Buccaneers Guest House Bugibba

... if they would let him drill for it. They took that bargain and had it until Malta joined the EU. Then the EU said they could no longer do business with Libya. so Malta lost a great deal and now has to pay the same as everyone else.
The last stop was across the island at a fishing village. I had great fun bargaining with the vendors for food items: Sesame sticks, date bars, nut crunch and sea salt ...

I've just popped over to Malta for a day & a bit (as you do!) to say a quick hello / goodbye to my parents (and bring them lots of goodies over for the last time in a while).

The weather is a little warmer than the UK, but not as warm as it's going to be in a week's time (ha ha ha).

Anyway, I'll keep this blog short so ciao for now!

Anita x

We drove four hours from Positano to Rome to catch the ship. Chris kindly drove the family and the expanding luggage to the port and headed back into Rome to drop off the rental car (it was supposed to be dropped off at the port, but is a public holiday in Italy and the office was shut). He was fairly sure where the Avis office, in the center of Rome, was situated and knew it shut at 1pm. However having driven to all the Piazza's in Rome and around ...

... history of Malta, and head back on the bus to the ship before 2:30.

At dinner Jenny tells us that she and nine other people were abandoned by their tour guide in Malta, so they ended up taking a cab back to the boat. I doubt the parents would have thought to do that if they were lost; we probably would have ended up yelling at each other and in the process get robbed. I am so lucky to have survived another day on this trip.

... not that many tourists lurking about. It is so beautiful. A little winding street after another, a courtyard beautifuly comes alive with its greenery, a shining brass knocker, an in-laid statuette of Mary or another saint by the door. I went back several hundred years. The sun cooperated and came out just enough for me to immortalize what I was seeing in my camera. But, soon the ...

... let me tell you, the Makku should definitely be avoided. They are these little minnow sized boneless fish that were deep fried whole, eyes and all. there was just this big pile of them on the plate, so I figure what the heck, new experiences, this is what I'm here for. So I dove in. They weren't too bad after they had some lemon squeezed on them, but I think they might have contributed to the incredible amount of blech that I feel like right now. On our way ...

... in very choppy waves. Something just not great about watching others get sick overboard. Thankfuly we had stronger stomachs. But by the time we reached the secluded bays for swimming, we had lost the mood. Dinner that night was at a small restaurant perched on the side of the cliff overlooking one of the small villages. The food was okay but the views were spectacular. It was a nice teaser trip for our next trip... a late September journey from Rome to Milan.

... s Shipwreck church in Valletta but the Mosta Dome certainly made up for it. As could be expected it totally dominates the town of Mosta and indeed the entire region of Central Malta. Perhaps the clincher for the Mosta Dome and the incident that makes it so special to the Maltese people is when 3 bombs hit the dome in a 1942 German bombing raid. Two ricocheted off the dome and landed in the surrounding town square, the third crashed through the dome and rattled across ...

... day, one of my best on the whole trip. I hand only been in Malta two days, and I was loving it. I was loving the sights, and couldn't get enough of finding a new vantage point. I was thinking by the end of Thursday, that Valletta and the surround have got to be my favourite city that I have visited. The fortifications, the buildings, the harbours, the crazy bus terminus, and the people are all a delight to see. And best of all, the Pastizzi is scrumptious!!!!!!!

... arrange to catch up with some Maltese relatives and enjoyed an afternoon tea with them, exchanging stories and learning more about the family, Maltese history and culture. We wandered through the streets where they used to live - which brought to life many of the stories that we've heard over the years. The streets and houses were just as beautiful now as I imagined them to be, many fortunate enough not to be damaged by the bombings during the war. We're getting used to the cost of ...