Community Highlights Europe Touring the island

Touring the island

Today we had a full tour booked for the VT crowd, so after breakfast we caught the bus to Valetta. We all assembled outside the Phoenician Hotel where we met our guide Tony.

Valetta

The first part of the tour was a city walk here in Valetta. Tony was very informative but he went a bit fast for some of the group. The slow walkers were often lagging behind, and keen photographers like me wanted more time to take pictures. But we learned a lot about Maltese history from him throughout the day.

We started by the city gates, a new replacement designed by Renzo Piano, as was the parliament building just inside.

We stopped by various grand buildings including Our Lady of Victories Church, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Italian Auberge, now an art gallery, and more.

We passed St John's Co-Cathedral. I would have loved to have gone inside the cathedral but it wasn’t included in the tour and I also noted the very long queue and the fact that shorts were banned, so I had to forget that idea!

At this point I started to tire so I joined some friends for the 30 minute little train ride instead. It was an interesting route, mainly down by the water, but hard to take photos. However I had a go at capturing St Elmo Fort in Valetta and Fort St Angelo across the water in Vittorioso.

When we got off the train my friends went for a drink but I felt refreshed and wanted to take more photos so I wandered around a bit, largely over the same route as the morning.

I went into Our Lady of Victories Church which was free to enter although I made a donation. It was small but beautiful, especially the ceilings.

Mġarr

It was then time to get on the bus to drive to Mġarr where we parked by a large and rather striking church, the Church of the Assumption.

We had lunch here in Nenu the Artisan Baker, a local restaurant with another branch in Valetta where we were to eat tomorrow. It was a very good meal served family style, with a 'Maltese platter' of assorted starters, a pasta dish (rigatoni alla Norma), chicken and rabbit with vegetables, and date pastries. It was more really than we needed and took up quite a lot of the day, but it was fun chatting over the meal.

Mdina

Eventually we were all ready to move on to Mdina, the island’s former capital. This is full of atmosphere, carrying the weight of its long history. Protected by its ancient walls the centre has remained largely untouched by modernity. Winding streets are lined with a mix of baroque and medieval architecture. There are churches and grand palaces interspersed with more modest homes, all of them beautiful.

We entered through the old gate, on foot as no vehicles are allowed inside.

I would love to have spent more time in this beautiful old city but we only had 45 minutes. For the most part I stuck with Tony and the group, but I confess I didn’t take in much of his explanations as I was too busy grabbing as many photos as I could in the time! Believe it or not, I've edited them down a lot for this post.

Mdina is particularly noted for its ornate door knockers and beautiful doors, as well as the traditional balconies you see all over Malta.

Evening in Sliema and Valetta

Once we were all back in the bus we drove back to Sliema where those of us staying there were dropped off on the waterfront. We took a Bolt minivan back to the hotel where I learned that my shower was at last fixed. I took advantage of that to freshen up properly before going out for the evening.

We again used Bolt to get to the restaurant in Valetta, the Undercroft, which is situated beneath St Paul’s cathedral. I had a very pleasant evening catching up with yet more friends. The food was mixed – the caprese starter rather dull, the tagliata main good, and the canoli dessert tasty but a bit rich and filling.

Caprese

Between main course and dessert I was able to announce to the group that next year’s meeting would be hosted by my good friend Colin in Liverpool. Everyone was excited to hear the news and many started making plans already!

Soon after the meal finished I again shared a Bolt back to the hotel as it was getting late and I had an early start tomorrow.

This featured blog entry was written by ToonSarah from the blog Travel with me ....
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