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). 

Capital (Va)lletta

Today has been a day of rest and so I will take some time to catch up on all the events. 

Yesterday we headed into Valletta so we could look at the World War 2 museum and the harbour forts. As I have previously mentioned the way to travel in Malta is by bus, the network is comprehensive and regular, and while it may suffer a bit with punctuality, there is no real grievances felt as you just have longer to enjoy the sunshine.

I haven't mentioned the weather yet, so I figure I should give you an update. It is HOT. Much warmer now than the hottest day we had in the UK this year!! Occasionally a few clouds gather, but they are soon melted away by the sun. And while the is a sea breeze that sweeps around the streets, iris very unlike the chilling effect that we had in The Gambia, and instead it is just a lovely cooling sensation.

Anyway, back to the bus, we caught the number 12 from Bugibba bus station, and figured it was worthwhile getting a week long ticket - which gives us unlimited bus travel around the island and costs the princely sum of €6.50. Travelling by bus is the way to see Malta, as you go through all manner of small towns and windy narrow roads which clearly were not designed for busses!! It was an old fashioned bus, much like we had back in the UK in the 80s with that coarse carpet material on the backs of the seats, and even on the ceiling. 

With tickets the price they are, it is no surprise that the bus was packed but thankfully Sarah had us in the queue early so we managed to get seats. Malta has really brought out her British sense of queuing, and was indignant when some local Maltese lad just came and stood in front of us. Still her vexation was not a patch on the Russian ladies (I use the term loosely, and that was not the words Sarah used to describe them either, but I want to keep this blog a PG rated blog!!) who pushed in front of her at the toilets in Valletta. Sarah is still going on about that now!!

After an hour of driving around the island, we finally arrived at the capital. It has been a bit more developed since Sarah and I were last there, but there was still a fair bit of work to do before they are finished. The city walls were as impressive as ever, as were the harbour forts, but typically the one thing that we had come to see ( the World War II museum) was closed because, the guard informed us, they were relocating it to some indistinct area of the city over there (said as he was waving his arm in the general direction of the way we came). We did see them loading a jeep onto a trailer as part of this relocation, but I scarcely think that would fulfill Dan's requirement of what he wanted from a World War II museum.....

We sat down had a drink and regrouped, and decided to visit the museum of archaeology instead. This houses many exhibits from the temples of Malta and was a perfect way to whet our appetites before visiting the Hypogeum on Wednesday. It was an interesting, if small, museum and had an impressive display of Neolithic sleeping figures, as well as an inordinate amount of clay pots. Also, we finally got to see the George Cross that was presented to the island in recognition of its bravery against the Nazi bombing onslaught. 

An altar in the Museum of Archaeology on a lovely chipboard floor. I spared you endless pics of pots!!

The George Cross awarded to Malta, along with the letter from King George VI.

Surprisingly after all that, we were shattered and so we decided to make our way back home. I again feel like I have not seen all that Valletta has to offer,as we seemingly went down the Main Street we did last time. Is that all there is??

Back to the Island

This blog is a bit different to my usual posts as I generally have an idea of where I am going and what I am doing. This trip has been pleasantly arranged without me knowing, as a celebration of my thirty tenth birthday, and so I am currently winging it as I go.

We have checked in with easyJet but in an act of apparent meanness, they have put Sarah at one end of the plane and I am at the other end, so we don't get to journey together. This is made all the more perplexing when you see the are plenty of seats near me not occupied, and so if they couldn't seat us together, they could have at least seated us near each other. Never mind though, it is not going to spoil the holibobs!!! 

After checking in, Sarah and I were sitting having breakfast, when I had a tap on my shoulder.  Another surprise. My best man, Dan, and his partner, Symmie were booked in for the trip too. Apparently this has all been arranged for months and Sarah had been secretly arranging this whilst I have been completely oblivious. I am still trying to get my head around it to be honest!! One thing I can definitely say, this is going to be a memorable holiday for all the right reasons. 

As I type this, we are currently flying over what I assume is Paris. The weather is lovely and clear so I can indulge in looking out of the window and seeing the foreign countryside go past. 

**Update #1** The flight itself was a smooth journey and we had clear views of the Alps and Mount Etna. I was kept informed of all the goings on by the man in the seat behind me who gave a running commentary to his wife of everything that he saw. Fair enough to point out when he could see the alps and stuff, but I draw the line at his observing a puddle on the runway and pointing it out to his Mrs. before sagely pronouncing that he thinks it may have rained here!!

One thing I was oblivious to though was the commotion at the back of the plane where Sarah was having to deal with a fainting passenger.

Anyway we are safe and sound in our hotel and, have eaten lunch which consisted of three sharing platters (for two) between the four of us I am totally stuffed. After lunch we all decided it was prudent to go for an afternoon nap, which is something I never usually do, but the early start caught up with me and I was out like a light. Before I knew it, it was 6pm and we were supposed to meet up at 7pm and go for dinner!! 

**Update #2** We have just eaten dinner, at a lovely little restaurant we went to the last time we were here, and I had forgotten that the portion sizes are generous. A starter is easily the size of a main course dish and the main meal is like a Man vs. Food challenge!! And so currently I  feel like one of those anacondas that has just eaten a capybara, and now needs to go and sleep for a week or two to digest the meal it has just eaten......

The plan is to head into Valletta tomorrow, so I should be able to add some photos in after that ( I figured most people wouldn't want to see photos of large quantities of meat!!). For now though I need to sleep and digest everything, literally and metaphorically!

A sign of things to come....

One thing that is worth mentioning about Malta is their signs are wonderfully malapropriate. I puzzled at the bus time table which had bus times from fri-sat and then the Sunday times. Either they meant mon-sat or bus drivers have the cushiest job on the island!

That pales into insignificance when you visit one car mechanic though and his sign reassuringly offers you "free punctures" with every set of tyres bought. That is a business model which you have to applaud really. I wonder if the customers buy the second set of tyres off of him.....

When you add that to the church which seems to branched out and now offers manicures and pedicures - nuns like nice nails too i am guessing or, slightly more worrying, maybe the monks do! Anyway, there is a wonderful array of signs to enjoy here and any that I see and get a chance to snap will be posted up here.

By the lack of action thus far into the blog post you might have guessed that today has been a rather sedate day really, and you would be right. All we have done is a bit of sitting by the pool and drinking cocktails. Engrossed in a book, I forgot about the suns evil rays, and now have lobster legs. This wouldn't be so bad apart from the fact that I must have sat on the lounger in a rather silly way, as only half my leg got exposed, so I have one side, from thigh to ankle, lobster red, and the other side paler that a goth girl's complexion ......

Also, it seemed a rather good idea to look at the temple on our doorstep in order to whet our appetites for the temples to come. Our hotel was actually built around a small megalithic temple, and it seems rather a shame to admit it, but in fact this is the quietest and least visited part of the hotel. If you go to the sun loungers you find them filled with Germans and east European tourists cooking themselves slowly by the pool, but the only person other than us who drank from the cultural cup was a small child (nationality: unknown) who I think was actually lost and was looking for a way back to the pool.

The temple ruins are small, but rather lovely in their own right. The cynic in me suspected that they might actually be a modern reconstruct by the hoteliers in order to get some extra business, but they are in fact pukka 5000 year old stones. Anyway, here are some snaps of Bugibba Temple.

 

 

 

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A Va-lletta from Malta

There has been a slight change to the itinerary that I listed out the other day. Instead of today being a day at rest, the need, to get reliable internet access meant that we ventured into Valletta, the capital of Malta.

One of the things Malta is known for is it's wonderful bus service and buses, and indeed the Maltese seemed proud of this heritage too as all the souvenir stands seem to have yellow bus fridge magnets aplenty. It is somewhat sad to see that, as far as I can tell, these quaint things have been replaced by soulless Arriva buses.

That said, I could not deny they were nicely air-conditioned and were very frequent and cheap (you can travel the island on the bus all day for less that three Euros). I love travelling by public transport wherever I can as it invariably takes you to places you would never naturally go to, so the journey to Valletta was great fun, allowing us to enjoy the Maltese countryside.

A special mention has to go out to the driving over here, it is very random, especially at roundabouts. Britain was the country which invented and standardised the rules of etiquette when using roundabouts and it appears that to cock-a-snook at their former colonial overlords the Maltesers have dispensed with these rules. When a car is on the roundabout it is usual in the UK for cars looking to join to wait until they have passed before embarking on their manoeuvre; in Malta a car on the roundabout is a signal for flooring it and forcing the other cars to stop on the roundabout to avoid hitting you.........

Anyway, back to Valletta (my tangential witterings would put Ronnie Corbett to shame!). The bus ride was very nice giving us a long tour of some of the towns on the north of the island. There is a lot of rubble and derelict buildings and I wondered if they were a residual hangover from the second world war or not.

We arrived in Valletta and headed down towards the harbour so I could get the obligatory Valletta "money shot" of the forts across the harbour. This was a very impressive view to be fair, but I was slightly disappointed that the access to the fort was restricted so I could only get a few token snaps of the outside. Part of me felt like sneaking in anyway, but my curiosity was soon assuaged by the sound of repeat gun fire coming from the fort. Either they took the act of trespass very seriously here or, more plausibly judging by the sign I found a bit further down the road, the fort was used as a Police academy (only slightly more amusing than the film franchise I would imagine....)

This is Fort Ricasoli as seen from Fort Elmo

In case you are not aware, Malta was one of the most bombed places in the whole war, and its residents proved to be so resolute, that at the end of the war, George VI awarded the whole island the George Cross, the highest accolade that can be awarded to civilians.

This is a plaque on the parliament building quoting verbatim the letter from the king.

Personally, I preferred the language on the American plaque next door, apart from the fact they spell centre incorrectly!

The American plaque......

Another thing that Malta is famous for is for its churches. Being a catholic country, you can't go more than 100 yards without finding one. I like churches (coming from an Irish heritage it would be a sin not to) but I have to admit my real reason for coming here was the megalithic temples. However, here are a couple of church shots with which to feast your eyes.

This is St John's cathedral in the centre of Valletta......

......And this is a church on Merchant's street

Today has been a day at rest, and tomorrow we venture out to Gozo for our first day of templing. I need to dust my fedora down and get my bullwhip out of retirement.....Indiana Beamish returns......

The Plan

This tour is only a ten day excursion, and so to be completely efficient in seeing everything I want to, I need to sketch out a loose plan of things to do. Brace yourself Sarah - this is where you realise what you have let yourself in for....

For those who don't know, Malta might be a small island in the Mediterranean, but it is packed with a rich history. One of the key reasons I wanted to go there is that it has some wonderful megalithic temples which date from around the time of our own Stonehenge. I love my temples, so it will be nice to tick these off in my EyeSpy book of UNESCO World Heritage sites.

So this is a rough itinerary:

Day 1 - Arrive at hotel, and visit Dolmen temple (this is actually a bit of a cheat really, as the temple is in the hotel grounds).

Day 2 - Acquaint ourselves with the Maltesers, and the local area (i.e. find out where the nearest MacDonalds is etc.) and just relax a bit.

Day 3 - Visit the Tarxien temple complex and also see the Hypogeum (they are near each other)

Day 4 - Visit Hagar Qim and Mnajdra temples

Day 5 - Visit Ggantija temple and explore Gozo island

Day 6 - Day spent enjoying Valletta (I think it is probably sensible to take a break from temples to prevent fatigue!)

Day 7 - Visit Skorba temples and go to M'dina

Days 8-10 - Relax and recharge those batteries (and update blog!)

This is of course a very loose plan and is subject to alterations as we work our way through things - I don't want to be beholden to time, like I was in my whirlwind tour of the wonderful Karnak temple, but similarly, I wouldn't want to allot a whole day to something that amounts to two rocks set parallel to each other, which some Oxbridge scholar has proclaimed to be a temple.

There are other things to see too, and fortunately, the Maltese bus system (I am assured) is a fantastic way of travelling around the island, so it is fairly certain we will end up in some interesting places without intentionally listing them down. I have to admit that I am getting quite excited now that the holiday is within touching distance, and will hopefully get some nice pictures to share with you all, instead of these dry, pictureless posts!!!

Well, that is all for now folks, the next time I post I will be in the Med, with my string shirt and Union Jack shorts on.......