Amazing Malta in March

Linda Buckingham on 24 March 2013
Malta is a country I have visited before so I was thrilled to win a pair of tickets at World Travel Market to visit again. With the ticket and holiday restrictions we had, we decided it would have to be March. We knew it wouldn’t be a lounging around the pool/beach holiday so we opted to stay in Sliema and have a car for the duration so we could easily explore the island.

Unfortunately we explored Sliema a bit too much on arrival as we struggled to find our hotel! Luckily there were plenty of helpful people around who pointed us in the right direction. Once we managed to get parked we were introduced to Charles Portelli, the front office manager at the Victoria hotel, who is a charming gentleman and an absolute fountain of knowledge of all things Maltese. Once he had produced a more sensible map than the one the rental station had given us and told us what to look for, driving was a doddle.

He persuaded us to visit his local town, Rabat for the Feast of St. Joseph the next day. This festival was absolutely amazing. The town was decked in banners and religious statues, there was a carnival atmosphere with street stalls and everyone out in their Sunday best. We enjoyed musicians playing and the air was filled with ticker tape as the parade passed through. This is one of many festivals on the island and we were so pleased we went.

It was easy for us to walk from our hotel to the seafront in Sliema and we enjoyed several lovely meals in the local restaurants. Just along the coast we found St Julian’s with the typical pretty fishing boats in the harbour. We took the ferry across the bay to Valetta one day so that we could enjoy a full day there and both have a drink with our meals. This is a beautiful city with so much to see. We people watched in the squares and visited Buckingham Palace complete with its marching guards.

My war history is pretty patchy and I was interested to read the stories of Malta as a hospital island at Fort St Elmo and see the Siege Bell Memorial. If all the steps get a bit much you could always take a horse-drawn cab, known locally as the karozzin and if you think it might be a bit too hot for the horses, Valetta has now got electric cabs similar to the Johnny cab in Total Recall – only these have proper drivers!

By taking a harbour cruise you get to see the three cities of Vittoriosa, Senglea and Cospicua and we also saw a huge oil rig undergoing repairs! If you wanted to be out all day you could take in the neighbouring islands of Gozo and Comino.

Of all the cities in Malta, Mdina is probably the most enchanting. Known as the Silent City, you can wind your way through the maze of narrow, cobbled streets and feel like you’re in a medieval town. It has great charm, and there’s no better way to enjoy it than just strolling around. Eventually you’ll find yourself back where you started at the Mdina glass shop and it will be hard to resist a unique purchase as a memento.

If you’re driving around the island, sooner or later you’ll see the dome of Mosta standing proud above the town. Depending on what you read, it’s the third or fourth largest church dome in Europe. It was hit by two bombs during the war and pierced by a third weighing 200kg during the evening mass. Luckily if failed to explode and a replica is proudly on display to those who visit.

On Sunday we visited Marsaxlokk. I always like to visit a local market and apparently so do most other people on the island! Marsaxlokk is a fishing village and the classic pictures show the bay full of traditional fishing boats. The day trippers fill the bars and restaurants along the seafront at lunchtime and the stalls do a brisk trade in everything from fish, vegetables and clothes to locally produced honey, olives, fruit jams, sweets and wine.

We enjoyed our car and drove all over the island - but if you don’t want to drive every day, there are three hop on hop off bus routes with a sightseeing commentary or the local bus system which is efficient and cheap – and strangely it’s run by Arriva!