Day 7 -Valletta

A lazy morning by the pool, topping up the tan and Anna continuing her reading was what was in store for us today, before having a light lunch and leaving to explore the capital, Valletta. We stopped off at the recycling bins down the street though because we’re good guys and had too many bottles. You can chose which type.

Knowing that you get congestion charges if you drive through Valletta, I parked in the closest space I saw once we got near to Valletta just to be safe. Of course, Anna let me know about the hundreds of parking spots we walked past on our 20 minute walk to Valletta. Better to be safe than sorry as they say.

Anna started off her Valletta trip by rating fountains. Avid readers will know that Anna loves water more than anything but with a few 3/10, 6/10 and 1/10 ratings, Valletta was letting her down. The city itself made up for it though, described as a Mediterranean Bath with elements of Vienna, Dubrovnik and Venice all rolled into one…

When visiting Valletta, make sure you bring a pair of studs or mouldies, or some footwear that will keep you on two feet. The perfectly polished paths had the two of us sliding all over town, which wasn’t too bad going down the hills, but a nightmare climbing back up.

Republic Street, Merchant Street, St. John’s Co-Cathedral, the Grandmaster’s Palace, Manoel Fort and Manoel Theatre (which was closed!) were all visited in the next couple of hours as the internet’s ‘places to visit’. We also visited Cafe Society for ‘the best cocktails in Valletta’ apparently and walked past ‘Pasthaus’, the best place for pasta. Unfortunately, and to a surprise, neither of us were hungry.

I found out that there was a gun show – no, not my biceps – by real canons in Upper Barrakka Gardens at 4pm. Making sure we were there in time, we watched on as the first canon didn’t fire, and the solider had a small tantrum in front of a laughing crowd. The second canon did fire and shut everyone up though whilst Bernie the soldier went to investigate what went wrong!

A finishing stretch along the Valletta walls and Fort St. Elmo, we embarked on our journey back to our car. However, our adventures don’t end here. We drove to St. Julian’s Bay, planning to have dinner in what is supposed to be the most romantic bay in Malta. Covered in sweat and tired from our walking tour, we decided that we would go home to shower and get dolled up before going for dinner. I think the people in St. Julian’s Bay would be grateful for that. Before driving home, we managed to just catch a glimpse of Portomaso Tower, the tallest building in Malta. That’s a fact for your friends.

Our dinner in Mellieha overlooked a beautiful parking lot, full of a range of dusty cars and people doing their shopping. Despite the view, the food made up for it, although we did end up ordering a pizza and burger, not really Maltese food, but delicious.