A bit of a nightmare on a beautiful island (Malta)

Member Name: jennysue

Product:	Malta
Date:	15/05/02 (2469 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: quieter than places like Majorca/Ibiza, lots of history

Disadvantages: poor food in restaurants, lack of supermarkets for self-caterers

Going to Malta was a great idea. Going with my brother-in-law and his wife was not. I knew it wouldn't be, but we couldn't afford to look a gift horse in the mouth, as its unlikely we'll be able to afford another foreign trip this year. Jo was given the timeshare as a wedding present by her Dad whose health won't let him travel now. The apartment in Qawra sleeps 4 so they asked us to join them with only our flight to pay for.

Flight booking was easy. We left it till less than a month before our departure, searched the Internet, made the booking and had our confirmation within 48 hours and instructions to collect tickets at the airport. We paid half what Charlie and Jo did for their scheduled flights. No food on the way, but who wants airline food anyway, on a short-haul flight. Good coffee and croissants at Gatwick were more than enough. Charter airlines are now notorious for insufficient leg-room. Even I was suffering from swollen ankles by the time I arrived in Malta, and I'm only 5ft 2. Not even enough room to wiggle feet around and no chance of walking around. No point anyhow. One of the aircraft toilets was broken and the queue for the other one was most of the length of the plane. When we got off, all the ladies immediately formed another queue outside the only female toilet on airside at Luqa.

A car had been arranged with the apartment management to collect us. We bumped around the edge of Valletta and out towards Qawra. Almost all buildings in Malta are built from the native stone, or from concrete blocks made from it, so they are all shades of pale yellow or creamy white, quite pretty in the dusty sunlight. The terrain is rough and rocky and quite a lot of building going on, so in some places its difficult to know what is just natural ground and what is a building site. You have to remember that most of it has been re-built since the war when it was heavily bombed.

Qawra and Bugibba are on two sides of a stee
p sided peninsula at the north-east end of the island, both resorts that have grown up in the last few years. Salina Bay, the Qawra side is the site of old salt pans, which I think are very ancient but are still used.

Our apartment was disappointingly in the semi-basement with a tiny terrace below street level. Jo's timeshare arrangement is not tied to one specific apartment, just any one of that size in the development, Club Riza, that's available when she wants to travel. The facilities are fair. A nice bar that serves breakfast and a good Chinese restaurant open in the evenings. Plus a good-size outside pool and pleasant sitting and sunbathing area and a really tiny indoor pool with a Jacuzzi adjoining. Because people could look straight into the apartment from the street, it was hard to have windows open without the shutters or curtains closed and it was horribly claustrophobic. On the plus side, it was nicely furnished, spacious and comfortable and the shower worked and was hot.

Charlie and Jo arrived in the early hours of the following morning. Their expensive scheduled flight had been delayed over 2 hours. When they eventually got up, and Jo had spent an hour blow drying her hair and putting on loads of makeup, we went and had an 'English' breakfast in the bar. 5/10. It was greasy and the baked beans were out-of-the-tin stone cold. We bought fruit and cereal and didn't bother again.

The first morning we had been out of the apartment 5 minutes when we were grabbed by another timeshare rep to view a new development nearby. They blagged Charlie and Jo that they could trade timeshares if they liked it, which later turned out to be more or less a total lie unless they wanted virtually nothing back for what they have now. A morning and half an afternoon wasted when we could have been on the beach or something. We spent the remainder of the day by the outdoor pool and in the Jacuzzi, then walked into Bugibba to find
some dinner. That first night we were lucky. We found Rosita's which was one of the best meals we had for choice and good value.

The next day, our hire car arrived and we headed across the island for Marsaxxlok. This is still an attractive traditional fishing harbour town with some market stalls by the quay. It is possible, if you are choosy and careful to get some nice hand-made Maltese lace tablecloths and similar items, but there's a lot of rubbish. The good stuff is expensive. Ignore the open-air café right on the quay and choose one of the little places set into the harbour wall serving fresh fish lunches. We didn't do that. Big mistake.

After lunch we decided to go to the Blue Grotto. This is a series of caves on the southwest of the island. It's a steep drive down to the only car park and an even steeper 5 minute walk down to the boats. A fleet of brightly painted boats take you out of the tiny inlet and round to the caves. The whole trip takes about 20-25 minutes and costs about £6 per person. The water is amazingly clear, and you think you could touch the bottom, but its actually about 20 meters deep. The boatman pointed out the brightly coloured sea-anemones below the waterline. Predictably everyone leant over that way and the boat tipped a bit. The woman beside me shrieked piercingly in my ear, but there is no danger whatever. The Blue Grotto name comes from the reflected light of the water onto the roof of the cave. On the way back, the wind was against us. Jo, who was sitting on the outside got a wave more or less right in the face and I can't help giggling. Her flimsy little designer fleece is soaked through, her hair dripping and her eye makeup streaked. We go and have a coffee and she spent 15 minutes in the ladies repairing the damage. Came out sulking with hair scraped back under a baseball hat. I kindly offered her my sunscreen/moisturizer but she declines. If it doesn't cost £30 a tiny pot, it isn't
good enough for madam.

The highlight of the day for me was a visit to some prehistoric remains not far away. I felt at home and at peace, the same way I do at places like Stonehenge and Glastonbury Tor, and I re-charged my little collection of crystals on a place that was supposed to have been an altar stone. Malta has quite a few prehistoric sites, but this was, unfortunately the only one we got to see.

That night's dinner was a disaster, the restaurant was called Riviera and I think it was in St Julians. The boys argued with the manager about the food they didn't eat and got the bill reduced, but it was still an expensive mistake. Back to the Club Riza bar and a few nightcaps. Alcoholic drinks are the same price or less than at home. Local beer is good.

The following day we went to a craft centre and to the old capital Mdina. Mdina is peaceful and beautiful. The honey-cream stone buildings glow in the sunlight and most of the streets are far too narrow for cars. We arranged to meet later for tea and John and I wandered around on our own. If you want to here, you can go for a ride in a horse-drawn carriage. The whole city is fortified and built on the top of a hill with wonderful views across the island. There are several museums, telling some of the story of Malta.

Be careful with the craft centre. Malta is good for fine silver filigree work as well as its lace and blown glass. You can find all of these things and more, but the prices are not necessarily cheaper here. Take a look in your resort or in Valletta and compare prices. We did find some lovely filigree Maltese cross pendants for gifts to take home and watched similar items being made. The glass is beautiful too and again you can watch the process. The glassblowers shop is fiercely hot, so much so that it felt quite cool outside even in the sun. Time for an icecream - this is good everywhere, one of the things Malta has successfully imported from Italy.


We got spectacularly lost on the way back to Qawra. For a couple who BOTH drive for a living, Jo and Charlie are appalling at reading a map, but we didn't interfere. We hadn't meant to go back via Mosta but we did, twice. Never mind it would be easier finding it again when we wanted to the next day. It wasn't, they managed to get lost again.

On Jo's previous visit, without Charlie, she had been swimming with dolphins at Mediterraneo and recommended the experience, so we booked. Unfortunately Charlie, and to a lesser extent Jo were prostrate the next day with bad stomachs, so John and I went on our own. I thought all the animals had less living room than was good for them, but our guide claimed they had been checked out by various wildlife organisations. There are sea-lions, pelicans, iguanas and snakes to see as well as the dolphin experience. Wetsuits are provided and you need them, the seawater pool is very cold. You are told what commands to give the dolphin so it rests its head on your shoulder on the edge of the pool, spins and splashes you and rolls over to have its tummy tickled. The best bit is being towed along for a few yards holding onto its fins. I think I was a mermaid in a previous life, it was a really magical experience. The photos they take of you are very expensive. They try hard to discourage you from taking your own camera to the pool even if you have a waterproof one. Hot showers available afterwards. You are supposed to get a drink and a snack included in the price, but we only got a small coffee each.

Mosta Dome is definitely worth a visit even if you aren't religious. Go and see the bomb that went through the roof during WW2 and miraculously missed the congregation inside. Architecturally it is a masterpiece, one of the largest domes in Europe.

Don't miss the capital Valletta, it needs at least a day, there is a lot to see and we will have to return to Malta, to take in all the museums a
nd art galleries. We did manage to get to see the cathedral and were rewarded by a choir practice while we were there, the perfect accompaniment to reading latin inscriptions underfoot on tombs of the Knights Hospitallers of St.Johns. Go and see Grand Harbour too, something we missed out on.

If you can't get through a holiday without a little retail therapy Valetta will reward you with some lovely and expensive shops, including some big designer names. Jo was in paradise, and we left her to it for a couple of hours. We don't share the same taste in clothes.

Sandy beaches are few and far between, it's a rocky island mostly. One nice one is Golden Bay, but be careful with small children in the water here as there can be dangerous currents. There is just one big hotel here on the cliff above the beach.

Unfortunately I lost my last day through going down with flu and bronchitis, and only managed to sit weakly in the shade while John decided to try snorkelling off the rocks - Qawra has no beach. He stayed in only a couple of minutes, in late April, it was too cold, but would be wonderful later in the year.

We would like to go back to Malta, but would need more spending money than we budgeted for this time, if we wanted to eat out all the time and do more.

For the self-catering, supermarket shopping seems very limited. You definitely need a hire car to get around or get friendly with the local buses. The roads are very rough and bumpy and I've no idea how cars survive here, yet you frequently see things like Ford Anglias and Escorts over 25 years old!

It's an adult holiday destination rather than family, although older children with an interest in history might enjoy it.

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