We arrived in the small, 2-island country of Malta around 4am. Malta is on the schedule simply because the airline tickets from Casablanca to Istanbul, Turkey were hundreds of dollars cheaper- each. However, Malta Air has one flight from Cas. to Malta- per week. Four days later is the one flight per week from Malta to Istanbul.
Upon leaving the airport by taxi, we head directly to the most recommended area of the island (for our tastes) called Sliema. We hadn’t booked accommodation yet, so we hotel-hopped about 20 minutes and found one with a room- Europa Hotel. We were told we could check in at 7am (much earlier than we expected!) which meant a little early morning street wandering for J3. Luckily we were still wired from the airplane coffee and the simple fact that our bodies couldn’t grasp what the heck was going on. We watched the sunrise outside our hotel (which is waterfront) and bought a $3 bottle of water at our hotel since nothing else was open. Then off to bed for a nap!
Out again by 1.30pm to check out the island a bit. We went to TGIFridays thinking it would bring us back to the same food in the states which we love, but obviously the lettuce and other items take the slow boat over from the states- not good at all. Took the town bus to Valetta, the oldest part of town, and toured St. John’s cathedral, gawking at it’s amazing detail and marble floors.
A quick Malta history lesson- Malta has many ancient monuments that show it was inhabited 1000 years BEFORE the pyramids in Egypt. It has been ruled by many empires since the beginning of recorded time- Phoenicians, Macedonians, Normans, Arabs, Byzantines, Romans, Ottomans, Persians, French, English….and we probably missed a few! The country is located south of Italy and north of Africa, in a spot right in the middle of many important trade & military routes by sea, which has made it a valuable commodity over the centuries. Malta played a very important and famously brave part in the Allies victory WWII by disrupting shipping lanes of the Axis powers. Only in 1979 has it finally become an independent nation.
After St. John’s, we checked in at the Tourist office to see if there was anything enlightening we missed, but our Lonely Planet had it all covered. We went to the public health clinic to get some drugs for JJ’s - and now Jason’s also!- Mohammad’s revenge (see Morocco blog entries). Despite the dilapidated interiors, loosely organized check-in system, and ultra-weird comb-over extreme doctor that checked us out, we actually left with prescriptions for antibiotics and other goodies that would soon stop the madness occurring in our systems…for the time being at least. We had a nice pasta dinner (“only breads, crackers, rice, etc”, said the doctor) and took the bus back to our neighborhood with lots of kids heading out for the night to Paceville (pronounced Patchville by locals) which is the party area of the island. Between the stomach issues and age, J3 were happy just to go read in bed!
Aug. 19- Bad British Brekky (they could make a movie about it) to start the day- cold coffee, plain bread, butters & jams, paper-thin cereal that melted into the milk immediately…plus, the schedule change shortened it and we almost missed it. Our hotel was not the best we’ve ever been in, but close to the bottom. The first room had no ceiling fan (too many teenagers throwing oranges into it while running on high).
Off to the post for 2hrs to ship our two Moroccan carpets to the states. It was lot’s of work, but the nice postman made up for it. Walked to the harbor & booked a cruise to the Blue Lagoon (the most beautiful area of the islands) for tomorrow. Ate at a Maltese restaurant but due to doctor’s warning, only ate margarita pizza (at least it has bread, although the additional things on top aren’t exactly on the doctor’s approved list!). It was very good. That afternoon, Jason napped and JJ laid out on the rocky beach area in front of our place. For dinner, very expensive Chinese- coke, water, Pad Thai, & soup = $30!
The next day, we had quick brekky, and requested a replacement for our broken bed (don’t hold your breath!). Off to our cruise! We hung out at the dock on the boat for awhile, probably waiting for the staff to lure a few more customers before takeoff. We get two mats on the front of the boat, next to the music speaker- primo spot, right? Not when we realized the crew had the entire collection of “best soft rock songs to ever hit #37 on the charts”. You know the ones- “All out of love” by Air Supply, He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” by the Righteous Bros?, and something called “Sayonara/Goodbye”. Bad call on seat location! After awhile, it became obvious we had a 6 or 10-disc changer on our hands. The tunes took an upturn and we realized at least there was some Nirvana Unplugged & Dire Straits in the mix. Stopped off for a swim off of the island of Gozo, and J3 took turns jumping/flipping (JJ) off the front of the boat- while dodging jellyfish! J wasn’t as good as JJ at dodging, but only got a small sting. Back to Comino & the Blue Lagoon. Ate lunch on the boat (cold cuts, salads, nothing at all exciting) and walked around Blue Lagoon. It IS beautiful, but it was hard to see the water with all those tourists swimming in it, and hard to hear yourself think with all of them screaming at the top of their lungs- either kids having fun or parents telling the kids to stop doing something they shouldn’t be… Price note- $5.40 for a bottle of water! The boat was urged to take a speed boat trip around the lagoon and thru some “caves”, but we weren’t in the mood. Upon our departure off the boat back at the dock, we heard the last broken record of the day- our main crew member yelling that she hoped we had a nice time, while holding out her hat to hint that tips were definitely accepted!
Upon arriving back at our “hotel”, the bed was not replaced nor was it repaired. It took at least another 1-2hrs to get the staff to replace it- and all of J3’s patience with the staff. Both rooms had one good and one bad pillow….and they were ALL ugly.
To be continued…….
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