Ħaġar Qim, over 5000 years old, is found at the top of a promontory with a fertile plain to its east and garrigue sloping down to the sea to the west. 500m downhill from Ħaġar Qim one finds Mnajdra, a contemporary building, probably used by the same community given its proximity.

The late-Neolithic site of Ħaġar Qim consists of a group of monumental megalithic buildings, located on the crest of a ridge. To the west, the site commands views over the open sea, while to the east, it overlooks the edge of a large plain.

The main building of Ħaġar Qim is unusual with features and doorways along its external wall. The floor of the central passage inside the building is paved in stone slabs while the floors in the chambers branching off this passage are made from beaten earth. The original low-relief carvings, copies of which are nowadays in this building, are displayed at the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta. Doorways inside the buildings are either trilithon, built of two upright stone blocks with a lintel and threshold, or an opening cut into a single megalith, known as a ‘porthole’ doorway. Parts of these buildings were originally covered by a corbelled roof, made of successive courses of megaliths, each one smaller than the one below.

Mnajdra consists of three buildings, constructed in both globigerina and coralline limestone. The first and oldest structure is the small three-apsed structure. The South building, with its concave façade was next to be completed followed by the Central building which was constructed on an artificial platform between the two earlier buildings. The South building’s doorway is aligned with sunrise during the Spring and Autumn equinoxes. During the Winter and Summer solstices, the beams of the rising sun pass along the sides of the main doorway hitting two decorated slabs within the first chamber. Apart from the central passage leading to chambers on either side, the buildings at Mnajdra also include tiny chambers constructed within the thickness of the walls.

Both Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra are protected from the elements by shelters. Since these sites were excavated less than two centuries ago, their slow deterioration has been witnessed at first hand. Shelters were therefore constructed in 2008 and are intended to slow down the impact of natural elements on the rate of deterioration of these sites until alternative means of preservation are tested and implemented.

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.