It is unfortunate that I am unable to share all my photo memories of our Malta adventure so I leave you with these final glimpses from our holiday.

I captured some lovely moments walking around Valletta; a lizard playing hide and seek with me in the upper Barraka Gardens, hidden gems of history, birds with their aerobatics around Triton’s fountain, harbour views, fortifications and the gaudy interior of St John’s Co-Cathedral. And, perhaps, I shouldn’t mention the indulgent Pistachio Wonder for lunch in the Haagen-Dazs Cafe.

My biggest regret is being unable to share the wonders of Gozo; The views, the saltpans, Fontana’s wash house, Ta’ Pinu Basilica (the miracle church), the Citadella along with the amazing views over the island of Gozo.

Those memories along with others will remain as ‘a memory’ for me until (maybe?) the next time I visit Malta…

The fountain consists of three bronze figures of mythological Tritons holding up a platter. Two of the Tritons are sitting, while the third one is kneeling, and they are balanced on a seaweed base. The face of each Triton is visible when viewed from City Gate. Their posture gives a sense of strength as well as spiral movement, which contribute to the monumentality of the fountain. The water jets were also designed in order to convey the sense of movement.^[4] The figures of the Tritons represent Malta’s links with the sea, and their design was inspired by the Fontana delle Tartarughe in Rome.^[5] After the fountain’s platter was damaged in the 1980s, a bronze pillar depicting a flight of seagulls was added to the fountain to support its weight.^[4] This was not included once the restoration was completed in 2018.^[6]

The Parliament House (Maltese: Dar il-Parlament) is the meeting place of the Parliament of Malta located in Valletta, Malta. The building was constructed between 2011 and 2015 to designs by Renzo Piano as part of the City Gate Project, which also included building a new City Gate and converting the ruins of the Royal Opera House into an open-air theatre. Construction of the Parliament House generated considerable controversy, mainly due to the modern design of the building and the cost of construction, which amounted to around €90 million.

From 1921 to 1976, the meeting place of the Parliament of Malta had been the Tapestry Chamber of the Grandmaster’s Palace, also in Valletta. In 1976, the former armoury of the same palace was converted into a new parliament, and meetings were held there until the opening of the purpose-built Parliament House on 4 May 2015.

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On one of our walks around Valletta a road had been blocked off due to filming taking place near one of the buildings. I wasn’t able to find out what was being filmed but during my search I saw that Fort Ricasolo was being used as a film set for Gladiator II. Part of the fort is leased to the Malta Film Commision and is used as a location in many films. We had noticed the Gladiator II film set from the other side of the harbour but had not realised what it was at the time.

Fort Ricasolo is currently closed to the public due to its dilapidated state. Some of the fortifications have been eroded and fallen into the sea but approval has now been given for the proposed restoration plans.

Today, Fort Ricasoli remains largely intact, although it is in a dilapidated state.^[40] The headland that it is built upon is prone to coastal erosion, and some of the walls between No. 3 and No. 4 bastions have already collapsed into the sea.^[41] In 2004, the Restoration Unit of the Ministry of Resources and Infrastructure removed, restored and re-attached part of the fort’s walls,^[42] but nothing has been done to restore the entire fort.^[43]

We enjoyed our last breakfast in Malta before checking out of the hotel and leaving our cases with the concierge. Our taxi to the airport was due around 1pm leaving the morning free.

We walked into Valletta to visit Muza, the National Museum of Art, which is housed in the Auberge d’Italie. The Auberge building needed to be restored before the art collection could be displayed. We enjoyed the architecture of the building and also the excellent artwork within the museum collection. I particularly enjoyed some of the religious artwork.

Before returning to the hotel to wait for our airport transfer, we had just enough time for me to enjoy a fresh orange juice in a café we had used on previous occasions.

On arrival at the airport, we were greeted by a Jet2 rep who directed us to the baggage check in desk.

On our outward flight there were lots of pool players heading to Malta to compete in an international championship. The championship had concluded the previous day and as we waited to check in our luggage we were once again in the company of the competitors.

As we went through the hand baggage scanners, it was Mr C’s turn to be stopped and, his case, have his hand luggage and himself checked for ‘substances’! We still had time for a quick snack lunch before going through the gate to await boarding.

Our departure was slightly delayed but on take off I was treated to the sun setting over the clouds, then mostly darkness. For me the plane descent was a little unpleasant due to my recent cold causing excess pressure in my ears. The landing was a bit ‘wobbly’ and we arrived in cold and wet 39F Manchester which was a shock to the system after leaving 80F sunshine in Malta.

Our passage through immigration and collecting our baggage ran smoothly leaving us plenty of time to dine in the Tatton Arms once again before setting off on our journey home.

After breakfast we set off on another bus adventure, this time to St Paul’s Bay to visit Malta’s National Aquarium. During our hour-long journey, we saw many different styles of architecture, landscapes and neighbourhoods.

The aquarium is split up into different zones that feature both marine life and the history and hidden treasures of Malta. There is also a zone that covers reptiles and amphibia. The aquarium is excellent and we saw several types of fish that were unfamiliar to us.

We had lunch in La Nave bistro (part of the aquarium complex) overlooking St Paul’s Bay and the islands of St. Paul, Comino and Gozo. Even though it was rather windy, we chose to sit outside to with our choice of cake options so that we could enjoy the views. I noticed another lady coming outside and taking a seat only to retreat inside a few minutes later because of the wind. After she had gone back inside, I noticed that, in her haste to get inside, she had left her rucksack hanging on a chair outside. I went inside to tell her that she had left her bag behind.

Back in Valletta we decided to have a cuppa in the room overlooking the harbour rather than going to a café in the city.

Later, we had a pre-dinner drink in the hotel bar before walking into Valletta for our last evening meal in Malta where we dined in La Pira. I chose a stuffed fresh pasta dish instead of my usual fish choice. The food was delicious and the service was laid back but attentive.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped for a drink in a bar overlooking St John’s Co Cathedral. In comparison to previous days, we found it rather chilly because of the breeze so we returned to the hotel for one last drink before our journey home.

It was a choice between visiting the fishing village of Marsaxlokk or the Hagar Qim temple complex.

We checked the bus time tables and found that the bus to Marsaxlokk would arrive earliest so we decided that we would go there for the day. Then Mr C noticed a bus that was heading to the temples which caused him to change his mind. It was only when we were on our way that he realised the journey wasn’t direct and we would have to change.

We changed at Zurrieq, a quaint Moorish town with picturesque narrow streets. There were lots of buses returning to Valletta but we had to wait for half an hour one that went to the temples.

Before entering the temple complex, we had a traditional Maltese tuna ftira. The sandwich was so large we shared it between us.

The Hagar Qim complex consists of a main temple and three additional megalithic structures beside it. The main temple was built between 3600 and 3200 BC but other structures on the site are even older. Hagar Qim is quite different to other megalithic sites that I have seen.

We viewed one temple then, instead of taking the direct route to the second temple, we took the route of the nature walk. The ground was rugged and rough under our feet. Thankfully I had put my walking shoes on but, even so, when Mr C decided to walk along the cliff edge I headed uphill, keeping to the pathway.

Arriving at the second temple we found it to be a lot smaller in footprint than the first one. Like megalithic structures elsewhere, there are sun and moon alignments to the solstice and equinox. There is even a theory that one of the stones has markings that align it to the Pleiades constellation.

Both temples have a canvas canopy over them to protect them from the harsh elements that would erode the soft limestone rock.

Back at the bus stop we found out that, counter-intuitively, we needed to catch the bus back to Valletta on the same side of the road as we had alighted. We waited for quite some time (other people joining us) and no bus appeared in either direction. After a while we suspected that one of the scheduled buses had been cancelled and we were now waiting for the next one which arrived eventually.

Back in Valletta, we decided to relax with a cup of the tea on our balcony before setting off for our evening meal. We settled on the restaurant That’s Amore where we didn’t have the best of experiences. They were extremely slow to take our order and when the bottle of wine arrived the glasses were filled unevenly. Mr C’s empty plate was taken away whilst I was still eating and he was advised that he could order desserts and coffee later! My plate was left in front of me for a long time after I had finished eating. The lovely local rose wine we had chosen was the saving grace of the experience.

Back at the hotel, the bar staff tried to fob me off with a small bottle of inferior wine because they had run out of the normal wine and needed to go to the cellar for some more. I sent it back to be replaced with the higher quality wine that I had ordered on other occasions.

Photo taken by Mr C

For some reason I was feeling out of sorts when I woke up, possibly because I could feel the beginnings of the lurgy coming on. We were a little late for breakfast but thankfully there was only a small queue.

After breakfast we had planned to catch the ferry to Birgu but the plan was flexed and we detoured to the war memorial first rather than on the way back from Birgu as we had planned. The pathways that led to the memorial were all blocked off. We had quite a tricky time getting to the war memorial and so it took us longer than expected. Some pathways were closed and the roads around it were very busy.

After photographing the memorial, we walked to the lift that would take us down to the ferry. Unfortunately, the extra time it had taken to get to the memorial meant that we had just missed the ferry and had to wait for it to come back.

Photo taken by Mr C

Eventually in Birgu, we took a few photos of the harbour before sitting on a bench for a few moments to look at a map so we could get our bearings. It was now time for a refreshing drink before walking into town. We didn’t opt for the nearest café and settled for a shady arcaded place a short distance down the street.

Then we headed into town checking a signboard before choosing to visit the Inquisitors Palace first. As we neared the palace, I saw a photo opportunity and realised my camera was missing. I remembered I had put it next to me on the bench when we sat to briefly peruse the map. I always check I have left nothing behind when I move on from a place but for some reason, I didn’t see the camara, maybe it had fallen on the floor underneath the bench. I will never know…

Mr C retraced our steps checking all the cafes and also the bench area where we briefly sat. It was gone without a trace.

Despite being distracted due to the loss of my camera, or, more importantly to me, the photos I had taken during the first days of our holiday I enjoyed our visit to the Inquisitors Palace.

By some quirk of fate, I had unexpectedly upgraded my mobile phone (paying less for my contract) just a few days before we travelled to Malta!  The new phone has an adequate camera, so going forward I was able to capture my own photo memories of our adventures in Malta.

Photo taken by Mr C

We went in search of lunch, ending up on the harbour front sharing a pizza and enjoying a glass of wine and beer seated in shade at restaurant Sottovento. This was handy for our next intended visit, The Maritime Museum. However, we found that the museum was closed to the public until further notice, because is being refurbished.

We returned to Valletta, on the way checking at the café near to where I lost my camera. The waitress took my phone number and directed me to the police station that was 200 yards away to see if it had been handed in there. It hadn’t but the police officer also took phone details, although both of us knew that by now my camera was not going to turn up.

It being my birthday, back at the hotel Mr C ordered a bottle of Prosecco to be delivered to the room. The bar staff said, can you take it yourself? Mr C agreed but they provided no ice bucket so it turned out to be a do it yourself sort of celebratory drink on the balcony! When we sat down, I had a little birthday surprise in that my mum (who struggles with technology) was able to use her new mobile phone to ring me up to say happy birthday.

We walked into Valletta to find a suitable restaurant for a birthday meal, ending up, to our delight, dining in our restaurant of choice, Grain Street which we had thought was shut that day. The food and service were amazing.

Our cosy nearby bar was shut on Sundays so we returned to the hotel for a nightcap instead.