We didn’t rush to get up today. We had to check out by 11:00, and our flight wasn’t leaving until 20:15 (or so we thought). So we had quite a bit of time to kill.

After we’d had a cuppa, packed our bags and left them with reception until later, we ventured out into the hustle and bustle of Valletta.  We had a bit of a loose plan which involved a bit of last minute shopping, a visit to the National Archaeological Museum and whatever else we fancied doing on our last day. 

The first thing we saw was a small procession, with a lead man carrying a flag with the words “Sbandieratori E Musici dei Sette Rioni Storici Carpineto Romano”, which translates as “Flag-bearers and musicians of the seven districts” who hail from Rome, Italy. This is a folk group who participate in folk festivals but why they were in Malta is anyone’s guess. They were wearing heavy costumes which must have been uncomfortable in the heat.

https://www.rievocazioni.net/associazione/1320/sbandieratori-di-carpineto-romano.html

We headed to the Archaeological Museum and used the Heritage Malta pass to gain entry which is located on Republic Street.  There was information on lots of different eras of Maltese archaeological history, including Roman, Punic, Phoenician, Bronze Age and Neolithic.  The museum isn’t very big itself so we were in there less than an hour.  I did see some useful items which would have made good sources and evidence for my recent Open University course on classical history, including coinage and some inscriptions.  I also saw a Phoenician tomb which was almost intact and the detail was amazing. 

https://heritagemalta.mt/explore/national-museum-of-archaeology/

Once we’d left the museum we decided to walk further down Republic Street towards the Grand Master’s Palace.  Here there were more of the ornately decorated towers on display and I hadn’t managed to find out why they were placed all over the city and other parts of Malta and Gozo. 

So, what did we do to find out? We stopped a policeman and he gave us a quick run-down about the towers. He said that every month there is a feast to celebrate something. One main feast is coming up in July and this is the reason for the towers.

A quick Google search revealed that it is the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This is connected with the basilica that is in Valletta.

https://church.mt/information/feasts-in-malta-and-gozo/

It was now midday so we paid a quick visit to “The Pub” on Archbishop Street, which is a well known English style pub in Malta. The legendary actor Oliver Reed had his last drink there before collapsing and dying.

https://www.101malta.com/en/home/articles/198/ollys-last-pub.htm

The bar was busy when we arrived, and it was standing room only until a couple vacated their table. Only 24 people can be seated in there (a sign reliably informs you of that). On the walls are plenty of photos of Oliver Reed in various acting roles, as well as other references to British naval vessels.

Once we’d finished our drink it was well past midday – we needed to eat as we had skipped breakfast again. We went to Mamavon again where we enjoyed delicious Italian food.

From there we went for a long walk up to the Upper Barrakka Gardens where we sat and relaxed in the shade whilst taking in the views over the Grand Harbour. We were quite happy to watch the world go by. We waited for the 4pm gun salute but it never happened as there was a private event going on below.

We then walked back to Mamavon – happy hour had started at 4pm so we decided on a couple of cocktails before going back to the hotel.

Transfer the airport was easy – we just hired a Bolt taxi and we were there within 30 minutes. We already knew that the flight was delayed, but spent a bit of time in the duty free and relaxing in the lounge before being called to our gate. The flight was delayed by an hour or so (it was scheduled for 20:15) but then the app was saying that we wouldn’t arrived back into UK until 02:41 on Sunday. Nobody knew what was going on and there seemed to be a distinct lack of communication between the BA staff, ground staff, air traffic control and even the bus drivers. We even got told to board the bus before having to go back into the terminal with no explanation except we’d missed our slot.

There we just had to wait whilst other delayed flights took off. Eventually we boarded the bus, and then got on the plane. An engineer was looking at something in the cockpit which kept us waiting for another half an hour before taking off. The air conditioning was weirdly creating a mist, and people were looking a bit worried before the air stewardess announced it was nothing to be alarmed at. I can honestly say that I have never felt less confident in getting on any flight.

The flight passed relatively ok despite the sketchy start and we finally landed at Gatwick three hours or so later. There was still more waiting around for baggage handlers to get the bags off the plane. Eventually we went to bed at the Sofitel hotel at 02:00 Sunday morning. It wasn’t the best end to our trip but we’ve made some more great memories.