Cherie's Place

Filed under Anecdotes, Holidays, Malta 2023

Malta – Day Four

Photo taken by Mr C

The breakfast room was rather chaotic and the local cuisine options that I had intended to try had run out, requiring me to fall back on my trusty continental breakfast choices.

After breakfast we walked through the city gate to St John’s Co Cathedral which was a lot quieter than the previous day when the cruise ship was docked. We were provided with an audio tour which pointed out the various aspects and artworks within. We found the order of the guide a little confusing compared to the building layout but we got there in the end. There was a chapel decorated by each nationality within the Knights of Malta. The artwork was exquisite but, for my taste, over the top leaving me with a feeling that the church was more to the glory of man’s achievements rather than to God.

Photo taken by Mr C

Even though there was no queue, the Cathedral was still very busy inside so after our visit we stopped at the nearby café Granelli for a refreshing drink, in my case fresh orange juice. We decided that, next, we would visit Fort St Elmo but before we entered, we had lunch in a nearby café where I chose lemon cake and Mr C opted for a sandwich which when it arrived was enormous (enough for two people).

Photo taken by Mr C

Once inside Fort St Elmo, we found that the site also housed The National War Museum. This museum contains some interesting exhibits and gives an insight into what Malta went through during WWI and WWII. One of the most interesting exhibits is the George Cross medal which in 1942 was given to the people of Malta as recognition for their bravery during WWII.

Photo taken by Mr C

There was so much to see in the museum we ended up getting back to the hotel later than intended, leaving us only a short time to get ready for dinner in the Mezzodi restaurant. The food was perfectly presented, in my case sea bream fillets rolled and stood on their ends. We finished off the meal by sharing a portion of Tiramisu with a difference.

Before returning to the hotel, we enjoyed a nightcap from the Grano bar in the lovely street where St Paul’s Shipwreck Church is located.

Tags: Fort St Elmo, George Cross Medal, Grano Bar, Malta, Mezzodi Restaurant, St John's Co Cathedral, Vacation, Valletta

14 Comments CherryPie on Nov 18th 2023

Filed under Anecdotes, Holidays, Malta 2023

Malta – Day Three

Photo taken by Mr C

The buffet breakfast was excellent with a full selection of both continental and cooked breakfast options including traditional Maltese options. Also available were items that needed cooking to order such as pancakes, omelettes and fried and poached eggs.

Photo taken by Mr C

Photo taken by Mr C

Comfortably replete, we left the hotel and walked down the hill towards the Templar Memorial and the siege bell which we had seen from above when we first walked into Valletta the previous day. The mid-morning heat led us stop for refreshment along the way. I chose to try the local drink, Kinnie, which has an orange and herb-based flavour. I found it very refreshing.

Photo taken by Mr C

Rather than continue along the harbour, we cut through the town where we ended up in a food hall checking out options for both dinner and lunch. Mr C got tempted by the mention of pancakes, expecting to have a lemon and sugar option but it was not listed on the menu option. I ordered my pancake from the options available and was told by server that she would try; she hadn’t made one for a while and that if it didn’t work, she would throw it away… I sat down and waited and when it arrived it was delicious. Mr C’s second choice of pancake was also not available so he ended up choosing a pancake with no topping at all! He also ordered a milkshake which, when it arrived, was a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a tub!

Photo taken by Mr C

After this bizarre experience we decided to visit St John’s Co Cathedral but on arrival the queue was extensive so we flexed our plan and visited the nearby National Museum of Archaeology instead. The museum has an excellent display of the Neolithic period including some items found whilst excavating the Island’s Neolithic Temples. I was particularly taken with the minute carving ‘The Sleeping Lady’. In addition to this, there were galleries displaying Bronze Age and Phoenician artifacts as well as galleries displaying other things of interest.

Photo taken by Mr C

After our visit we sat and chilled out in a nearby café where I enjoyed freshly pressed orange juice before exploring Valletta further. This led to us finding the main foody street giving us options for evening meal choices. Our travels led us to the terrace above the Upper Barrakka Gardens where I sat for a while overlooking the harbour and the enormous cruise ship (looking like a horizontal sky scraper) which dominated the view. This explained why there was such a large queue to enter the Co Cathedral.

Back at the hotel, we had a drink in the bar before freshening up for dinner. The restaurant that we had originally chosen was unable to accommodate us so we booked a table for the following evening. Instead, we chose to dine in Anglo-Matese. The food was good but for some reason it took over an hour to arrive. We were apologised to profusely on several occasions about the delay.

Photo taken by Mr C

Much later, back at the hotel, we had a nightcap before retiring for the evening.

Tags: Anglo Maltese, Bronze Age, Cruise Ship, Malta, Me by another, Merchant Street, National Museum of Archaeology, Neolithic, Pancakes, Phoenician, Portrait, Seige Bell, Templar Memorial, The Sleeping Lady, Triton's Fountain, Upper Barrakka Gardens, Vacation, Valletta

12 Comments CherryPie on Nov 17th 2023

Filed under Anecdotes, Holidays, Malta 2023

Malta – Day Two

Our 3.30 am alarm call allowed us to get to the airport at 5am in time for our 7.05am flight. We encountered a slight hiccup when the in-car SatNav directed us to a blocked road which, too late we remembered had happened last time we flew from Manchester airport. It was four years ago so we can forgive ourselves for repeating the same mistake.

Once at the airport, we booked into the meet and greet parking leaving the car keys before making our way to check in where we found we had to weigh our own bags and print the labels before we could check in through ‘fast track’ which we had pre-booked. Our hand luggage passed through the scanner with no problems but for some reason I set off the personal scan alarm which meant I had to go through the electronic body scanner station. This was an odd experience. After a few questions about what might have set off the alarm I had to stand in a particular way as indicated by a silhouette on the wall facing me whilst the machine scanned my body.

After passing this test we had breakfast which for me was pain au chocolate and fruit juice. By the time we had finished eating, the boarding gate had opened and on checking in we found that we were sharing our flight with a large group of English and Welsh pool players on their way to an international tournament.

We left rainy, cold and dark Manchester on time arriving in Malta 3.5 hours later in glorious 80-degree sunshine. We had booked a private transfer which meant we would arrive at our hotel sooner than if we had waited for a bus. As our driver took us to our hotel, he pointed out various things on our journey and when we arrived in Valletta, he gave us several tips on how to get around.

As we checked into the hotel, we were greeted by the concierge who gave us a refreshing drink. Our room was ready but needed to be checked off by house keeping before we could get the keys. This allowed us to enjoy our refreshing drink looking at the view of the hotel pool and the harbour beyond.

Our room was fantastic with a sea view and balcony looking out over a small harbour and in the bathroom, there was a small vase with a carnation. We left our bags in our room and walked up the 88 steps towards the city gate to Valletta. It was time for lunch so we purchased a snack from one of the kiosks near to the city gate before heading into the city.

Photo taken by Mr C

Photo taken by Mr C

We walked around the city taking in some of the lovely coastal views whilst orientating ourselves for future excursions. I spent a while sitting, cooling off enjoying Lower Barrakka Gardens whilst Mr C went exploring. I was treated to the sound of birdsong and lizards peeping out from the undergrowth.

Photo taken by Mr C

Explorations, complete we headed back to the hotel where we had a drink in the bar before heading to our room to unpack and freshen up before dining in the hotel. In the dining room there was a bit of miscommunication, we had intended dine from the Al a Carte menu but we ended up sampling the Indian Style buffet instead. After dining, we finished our drinks in the hotel bar before retiring for the evening.

Tags: A Room With a View, Balcony, Grand Hotel Excelsior, Harbour, Jet 2, Lower Barrakka Gardens, Malta, Parliament Building, Vacation, Valletta

4 Comments CherryPie on Nov 16th 2023

Filed under Anecdotes, Holidays, Malta 2023

Malta – Day One

Although we were both quite disorganised in our packing and preparations, we actually managed to set off on time for our overnight stay in the Premier Inn. We always choose to stay overnight in a hotel near to the airport when we have an early morning flight, it allows us to get to the airport on time without additional stresses.

The journey to Manchester was horrendous with torrential rain causing spray and difficult driving conditions on the motorway. In addition to this, too many drivers were travelling too fast for the difficult conditions. We had a brief stop at a motorway service station, then continued our journey to the Premier Inn where we checked in and relaxed in the room with a refreshing cup of tea before dining in the nearby Tatton Arms. I had a small portion of fish and chips accompanied by a delicious glass of Pinot Grigio blush.

After dining, we retired to the Beefeater bar that is attached to our hotel for a nightcap. We didn’t linger too long; the drinks were expensive and the room was extremely chilly. We returned to our room where we warmed up with a refreshing cup of tea before an early night in anticipation of our 3.30 wakeup call to allow us to get to the airport on time for check in.

Tags: Airport, Manchester, Premier Inn, Tatton Arms, Vacation

2 Comments CherryPie on Nov 15th 2023

Filed under Anecdotes, Holidays, Malta 2023

Stories Not Included

During our recent Malta adventure I unfortunately lost my camera along with the photographs for the first part of our holiday. Luckily just before we travelled I had upgraded my mobile phone (paying less for my contract) so I was able to take photos after my camera had gone missing.

I have now replaced the camera but the photos that should have accompanied my stories from Malta have been lost in a foreign land…

Tags: Camera, Loss, Malta, Vacation

12 Comments CherryPie on Nov 13th 2023

Filed under Holidays, Malta 2023

Cherie’s Place – Thought for the Week

The man with the backpack is never lost. No matter wither he may stray, his food and shelter are right with him, and home is wherever he may choose to stop.

Horace Kephart