Castille Hotel Valletta

I've just popped over to Malta for a day &amp; 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).<br><br>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).<br><br>Anyway, I'll keep this blog short so ciao for now!<br><br>Anita x

... such thing as a five day week &#8211; lucky if they manage to get four hours off in a seven day period) they complete a 10 month contract, then two months off then back again for another contract.<br><br>Ryan and Mitchell thought the games room was amazing with its six play station consoles, equipped with the latest games, to play on while lying on couches - they used their daily allowance religiously on this vice each day. <br><br>A run down on ...

... over the island, giving the entire ancient city of stone a golden glow. I wish I had my camera to capture the weather-beaten yellow and gray hues, because the pictures I took as the boat left the dock are overcast and doesn&#8217;t have the morning&#8217;s magical light.<br><br> We purchased tickets to the &#8220;Valetta and Malta Experience&#8221; excursion the night before and met Juju and Juma at the seventh floor Stardust ...

... the sea. It was pretty amazing to walk around narrow streets dating back before the US was even a country. The city gets a name from Jean Parisot de la Valette who was a French nobleman from Provence. I wonder if he had all that attitude I found there. He helped defend Malta against the Turks in the Great Siege of 1565 and that was enough to have the place named for him. So he can't be all that bad I guess.<br><br>And speaking of French people ...

Today we travelled to see the Hypogeum. This is an underground temple and burial site that is literally under the streets of Malta (specifically in the town of Paola). The entrance was difficult to find because we were looking for a "site". But you enter a building and enter the three levels of the temple within the building. Only 70 people a day are allowed to visit - so you must book ahead - to protect the ...

... share with you over a beer, such as he loves Americans, the British and Australians in exactly this order. When he not sipping his local island wine or beer and telling stories, Joe enjoys strolling through the botanical gardens and has a great fascination for watches (allegedly, he has collected over 500). <br><br>One day as he strolled through the botanical gardens, Joe came across a young American coupled taking photographs ...

... br><br> Malta is the crossroads of the Mediterranean. Our tour guide looks like a young Italian lady, but her language Maltese is essentially a medieval version of Arabic, but written in latin alphabets. It has recently joined the European Union, but has long maintained friendly contacts with its culturally similar ...

... type, a French shrug long incorporated into my vocabulary of body language and a German glare ready just in case. But Malta's pretty incredible, 'the island fortress' lying exposed mid-Mediterranean as waves of Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Normans, and assorted Crusading Knights, Teutons, and Hospitallers all took a poke at her and tested her resilience and hospitality and longevity. The British were not to be left out of course and ...

... Lou and Jude failed to set their alarm, we had a few pre dinner drinks in the room (stlylishly done with a bottle of vodka and fruit juice from the bar) and put on our glad rags for the evening meal. Wow, we were suitably impressed, the food was amazing and also they were enormous portions. Jude's pasta starter alone was enough to fill any one up! Anyway we had a lovely time, and then pootled off to bed, ready for the boat trip and the England match the next day ...

... museum costs 1l and is small, but holds a good selection of Neolithic pieces: altars, decorative stone, the sleeping lady who is smaller than my hand, the fat lady who is a big as a car. There's even a model of the Hypogeum so we can see what we missed. In hindsight, we should have come three weeks ago, as the museum is a good primer for Maltese history. The rain lets up for a bit and we walk to The Grand Masters Palace, which has ...