Grand Hotel Mercure San Antonio St. Paul's Bay

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

... He went on to say and I quote &#8220;Those Italian&#8217;s they are just s&#8212;t&#8221;. At that stage thought it was time to take our leave, hoping the next unsuspecting visitors waiting to get in weren&#8217;t Italians. We left port at sunset and the views over the city, with the beautiful, unusual cloud formations, made for a spectacular exit.<br><br>Sicily<br><br>Not on our list of places to return to. Grimy, full of rubbish but to be ...

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

... I was not a Maltese expert. I just let it go because I realize that you can't change people, just how you react to them. <br><br>On one of the buses into Valletta I randomly sat down next to a teenage guy who was reading a private pilot manual. I asked him if he was taking flying lessons and found out he was about to have his first solo. He wondered how I knew so much about flying and I told him I do it for a living. I have never seen someone ...

... end. There are no alcoholic beverages for sale on the streets here, though I'm sure you could find some if you wanted. That **** for sale on the street in Recife wasn't much good anyway. The scene at the local Burger King and McDonald's has got to be seen to be believed, though. I notice some of the local girls sporting big exposed British bellies now that Kate Winslett has made it okay to be a big ol' gal (with ensuing dress-size ...

... kid in a stroller). And a bus ride we finally arrived in Catania in Sicily at 3 am following morning. So after not much sleep we set off on the ferry for Malta. We arrived in Malta, found a net cafe, booked a hotel and set off to find it with a printed off map of the directions and the hotel marked on it. We hoped the bus and got off at the closest stop and headed towards the hotel on the map as the sun was setting. After walking, walking and some more walking we found ...

... Al has the rabbit - what else would you eat in a fishing village). We're running a bit late and need to be at Hypogeum at 2pm or we miss out. Michael drives like a crazy loon and we make it just in time. The rest of the group are taken to the Tarxien Temples while we're at Hypogeum. Hypogeum is...odd...but fantastic. Get given an audioguide each and are told there are pauses where ...

... told me he knew the president personally however when he said he would arrange a photo for me with him I was pretty excited! I mean I was blown away! Here were all these dignitaries and I was going to get a photo with the president of Malta wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Man what a blast this was. I have shown the photo to as many locals as I can find this afternoon and they have all been blown away by it. So there you have it, Andrew from Greystanes shook hands and had a photo with the ...

... were a little dissapointing, I guess I was expecting something like the Tassie Peninsula. However it was good to get out an go for a decent walk, and see a few points of interest on the way. We hopped off in some unknown place somewhere near the town of Dingli, and headed for the cliffs. But damn it was hot. The view was great over Fiflia Island, Mary Magdalene's Chapel, along with other ruins were interesting along the way. It was kind of fun just ...

... s fun *nyw*y *nd * very multin*tion*l c*rri*ge, in with us were: Trevor (C*n*di*n), Yun Hyun (Kore*n), N*t*li* (Argentini*n) *nd Dustin (Americ*n). We *ll t*lked for *ges but did m*n*ge some sleep so we weren't zombies when we *rrived in Rome. We spent 2 nights in Rome *nd discovered it is much better to explore in the middle of the night when *ll the tourists h*ve gone to bed, *lso much cooler *nd very pretty bec*use everything is lit up! We ...