Malta

It’s holiday time and I am desperately in need of some sunshine. Summer has been a complete wash-out and I want some rays before the winter darkness sweeps over me. We only decided to come to Malta about two months ago so it has come along quickly but I am settling into it now and enjoying unwinding in the Mediterranean sunshine.
We spent our first night in London and went to see Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre on Shaftsbury Ave, I saw it many years ago in Edinburgh but Sean had never seen it. Alfie Boe was playing Jean Valjean and it was, of course, excellent.
There were no flight hitches and we arrived in Malta on time and in the sunshine. When I booked the hotel, as an incentive to book quickly they offered us a free limo pick-up from the airport. A bit flash, I thought, but why not? The limo turned out to be a Peugeot...bit of a come down! However, the driver was chatty and had lots of information about Malta. I guess the motto is beware of incentives!
We are staying at The Palace in The View Suite. The hotel has six themed suites and The View is on the 8th floor with wonderful views over Sliema and the harbour. There is a tiny balcony off the bedroom which I can’t go out onto as I get vertigo but the larger balcony off the sitting room is much better with loungers and sitting areas. W were greeted with a complimentary bottle of wine and cookies. Nom. Oh, and there is a telescope in the room, in case we decide to become peeping toms!
We took a quick walk around Sliema before coming back to the hotel for dinner in their rooftop restaurant called TemptAsian. The food was very good with plenty of it and for pudding I tried Fried Ice Cream. I was half expecting a bowl of hot milk but it was actually a scoop of ice cream wrapped in a kind of pancake and deep fried. I guess it is a variation on Baked Alaska. It was very good and I would recommend it to any ice cream lover.
We returned to our room briefly before heading down to the open air bar on the ground floor. As the lift door opened we were confronted by a German couple who must have just left the restaurant and were too excited for each other to wait till they got back to their room. Sex in the lift when you are only going down 4 floors is just too much of a quickie for me but they were going for it and even hesitated a moment as we entered as if they weren’t sure if they would stop or not! Life is never dull and we both had a laugh about it!
Today we took the ferry over to Valetta across the harbour. It has been very hot all day and we must have walked miles up and down the hills that the city is built on but it was a great day and a fascinating city. I particularly liked the Archaeological Museum where there was a collection of ancient female figures denoting life and death. The one that I especially like is called The Sleeping Lady and I have been hoping to acquire a copy in the tourist shops but they seem not to have that one although they have several others. Curious. Needs further investigation.
We returned to the hotel in the late afternoon to freshen up and have a quick bite to eat before heading back to Valetta for the all night festival called Notte Bianco. The whole city was transformed into stages and performance areas for singers, dancers, poetry reading, marching bands, you name it, it was happening. Many of the historic buildings were also open for free. What a great night! Young people, old people, families with children and tiny babies...everyone was there and taking part. We loved it but our legs were giving out on us so we have now returned to the hotel to get some rest before tomorrow’s boat trip to a fishing village and market.