MALTA

For our summer family holiday this year we decided to travel a little closer to home (after travelling to Dubai for the last 2 years) and go to Malta. This gem of an island is situated in the Mediterranean Sea between Italy and the African North coast, and with daily flights this enabled us to have a 9 night holiday. Malta is steeped in thousands of years of history and the remnants of this can be seen all over this Island. I would not say that the island is particularly picturesque, it is quite rugged and barren and has few beaches, however it made up for this with the sightseeing, history, culture and the very friendly people who live on the Island! There is a huge choice of hotels in Malta and we decided to stay in the very cosmopolitan resort of St Julians, in the St Georges bay area. Our hotel the InterContinental was located in the lively Paceville/St Georges Bay area, and during the summer evenings this can be quite busy, popular with young people, although once in the hotel this does not have any impact and the rooms & grounds are lovely and quiet. The hotel offers a good choice of restaurants, spa facilities, indoor and outdoor pool and conference facilities, there is also a good choice of room types to suit all budgets and family sizes. St Julians itself has a lovely bay area and a good choice of bars, cafes & restaurants where you can sample local dishes such as Fenkata (stewed rabbit) and Ftira (traditional Maltese sandwich). We were lucky to visit when the town was celebrating its annual Fiesta, and during the weekend there were massive firework displays, street stalls, marching bands, parades and it seemed like the whole of Malta had turned out to celebrate! Getting around Malta is easy and inexpensive by local bus, the price of an unlimited travel day ticket was €2.60 each, which gives travel across this compact island, although don`t go expecting to see the traditional Maltese buses, these were replaced earlier this year by brand new modern air conditioned buses, this is a shame really as the old buses had been lovingly cared for & were part of Malta`s heritage! During our bus rides we visited the capital city Valletta which is one of my favourite places, busy by day with shoppers, tourists and day trippers from cruise ships, but quieter at night when you can go & enjoy a meal or a drink in a lovely restaurant. A visit to St Johns Cathedral is a must whilst in Valletta. As it was hot we decided to have a cooling drink in the infamous "The Pub" which is where the actor Oliver Reed died back in 1999 during a break from filming Gladiator, you can view all the memorabilia on the walls about the actor which is now like a small shrine to him! Our other favourite place was Mdina, this medieval city is perched on a plateau near Rabat. The bus journey here took about half an hour, and it has lovely winding streets, pretty cafes perched on the city walls and many local craft shops. My family and I really enjoyed Malta and we would certainly go back...people say that you either love it or hate it, but for us it definitely gets the thumbs up!