Dolmen Resort Qawra

... 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.

And speaking of French people ...

... up splitting a cab with a couple from London and it only cost me 6 Euros. Still that is over 5 Euros more than I wanted to pay but at night sometimes you just have to know when to fold them. Actually it´s good that I arrived in a taxi because I never would have found this joint on foot from the bus stop. And I realized how bad my map was. Didn't I just have a bad handwritten map incident somewhere recently?

While I was waiting for the bus a ...

An erster Stelle ganz klar das faszinierende Meer (siehe Bilder). Die Anschaffung von einem guten Schnorchel und Taucherbrille lohnt sich wirklich. Es ist einfach ein wunderschönes Bild, wenn die Sonnenstrahlen sich wie Fäden durch das Wasser in die Tiefe ziehen. Ist schlecht zu beschreiben, muss man einfach selbst erleben und sehen.

Leider auch der viele Müll in den Straßen und am Strand. Wahrscheinlich ist er auch die Ursachen für den zum Teil echt unangenehmen Geruch ...

... local "How do we get to Popeye Village" and they said "oh, it's just about a 15 minute walk that way". What they failed to mention was that it was all up-hill and down roads that didn't have foot-paths. About 45 minutes later and parched from the hot sun, dad and I arrived at Popeye Village. It was pretty interesting, although I had never seen the movie. Dad loved it and we took heaps of photos. We were sure to be there in time for the bus back down to the town.

... blue mediterranean in the background. I could not wait to get up close to this famous blue grotto. A short walk downhill from the bus stop/parking lot, I purchased my ticket (7 euros) and off to the dock to board my little Maltese boat. It had been so long since I was this close to the mediteranean, I just wanted to jump in! Ahh, the joys of my youth, swimming all day during the summer. We weaved in and out of ...

... gauge before you go, you might want to look at any damages before you go, you might want to look at .... You get the idea. The rentals place looked like a car hire graveyard if you ask me!!! Every single car in there was bumped, scratched, dented or bashed about in some way - seriously not one single undamaged car in there - hmmm, lets see how it is driving here. Well, the rules ...

... Some of them looked very similar to 'paplet'. I snorkelled for about an hour with a short break where R tried her hand at it and loved the fish but didn't enjoy as much. Then we got out of the water and enjoyed the sun and the rest of the world dipping in the magnificent Blue Lagoon. I went and got us some food - burger and hot dog from 1 of the only 2 food kiosks on the cliff. Along with a bottle of peach ice tea and a bottle of water, I paid just 9 Euros, which is ...

... out here a second time (I was around 13 at the time). Mum falling pregnant with Nicholas put paid to that journey before it had begun but dad singing "Ghajn Tuffieha here we come, right back where we started from" still resides in my memory. Well today I got to see Ghajn Tuffieha, and I thought of dad. It brought a smile to my face. I wished he was here with me. Golden Bay and Ghajn Tuffieha provided me with perhaps some of the most breathtaking scenery I have seen to ...

... with tails from the 50s or 60s maybe on some of them, and bright green ************ed benches inside. The driver leaves the door open, so to pay you have to have change ready or sit down so you dont go flying out. Then the bus crashes down the street, potholes and all. It's an experience, I tell you. A not-even-passing-for-lukewarm cross bun later, inside Valletta's walls (also a fortified city) are ruins of an old opera house ...

... settled by the knights to start with until they realized they were there for good. It was a nice little city and the fort on the water provided a great view of Valletta and the surrounding area. But again, the fort was falling apart and it was obvious the Maltese spend little time or money keeping their history preserved (although they have a lot of history to preserve so I can't blame them entirely). We then went back to Sliema and had ...