Malta-Day 1

Woke up to the sun peeking through the curtains. A quick look at my phone said it was dawn, so I woke Simon up so we could get some shots of Spinola Bay at sunrise.

Went back to sleep for a bit, then woke up around 7 and went down to breakfast. I have to say, they did a nice spread. Good assortment of cereals, cheeses and fruit. There was also a table with a variety of mini croissants, danish and other breads. The hot food offered was scrambled eggs (though you could request fried, poached, etc.), bacon, sausage, grilled tomatoes/mushrooms, beans and hash browns. Yes, I said grilled tomatoes/mushrooms and beans. English breakfast. The coffee at the hotel was fantastic, which is typically unusual. Way better than the coffee at the hotel we stayed at in Paris this past summer. Matter of fact, most of the food was better too.

Decided to go into Valletta. Now, the easiest way to get around Malta is on a bus. They're old, noisy and bumpy. Simon read in the guidebook that they're typically owned by the drivers. There's also various sightseeing buses where you pay a flat rate for the day and hop on and off as you like. I myself think the regular buses are cheaper in the long run, considering that you'll spend pretty much an entire day in one area anyway. Depending on where you're going, the buses run from every 10 minutes (to Valletta) up to every hour (to Cirkewwa where you catch the ferry to Gozo). Bus stops are everywhere and it's just a matter of knowing which route goes where. The hotel personnel were very helpful with this, as well as the guidebook we later picked up which listed all of them. We had 2 stops right across the street from the hotel, so we went outside and hopped a bus to Valletta.

The bus ends at the main terminal of Valletta, right outside the city. Simon has better pictures of the area, but this fountain is right in the middle.

Valletta has lots of things to see and quite a few shops. Most of the souvenir shops (of which there are several) all stock the same things and just vary in prices on them. One of the main attractions is St. Johns Co-Cathedral. Since we were there on a Sunday, most parts weren't open for touring (we went back on the last day). But I did get some shots of the main area.

(I have a ton of pictures on my Facebook, so I won't bother to put a bunch on here)

Wandered around for a while, picked up a few things. We toured the Palace Armoury, which displays several examples of weapons, armor, etc used during by the Knights of St. John.

Had some great Tortellini at an outdoor cafe, cream sauce w/mushrooms and ham. Back to walking around, and we ended up along the battery. It was a gorgeous day, with temps by now in the low 70's, and the view was amazing.

We eventually went back to the terminal around 4 and caught a bus back to the hotel. After a brief rest, we decided to walk around in search of a coffee and see what the other resteraunts had to offer in the way of food. There was a place with an outdoor area across the street that had some stuff on the menu we liked, so we figured we'd have some coffee, walk around then go back to eat.

This ended up not happening.

When we sat down a waitress came up with menus. Before she could put them down, I told her we just wanted 2 coffees. This netted us a dirty look and she went off to get them. I can only assume she was upset cause it was the dinner hour and was hoping to make some decent tips. The coffee was okay, not as good as the hotels. When we were done, we looked around and couldn't find her. A few minutes later, some people sat at the table next to us and she attended to them. She met my eyes 3 times and not once asked if we needed anything, and was off before I could ask for the bill. About 10 minutes passed and another server came up to us and asked how we were doing. I said we were fine and ready for the check, she smiled and said okay. Another 10 minutes passed, and I finally cornered our server at the bar. I told her we'd been waiting for the check, that I'd told the other server because "You've looked right at us 3-4 times and still didn't ask if we needed anything. We've been waiting for the bill." Her response was that we'd told her 'collegue' and not her. I said I would've gladly told her had she bothered to check on us. Anyway, we finally got the bill and needless to say, didn't go back for dinner (or leave a tip, for that matter).

Dinner ended up being some chinese starters from a place near the road that we took back and ate on the balcony, all the while expressing our disbelief at the service at Paparazzi. I think I'll look them up and see if there's a comment section on their website :p