World Heritage Sites and tributes to Lady Di

Today is the main reason for Sarah taking me on a surprise trip to Malta. On our previous visit, we did a thorough enough job of going around the island seeing all the megalithic temples on offer, but one glaring hole in my Malta C.V. was the fact that I didn't get to see the Hypogeum.

This was because the site is situated in such a delicate climate, excessive human sweat and carbon dioxide can build up, bleaching and damage the stones and wall art. So, to minimise this, Maltese Heritage limit the number of people who can enter at any given time and there are only so many "slots" per day. Needless to say, these book out well in advance (over a month) and I was completely unaware of this on our first visit.

We had no such problems getting in this time as Sarah booked the ticket months in advance, so we popped in a taxi and it took us across the island to the site. The Hypogeum is actually not too far away from Tarxien temple (a couple of hundred metres), which we saw on our first visit, but it is so completely different, that upon entering it, you could easily be forgiven for missing it, as it looks just like an average Maltese house with a door. 

The entrance to the Hypogeum - understated in the extreme!!

This is because the site was untouched and underground for thousands of years, and it was only when  building work to erect houses stumbled upon it in the early 1900s that it was discovered (even then, it took the builders four years to report it - I guess they didn't want anything to jeopardise the building of this house!!).

Typically for these sites, there is no photography allowed, so I can't really show you what I saw at the Hypogeum, but it was an impressive underground temple site, not dissimilar to the temples above ground, but completely enclosed and carved out of the rock using primitive tools. It was easy to see why this was a world heritage site, and also why they had to regulate the amount of visitors to it. Completely dissimilar to Egypt, who pack in as many people as possible, and wonder why all the hieroglyphs are being bleached away.

I would strongly recommend seeing this site if you are ever in Malta, but be warned, you will need to book the tickets at least 2-3 months in advance as they only allow a handful of people in each day.  

On our way back home, I noticed there was a Lady Di hairdressers next to the Hypogeum. A wonderful contrast between the old and the new (although Lady Di's hairstyle probably pre-dates the Hypogeum by several thousand years!!). 

Lady Di Hairdressers. Now doing facial waxing....

It does seem that Lady Di is held in some regard here, as just the night before we were in a Lady Di tribute bar, which had an impressive amount of Lady Di newspaper cut-outs and general pictures of her completely covering the walls of the pub. It seems to be a popular haunt of people who could easily have been extras in Eastenders (or El Dorado). I am guessing that it is a nice piece of home from home for the Ex-Pats in the in town, of which there seem to be many.

Group selfie in Di's bar! The pub where all the greats go to "Di".

I have to admit it was a fun place to go, the music was eclectic, and for the most part had some tenuous link to Lady Di (as she is referred to in these parts) and on top of that, they did an impressive Blue Lagoon cocktail which I discovered I really love, as it tastes like Refreshers (the sweets).