Malta: Wed Sept 21 – Thurs Sept 29
Accommodation link.
Sunday 25th September
The main event we had planned for today was a half day tour to the south of Valletta; to The Blue Grotto and Marsaxlokk. We managed to fit in a short walk beforehand though and noticed the stark difference a Sunday makes here; everything was shut and the streets were deserted and there was little difference when we returned at 2 pm.
The first thing we were informed about, as we headed off on our large bus tour, was that optional boat trip out to closely view the Blue Grotto was cancelled for the day due to the high seas. This was disappointing for us as this was the reason Mark wanted to take this tour; he’d even thought he’d be able to have a swim at the Blue Grotto but how wrong this would prove to be. We did make a short, photo opportunity stop at the Blue Grotto but, so too did about 10 other large bus loads worth of tourists; it was mayhem! So, that was the Blue Grotto done apparently, the star billing event for the day done in about 10 minutes. The next stop was a further 5 minutes down the road, and it was another quick one, at the small fishing village where we would have hopped on the boat, had they been running. The only thing worth noting here was that there was a 17th century watch tower, courtesy of the Knights of St John, and quite a few people have scuba diving lessons. ‘Risk assessments’, ‘duty of care’ and ‘OH&S’ have not really factored in anywhere that we have been across Europe thus far.
Our second stop was about 15 minutes further along where we all hopped off the bus and walked around the narrow streets of the humble farming village of Qrendi. With hindsight, I think this was just a random filler-event to make up for the time not spent on the boat tour. I could be wrong but I seriously doubt it. After that, it was about a 15 minute drive down to the seaside fishing village of Marsaxlokk where we had 90 minutes of free time to stroll the Sunday markets and to have lunch. These markets were pretty much filled with all the cheap, mass produced junk we’d seen throughout Puglia and Sicily. My big question was why, why sell this inane rubbish? Why not sell some unique crafts and goods rather than this cheap and nasty imported stuff? We were both hungry by this stage so pulled out of the waterfront markets strip to find somewhere for lunch and, luckily, scored an upstairs window seat at one of the busy waterfront restaurants where we had a good view out over the markets and harbor. It ended up being very lucky we had something to watch as our meal took over 45 minutes to arrive and we ended up having to rush it down, in about 5 minutes, and scoot back to the bus for the 1pm pick up. We weren’t the last back on the bus but we were the second last! So, really our 4hr tour got us a few photo stops and a rushed lunch. I would not recommend this tour if you’re ever in Malta; we could have achieved much the same by taking the Hop On Hop Off bus as it takes a very similar route.
The tour guide was friendly and informative though and we picked up a few bits of information:
- There is no cremation in Malta as there are no crematoriums. Each town or village has its own cemetery.
- In their republic model it is the Prime Minister and Parliament that chooses the President, their head of state.
- Malta’s Unemployment rate is 3.5%
- Services (IT, ship building, banks) account for 85% of GDP and Tourism is 25% of that 85%.
- Microchips make up 55% of all exports and this is from just one company.
- House cost are high with the cost of a 2 bedroom flat in the country being around €300,000 vs €I million for the same style in Valletta and with a sea view.
We got back home from the tour at around 2 pm and spent the afternoon at the apartment doing mundane things like washing. There was one more outing though at around 6 pm for Mark to explore a craft beer venue he had found. This filled in an hour or so before we headed back home for a quiet night. We had a full day tour for the next day so we were keen for an early night.
