Weekend in Malta
 

This is the latest of my trips to European capitals I hadn't been to before. Combined with trying out some new low cost travel options.

Step 1: Walk to local train station. It's about a 30 minute walk but the weather is fine. Cold but sunny. Since my plan is HBO and the destination is somewhere hot, I have eschewed a coat and gone for a T shirt and hoody but with a merino wool base layer. That will all pack down just fine and not hinder the rest of the trip. A few spots of rain started during the walk but I managed to get under cover before anything serious happened and "rained on my parade".

Step 2: The train I had booked on was cancelled. But luckily the train before it was delayed so arrived just about the same time mine was due. Some sort of problem with the overhead cables in Stockport (presumably frying some unfortunate long pig). The quiet carriage was not quiet so I ended up moving to a noisy carriage which was much less stressful.

Step 3: Arrive Euston and walk to St Pancras for the train to Gatwick. The St Pancras station platform to Gatwick is a 1970s carbuncle of the worst order, but the trains are regular and reasonably comfortable.

Step 4: Gatwick First Lounge. I really enjoyed this space. I couldn't get the online ordering to work so I asked for help. Apparently my "Duck Duck is the problem". Well, privacy belayed and wanting food I went from my usual Firefox browser (with DD search) to Chrome and then things worked a lot better (if slowly). Sitting in a Liberace style pink velour high back chair and eating mildly spiced thali can't be bad. The champagne was okay and on free pour, so that got some use. I am travelling in economy, so there is a need to pre-load to some degree. I hopped seats a couple of times until I was in the prime position in the corner with a view of the runway and the gates and spend a happy chunk of time watching all the take offs and landings including an Emirates A380 which absolutely dwarfed anything else nearby especially the turboprop from Guernsey.

Apparently BA do stock Club Soda, it's in a blue can!

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f69b26f37f.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1316a5088b.jpg

Step 5; En Avant. Bob humous meal was okay and a relatively pleasant flight even though theoretical seating didn't kick in. My companions in the row were a mother and daughter from Ireland so the conversation flowed, even though I was not involved. Not sure pre-ordering Bob is a great idea. It seems to be pretty unusual and I felt a bit singled out as a result.

Step 6: Arrival. Got off the plane, followed the signs for the bus, X4 was just finishing loading ready to depart, so tapped my First Direct card on the reader and next stop Valletta. Less than 5 minutes. Arrived in town and greeted by the Triton fountain.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b315464041.jpg


The accomodation was booked through Avios hotels which is just a wrapper for Expedia. Looking for something cheap I booked a room and it turns out to be something like an AirBnB. Not something I had ever done before. The comms with Avios hotels were attrocious and I ended up having to ring Malta before I travelled in order to get the details to be able to access the property. Everything worked fine in the end. I walked downhill from the Triton fountain to find my property and entered a code on a keyholder box to get the yale key to the property. It turns out that I have a whole house in downtown Valletta near the Sliema ferry. It was actually really nice to get in to the feel of the place, even though as I would see later, probably identical to the cells in which prisoners were held on the island (pic of the street where I stayed taken next morning). Safely ensconced I went for a bit of a wander, but soon returned for an early start next day.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5a32470f89.jpg

Step 7: No breakfast in bed here, if I don't cook it it doesn't happen. But google maps tells me there is a Spar supermarket a few yards away. It's an amazing place. If you were staying here self catering you wouldn't lack anything, but I'm only here for 48 hours so I got one of the excellent fresh breakfast pastries, an espresso and a can of fizzy wine. Went down to the docks to consume it all while looking at Fort Manoel and watching the locals float and fish.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...fc2c65b2dd.jpg

Walked round the bottom of the island and eventualy came to the 3 cities ferry to go over to Conspicua. I had intended just to go to the Inquisitors Palace, but there was a deal on where 3 Euros got you entry to all 3 main museums there, so I did that. Really nice. Did a lot of walking around and deliberately getting lost so I could see what everything was like. Valletta and Conspicua reminded me of Assasin's Creed, you really felt like you were on a film set for a Medeival adventure. The whole place was ridiculously photogencic. Lots of it has been rebuilt after the bombing in WWII but it still feels pretty genuine nontheless.
(Photo of pomegranete tree in the courtyard of the Inquisitors Palace)

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f6e908faf4.jpg

Step 8: A couple of stops through the day for a refreshing Aperol Spritz. Becoming increasingly aware that Malta is like a version of Italy where everyone speaks English. Although I'm not sure that the British are remembered over warmly here.Evening meal was in MUSA. It's a bit odd to be eating an evening meal in the middle of a museum, but it worked for me :) The food was good but expensive for what it was.
(My neighbour for dinner)

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7ed997b27d.jpg

Step 9: Since I'm not actually in a hotel, and I have a whole day before my 22:10 flight back to Gatwick, I stashed my bags with a shop near the Triton fountain for 3 Euros. As I was staying right next to the Sliema ferry I took a trip out there and back. Honestly don't bother. OK it's better than home but there's really nothing to recommend it, just shops and a few rocky shores where you can swim. Breakfasted on Aranchini which is pretty cool :) So back to Valletta and down to St Elmo's Fort at the tip. The museum was missable, but there were some pretty good views to be had and I think I would have regreted not visiting the site.
(View of Valletta from Sliema)

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...121f6882b3.jpg

Fort St Elmo

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...14f9edcb24.jpg

Step 10: Wandered round the rest of Valletta and worked my way (slowly) up to the top where my bags were. Quite hungry by now and the Aperol Spritze on the way left me feeling more than sober.

So off the to airport. X4 bus from the bus station right there. A couple of tourists on their way to the airport, but mostly locals getting from A-B.

Step 11: Time for the lounge at Valletta. No. Denied. There is an electronic entry system to get airside and my boarding pass is too early! Asked the local gaurdian and he said 3 hours before. I chanced my arm a bit later at 3.5 hrs and got a nice friendly beep and a green light instead of the red light and frowny noise I got an hour before. I did get a chance to go to the landside observation platform which was worth a visit. Nice infographics along the way and a view over the runway. But you need to go past floor 2 where people actually work, so it does feel a little weird as the elevator is mostly used by real people not tourists. Eventually in the lounge. It's very nice for a 3rd party lounge. The outside bit is designed for smokers but probably better than the inside now the sun has gone down and a few whiffs of smoke isn't going to bother me as I smoked for over 25 years.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b9a1fc1291.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...418b2da4b1.jpg

Step 12: Back to Gatwick. I resented getting shunted down to the gate way too early. You could leave the lounge at T-30 no problem and avoid sitting around (even though there is a passport control booth to go through). Theoretical seating worked (hurray!) but aparently someone had thrown up on the middle seat anyway, so had to deal with that smell. (My seat mate kindly gave me a dose of their alcohol rub to help sanitise me). Hairways took me home and I dossed at the Gatwick Hilton as the return gets in at 1 am which is no time to be looking to journey further. Next morning I ate my entire daily calories at the breakfast buffet and returned home. Job done.

Summary: Really liked Malta. Probably my favourite of all the places I have been the past year.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...0b9f17b31b.jpg

Very nice TR DeathSlam. :tu:

“Hairways” :D

Nice report, I felt out of breath by the end :D