After a very early get up, we arrived at Gatwick South Terminal with time for a light breakfast before boarding for our 06:15 British Airways flight to Valletta. The aircraft door wouldn’t shut so there was a bit of a delay whilst we waited got an engineer to arrive. We eventually took off at 06:40, and had a pleasant enough flight, just short of three hours. We flew past an active and smouldering Mount Etna on the island of Sicily before landing at Valletta airport.
After collecting out bags, we got an Uber cab into the city which cost just over €11 and took about fifteen minutes. The traffic was slow in Valletta due to roadworks taking place in the one-way system. Our Uber driver decided to stop without much discussion saying that the hotel was “down there and turn right”. I think he’d got fed up with the slow traffic and the time taken so he’d just decided to stop. No five star rating on the app for him!! He had actually sent us in the opposite direction to Google Maps and once we’d got our bearings we found our hotel.
In the air conditioned reception, we were warmly greeted by Luka at the Embassy Valletta Hotel. We had a glass of Prosecco before having a pre check-in as our room wasn’t ready. This was fine, we were well ahead of the official 3pm check-in time. So we left our luggage before Luka gave us a map, showed us some sights of interest in Valletta, and we headed out.
https://embassyvallettahotel.com
The hotel is in the centre of Valletta, where it was busy with people milling about in the 30 degree heat. Some of the streets are mainly pedestrian walkways which makes it a good spot for outdoor seating at restaurants and bars. There is a distinct British feel due to the Crown colony days dating from 1813 until Malta’s independence in 1964.
https://culture-malta.org/854/
There are red telephone boxes, English is one of two official languages, cars are driven on the left and there’s a Commonwealth walkway which was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in November 2015.
Despite this, the central Mediterranean location also means historical connections with Sicily and North Africa. Over 60% of Maltese actually speak Italian which is due to the migration of hunter-gatherers from Sicily. Malta is also known for historic sites related to a succession of rulers including the Romans, Moors, Knights of Saint John, French and British. It has numerous fortresses, megalithic temples and the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum so we have plenty of places to visit across Malta. We started off near Freedom Square, taking in sights such as Parliament, the defensive walls of Valletta, Pjazza Tritoni, the Triton fountain, Palazzo Ferreria and Pjazza Teatru Rjal.
Lunch consisted of Sicilian fare, at the Ortygia restaurant. There are plenty of similar restaurants to choose from but we liked the look of the menu and that we could sit inside away from the afternoon heat. I had a nice fresh caprese salad, whilst JC went for wild boar tortellini with a fresh ragu sauce. We tried a Maltese Sauvignon Blanc which was delicious.
Once we’d enjoyed the Maltese-Sicilian hospitality we wandered back through the streets to our hotel. Our room has a jacuzzi on the balcony so what better way to cool down than enjoying the facilities in the privacy of our own space.
We had a great view on the fifth floor of the hotel, overlooking the Fort Manoel which is on our list of places to visit. We could also see the Basilica of our Lady of Mount Carmel, with its fabulous dome roof, and behind us were the towers of the St John’s Co-Cathedral.
I was feeling a bit jaded from our early start combined with the heat, so we both crashed on the bed for a couple of hours. Feeling refreshed afterwards, it was time to get ready to go out and eat again. It was getting on for 9pm by the time we went out and we started to look for a restaurant. It was busy but we found a nice place called Mamavon Bistro, on Republic Street. The staff were lovely, particularly our main server called Josette, a Canadian-Maltese lady. The menu was varied, with plenty of pasta, pizza and seafood dishes. I didn’t want anything fancy so went for a pepperoni pizza which was freshly prepared with a lovely light dough. Once we’d eaten, we wandered about again before ending up at a quirky bar called 97 Notes, where we had our final drink of the day before heading back to our hotel.
jctraveller 
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