Etvan 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

... Loved this city, and we all commented on how nice and polite the Spanish are (we are travelling with about 2000 Italians who have no concept of queuing or personal space). The Sagtrada Familia (neo-gothic style cathedral which is still being built) spectacular. Hopped on the underground, to visit a park with building designs inspired again by Gaudi, while the doors of the train were beeping, but only Olivia and Ryan managed to alight. Robyn ...

... duped by the online descriptions that make the walk into the city sound rough.<br><br> Our tour guide is a dowdy English woman who is wearing a flower print dress and speaks with a breathlessly nasal English accent. &#8220;Thish ish a shtashtue of Shaint Jamesh, and-a&#8230;.&#8221; she speaks like this as we follow her along the cobblestone streets lined with stone buildings. Our first stop is the Upper Baracca Gardens, a ...

... in French and kept pointing to my backpack so I just gave him our own homegrown version of the finger wag that we use from time to time and walked off. What is it with them? These French people just need to handle their own business and leave me alone.<br><br>Across a narrow inlet is a town called Vittoriosa and it looked interesting enough for me to figure out how to get there. Somehow I managed to find another Maltese version of a chicken ...

Today was a busy day for us. It was also a hot one - with the temperature in the direct sunlight in the high 40s. One owner of a cafe told us that the thermometer in front of his place could not register higher than 50 celsius and it had reached that point. <br><br>We travelled around the souther part of the island on an on and off tour bus.<br><br>We ...

... the island wine. When it was time for Michael and Lorlinda to leave, Joe was very sad, as he still wanted to show them his home and pet birds. So, Mike and Lorlinda promised they would return some day, and Michael gave Joe his watch to add to his collection. Joe was so happy that he hugged and kissed both of them, and would not let them go until they promised to return and stay with him at his home and meet all of his family. THE END.

... of the Knights of St John, represented by catholics from all of western Europe at the time. The Maltese were forced to convert to Christianity and to eat pork in order to assure its loyalty, and they demonstrated extraordinary bravery fighting on the side of the British and the Allies during World War II.<br><br>It was raining ...

... Malta is a full-fledged member of the European Union, even using the &euro;uro as currency (they don't all do that); Malta is a Lesser Antilles-size island with a large population of almost a half million, something like an urbanized St. Kitts of the Mediterranean; Malta is Christian, VERY Christian. The thumbnail sketch would be something like: modern Malta is a combination of three cultures- Arab, Italian, and British. While there would ...

... definitely worth being able to climb down off your boat and swim in the gorgeous water. After a good sun burning session later, we return back to the dock and found ourselves a large screen for the football. Well of course England were sadly knocked out on penalties, which if course was not quite the plan, but we couldn't have been in a nicer place while it happened! That evening we took a bus to Valetta and sampled way too much of the local cusine and wine... lovely!

... with tomato & spaghetti and in a stew. I've never eaten rabbit, but this is a great introduction. And to eat in a Maltese home, prepared by such generous people is special. A quick visit to Dingli Cliffs and even though the rain is worse, we push on to Hagar Qim. Charlie stays in the car with the heater on. We fight the wind. I have to put in the umbrella before it blows inside-out. Brian and I stand under the Neolithic archway to ...