Day 1 Mellieha
After a late arrival last night, we went for a relaxing morning, availed of the complimentary lunch in the Porto Restaurant and took the bus in Mellieha for the afternoon. Everywhere, except bars, closes from 2 till 5; so we did some window shopping before finding a wine bar for some relaxation (again). We climbed (Mellieha is built on the side of a mountain – it’s all steep and steps uphills and downhills) again to see the parish church, before home for dinner and cocktails.
There was a big group staying in the hotel – all playing Buraco (a Rummy type cardgame). Generally, the games were pleasant and amicable although an odd outburst spiced things up. We were adopted by a lovely Italian lady Anna, who with actions only invited us to stay with her in Naples any time!
Day 2 GOZO
Our hotel – the Paradise Bay Resort is misnamed! There’s no resort, only the hotel. The area is called Cirkewwa and it is a short walk from the Cirkewwa Bus terminal and ferry port. It has a perfect views of the islands of Comino and Gozo. Today, we took the Hop-On Hop-Off version of the island tour. It was a lovely taste of the island allowing us to see
Xewkija,
Ta’Dbiega the Craft Village,
Dwejra’s inland sea which has only cave access to the Medierranean, the famous Azure Window and the Fungus Rock whose fungus reputedly has healing powers and the theft of which would have earned you seven years in the galleys if caught thieving there
Ta’Pina where Our Lady appeared and is a site of Maltese annual pilgrimage, like our Knock
We alighted in Victoria, found a little restaurant, installed ourselves in the courtyard out back and feasted on the local delicacy Ftajjer – we chose the only non-vegetarian version Oink Oink – delicious with the Gozoan Rose wine. Fortified, we started the steep climb to the Citadella.
We were rewarded with stunning views of the town and a lot of the island. We visited the Cathedral of St Marja before our descent to the main street and the bus trip back to the ferry. I wonder about the images on many of the headstones – macabre!
Day 3 St Paul’s Bay
Our original accommodation in Malta was in St Paul’s Bay so I was interested to see what we might have missed. As it turned out – very little. We visited the Tourist Office where a very helpful cailín gave us directions to the two big St Paul’s attractions – the National Aquarium and the Maltese Classic Cars Collection !!!!! Neither very high on my list!!!!!
So we just did our own exploring and found some little gems – the Franciscan Church of St Paul – closed but we were able to visit the beautiful little oratory; a laugh with a local when we asked about a park marked on the map – an overgrown site awaiting building; a tour through apartment land with another local who showed us an alleyway exit from the apartment maze; a view of the salt-flats which unsurprisingly were mentioned in no brochures; the Bugibba Neolithic Temple whose whereabouts even the locals were unaware (now in the grounds of the Hilton Double Tree Hotel).
And with all this, we found an amazing little restaurant called Michele’s who served the Maltese speciality – fried rabbit liver with caramelized onions on sourdough Maltese bread – I think this will be rated my Number 1 “favourite food” of the holiday!
Day 4 Mdina & Rabat
Sunday was not the best day to visit these sites particularly in the afternoon when most places close even on weekdays. So we opted for 2 very touristy experiences – The Knights of Malta Museum and the Mdina Experience. Considering I knew very little about either the history of Malta or the Knights of St John, it was interesting to get a snapshot of both.
Nothing beats the real experience however and it was wonderful to walk the narrow pedestrian streets, the only traffic the tourist horse-drawn carriages. The Cathedral was closed unfortunately.
We decided to have a late lunch in Rabat, opting for the Point de Vue Hotel. During WW” this building housed about 250 pilots from the airfield in Ta’Qali. Despite its elevated position it was only bombed once but was a vantage point to watch dogfights. Service dreadful.
Day 5 Cirkewwa
We decided to take a break today. As mentioned earlier our hotel was quite isolated so we walked along the coast to the next two closest hotels for a morning coffee. There was an art exhibition of local works which was interesting. We sat by the pool in our own place on return but the temperature of the water did nothing to entice us to swim.
There is music most nights in the hotel. As soon as it starts a couple take to the floor and waltz, rumba, cha-cha or whatever dressed in matching outfits – here they are in Dubs attire.
