that I actually made it into the water.

After her swim, we sat on the rocks for a while and then returned to the apartment for lunch. Even though it is noisy, we do sit out on the balcony for meals to enjoy the scenery. I think it will be a little less noisy during the week with all the weekend crowd back home.

I kind of crashed after that and took a very long nap. Dinner was Christine’s leftover linguine lobster and shrimp along with some of my leftover mussels. I wasn’t up for eating much of that. Christine made contact with her Maltese cousin Carol and her husband Joe. We’ll get together the end of the week.

It was an early bedtime for me and the end of our first full day in Sliema. Christine, having been to our rocks, communed with the Maltese jellyfish patrol, and swum in the beautiful water of St. Julian’s Bay, is feeling much better about being here. We’re making the apartment our own, so to speak, rearranging things and settling in. So, as our friend Reva would say, it’s all good.

05/14/2022: Off to Sliema

We were sad to be leaving our lovely Xlendi Bay. The time on Gozo was really nice. Gozo is a lot different from the island of Malta. It is much less over-developed, more rural and agricultural, and I think the pace there is slower. As I read the Times of Malta, some in Gozo are fighting the developers and don’t want Gozo spoiled like so much of Malta has been. I wish them luck because I would love to see Gozo stay the lovely island that it is.

We had arranged for a taxi to take us to the ferry terminal. Our driver from the other day came to pick us up and he was even early. He’s a nice young man who emigrated from Ghana and has been in Gozo two years. We enjoyed our chat with him.

We weren’t in any hurry to get to Malta because our Airbnb check-in wasn’t until 3:00 p.m. We were going to an apartment that we’ve stayed in 3 previous times, for 3 months in 2016 and twice in 2018. We were looking forward to being there, but we waited at the ferry terminal for a while. Christine went for a walk to take some photos on Mgarr, the harbor town.

That fortress-looking building above is Fort Chambray. The Knights of Malta built the fort in the mid-18th century. They were looking to replace the Cittadella in Victoria because it had become too small to hold the growing population. The fort never really materialized as what the Knights envisioned. It played some part in the French take over of Gozo and Malta, but was most used by the British as a military hospital. Currently, it is being renovated for luxury accommodations.

We had a 25-minute ferry ride across the channel and then disembarked at the terminal in Cirkewwa. I thought it might be fun to take the bus to Sliema, which takes about an hour. That way we’d use up some time and also ride down memory lane and see many places that we visited and walked to or from during our previous visits to Malta. And it was fun seeing so many familiar sights. The horror, though, is the over-development. There are high-rise condos everywhere there might be a view of the sea. Melliha was especially shocking to see with construction sites and tall cranes everywhere. And then into St. Julian’s, near Sliema, the high rise construction was so overwhelming. It used to be that the 20-storey tall Portomasso Tower was the tallest building in Malta. Not any more. There is a weird-looking building very near Portomasso Tower that is taller and another being constructed nearby. These new buildings really dominate the skyline.

We arrived at our bus stop right across the street from our Airbnb. It was a little tricky with the luggage to stay upright while the bus was stopping and then navigating out the bus door, but we made it in good shape. And, we saved about 25 Euros in cab fare since the bus fare is only 1,50 Euros each. With our Tallinja cards working just fine, we can use Malta Public Transport to get anywhere around Malta.

It was still too early to check in, so we went to one of our favorite restaurant’s for lunch, Peppi’s. We have enjoyed many meals there and it is a lovely spot with great bay views across the street. After pizza and a salad, it was time to go to the Airbnb.

We had a weird check in process. In the past, the host (who is just a property manager) would meet us at the apartment, show us around and also leave some bread, fruit and water. This time, we had to fish the set out keys out of a mailbox by pulling them through a slot by a piece of fishing line tied to the mailbox and to the keys. I thought that was very bizarre. But it worked and we went up on the 5th floor to the apartment. Although we were excited to be back to a place we have liked, we were very disappointed in the place. It is now rather shabby and things were just not the same. For one thing, every empty space in the bedroom was stuffed with stuff. The wardrobe, where one might imagine being able to hang clothes and use the shelves, was totally full of stuff so there was no place to put our stuff. I spent some time unloading things out of the wardrobe and throwing them on top of it to make some room. The other thing that was annoying is that a couple of lamps in the living room have cords that don’t reach the electrical outlet so we had to move the lamps around to get some light. And we were disappointed not to have a table on the balcony, like we had gotten in the past. That table was long gone. We did sit out on the balcony a bit, but the noise on Tower Road below got to us. We’re hoping that traffic will settle down some after the weekend. Christine, I think, was especially bummed out about the apartment, but things will be better once we continue to make the place ours for the week.

We decided we need to get out and walk a bit so we walked along “our rocks” around Exile point and along the seafront. We sat for a while watching kids play in a natural pool. All that was like coming home and it was nice.

We then headed back to the little market up the street from us to pick up some essentials. However, Christine wanted some particular kind of crackers that she has for lunch. There was a store, called Meats and Eats, where we used to get them, so off we went to see if that place was still in business. We didn’t do very well navigating all the narrow Sliema Streets that tend to run every which way, and I think we turned the wrong way and went way far away from where we wanted to go. We asked a man how to get to Dingli Street, and he said “no worries, follow this street straight down and you’ll run into Dingli Street.” After about a 15 minute walk we were giving up hope that his directions were accurate, but finally, Dingli Street appeared. We still didn’t know if the shop we wanted was there, but eventually we found it. We stocked up on the things Christine wanted and returned to the Airbnb via a route we were sure we knew.

I don’t mind too much walking up and down the narrow Sliema streets. I love seeing the old architecture, which is very much present away from the seafront. Many of the houses are named, many have great doorknockers, and a lot have Maltese balconies, so I have to be very careful not to step into the street and get run over while my head swivels around looking at things.

Once back in the apartment, we had pizza leftover from lunch, and called it an early night. I’m sure things will seem better tomorrow. We’ve been so lucky to have had great places to stay all during this trip. We’ll do whatever to make this final place a good experience.

Here’s what we see from our balcony.