San Pawl 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

... a grey cold day with showers didn&#8217;t help its cause. Maybe in twenty something years tourism will have lifted their game a bit, but couldn&#8217;t help but think perhaps years of public money siphoned off to the mob has probably ground these people down.<br><br>We are looking forward to the next part of our journey, Rome for five nights. We will leave the ship a few kilo&#8217;s heavier, but looking forward to a little more flexibility in our time table.

Sleeping on the upper bunk of the ship's cabin reminds me of having an MRI. When I went in for the procedure a month ago, I was rolled under a flat plate two inches above my face and my head was secured to the table so I couldn&#8217;t move for twenty minutes. I don&#8217;t think I got over that terrifying experience because even though the cabin&#8217;s ceiling was two feet over me I felt claustrophobic. When we rise at 6:00am from ...

... excited to meet a real live pilot before. He shook my hand and just smiled and texted one of his friends. What a change from back home. His name is Andreas and I could tell he was excited to be starting a career in aviation. I started flying about his age, too and I remember back then when flying was still fun and not a job. <br><br>I also got to sit behind an elderly couple from the US and I have no clue how they happened upon the public ...

... Burger King will get you there fast. Of course the problem with parties is that they end, leaving the streets desolate. Then the rains came. Fortunately I've already booked a flight on to Athens via Romefor less than $150, so I'm okay. Next cheapest with daily flights is $7-800. Is Malta what modern Arab culture would be like if the Prophet hadn't turned such a profit with men who'd rather see their women in veils than bikinis ...

... spot on the map were the hotel was suppose to be, but no hotel, just houses. We were lucky enough that a really nice guy that lived in a house nearby knew where the hotel was and gave us a lift back into the hotel, which was no where near where it was suppose to be. We stayed on Malta for 4 nights. We hired a car and explored the island all over, visiting a pretty cool limestone heritage musuem set in an old limestone quarry, visited all the beaches and went exploring the ...

... need to remain at the 'listening point' but the pauses are lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng and people start to move before they should. There are some very mobility limited people in our small group of ten and I am very glad we aren't in a bigger group. It would take forever. It is very interesting. The underground temple and burial chambers date back possibly 5000 years. They were carved ...

... of Malta. :) We spent a few hours at the club before Louis told me we were going to pick up his wife Lina and have lunch at a restaurant owned by her brothers in St Julians. I said good bye to Edwin and a host of guys at the pub. One of them was a boxer and asked me to say hello to Jeff Fenech, he was the biggest Maltese man I have ever seen so I said I would! Lunch was superb. I had rabbit ravioli and washed it down with a fine Maltese white wine. How Maltese can you get? I really ...

... around in the middle of nowhere in the stinking heat. The countryside is truly strange. Cacti, rock, and sandstone being the dominant features. We trudged on back to Dingli, which is a bit of backwater town, with not much of interest, and infrequent buses. After Dingli, we hopped off in Rabat. Here we headed to the centre of town, St Paul's Church (St Paul is really popular in Malta!). We explored the streets and made our way to St Paul's Catcacombs ...

... h*nging to get out of the city by Frid*y though, it w*s cool to see *ll the sights but 2 d*ys w*s enough! Oh ye*h, the 25th M*y w*s 10 ye*rs of Andy *nd N*t togetherness so it w*s pretty cool to celebr*te th*t in Rome. Anyhoo, best be off... Hugest th*nks so my be*utiful sister Nicky *nd her delightful Forest! We *re so gl*d we m*de it here *nd you h*ve spoilt us rotten!! We look forw*rd to returning the f*vour when you get to Austr*li*. Yippeee!