Osborne Valletta

... 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 ...

... on the Number 8 bus. I was pleased to see that buses here cost 47 Euro cents, but the 8pm, the 8:30 and 9pm buses never came and the crowd started to get agitated. The one bus that did randomly come by stopped and the driver said, "I am not taking anyone tonight. Sorry." I plan to see the island by bus so we will see if I get stranded!

So yeah, I was hoping for an adventure late at night on a Maltese city bus but that plan ******* out quickly. I ...

... kosten. Wie das mit dem Glauben zusammen passt ist mir schleierhaft. Naja, eben auch ein Beispiel dafür, wie sehr Malta auf den Tourismus eingestellt ist.

Aber das Spektrum das Malta hat, ist wirklich breit. Strandurlaub, Kulturtrip oder beides, je nachdem wie man's mag. Mit den Bussen ist man recht mobil, auch wenn es doch ziemlich heiß drin werden kann. Dann freut man sich umso mehr auf die Abkühlung im Meer. Denn das sollte man sich auf keinen Fall entgehen lassen.

Also hier in Valetta ist zu erstmal der kreisrunde Busbahnhof vor der Stadt zu erwähnen. Hier kommenbschätzungsweise ca. 30 Busse an und es dauert etwas, bis wir unsere Haltestelle
gefunden haben. Wenn man es nicht besser weiß, könnte man auch denken, das
Ganze sei ein riesiges Busmuseum. In Deutschland wären ca. 90% der Busse nicht
mehr im Einsatz. Aber es hat seinen ganz eigenen Flair, wenn man dem ...

Flew here on RyanAir. Which did not turn out to be as bad as an experience as anticipated - in fact it was a good one (with some getting used to the Ryan Air approach to air travel).

Spent the day and evening touring the town of Valleta. Our most memorable experience was visiting the Malta Archeological museum to see the many stone goddesses that have been found in the temples that dot Malta and the island of Gozo.

In evening we ate some traditional (and ...

... 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.

... to repeat it. He also mentioned that he forgave everyone but would not forget to avoid such repeats. His family had fought for Malta for nearly 400 years. Incredible. It was a day well, spent, full of military activities and history as it relates to Malta, its people and war. Very interesting and I highly recommend all three during your visit to Valletta. The whole deal ...

... of the other best-known of 'man's best friends'. The Mediterranean itself has NOT been settled since time immemorial either, a fact which probably prejudices many European historians against prehistorical sea-based migration, since it took us so long to get our sea legs, not surprising since we apparently mustered our forces originally on the Asian steppes. European history is about horses, not boats. The first explorers of the ...

... a block, spotting a sign pointing "This Way to Church of St Paul's Shipwreck." According to Acts, St Paul shipwrecked on Malta. This church, in the middle of a side street, is large, and has numerous side chapels, one of which has a relic of St Paul (a wrist bone). It was certainly worth the 15 minutes. As dusk approached, I caught a taxi back (15 euro). Tomorrow will be the bus each way.

... too, covered with thousands of colourful and intricate marble tombstones marking the resting places of generations of Knights. It also houses tapestries and two works by Caravaggio. One of them, The Beheading of St John, was his largest piece and the only one he signed. Geoff will love this one. Attached to the Grand Master's (of the ...