Ashore in Malta

Hi everyone,

Happy Christmas!  Time to catch up on our European travels ashore this year.

After our week in Cambridge we flew to Malta.  We'd been unable to visit the island during Covid so this was a chance to make good the omission.

Armour, Swords, Spears & Shields

We stayed in Sliema, across the bay from Valletta.  A ferry links the two.  There are many bars, cafes and restaurants around Sliema, and forts too.

View of Valetta from Siema

Many ferries link Valetta and Gomo

Fortifications towards Tigne Point

Fort Tigne War Memorial

Fortifications old and (relatively) new

Ice Cream 'Van'

We travelled across to Valletta several times during our stay.  It's a quick 15 minute trip with spectacular views.  Valletta is hilly but great to explore on foot.  It's full of amazing buildings and streetscapes.

St Francis of Assisi Church

Street Food

Lovely Lanes

One visit took us to the War Museum.  It covers Malta's military history from ancient to modern times.  Very interesting indeed.

Victorian Guns (as in Bermuda & Hurst Castle)

Amazing Displays

Gloster Gladiator (think Faith, Hope & Charity)

AA Guns

WW2 Memorial

We also visited the famous St John's Co-Cathedral, constructed in the 1570s for the Knights of St John.  It is amazing.  We attended an event in the cathedral's oratory which holds Caravaggio's The Beheading of St John the Baptist.

In the Oratory

An oral and musical history of the Knights of St John

Multiple companies run 'hop on hop off' bus tours of the island.  We did two tours on successive days - one around the north half and the other the south half of the island.

First we visited the Malta Aviation Museum.  It's a very good museum for such a small island.  Perhaps that's unsurprising given the island's WW2 history.

Faith, Hope & Charity

ME-109 Wreckage

Hurricane

Spitfire

We hopped off the bus in Mosta to visit the Rotunda.

Mosta Rotunda

WW2 bomb which pierced the church but was a 'dud'

We also hopped off the bus at the ancient capital of Mdena.  It was founded in the 8th century by the Phoenicans and walled in moorish medieval times.

Outside Mdena

Inside Mdena

Lunch in Mdena

We also hopped off at two sites of the Megalithic Temples of Malta.  These date back to 3600 to 2500 BC.  First we visited the Tarxien Temples.

We also visited the Mnajdra Temples on the coast.

We're so glad we had the opportunity to visit Malta.  What an amazing place!

Climbing out from ex RAF Luqa