We’ve to fit two bus tours and a harbour tour into our week in Malta and it’s Wednesday already. But high winds and choppy seas have anchored the harbour boat, so a bus trip it is, to enable us to see as much of the island as possible. The tour of the north includes a visit to Mdina, Malta’s old capital, which is perfect. We can have an hour looking at this ancient city and get on to the next bus, which allegedly comes round in an hour’s time.
We head into the inside of the bus, since it’s neither warm nor calm enough to sit upstairs in the open, although a few hardy souls are attempting it. Once we get underway, some of them decamp down inside, looking battered!
I like getting a chance to see some of the interior of the island. I always like to see what grows and how the people live. The rural areas are criss-crossed with dry stone walls, much like our Dorset, UK countryside, except that it’s divided up into much smaller areas like allotments.
The roads around Mdina are very busy and once we get to the approach road, on a hillside, we’re down to inching upwards towards the top. We’d seen the walled city as we approached as it’s set up high in the landscape.
We’re dropped outside the walls by a kind of park, where patient horses are waiting for sightseers to take up an offer of a carriage ride. There’s a public toilet here, but judging by the queues- [especially for the women’s, as usual] it may be the one and only opportunity, so we have to use some of our precious hour to queue up.
There’s a short bridge over a moat then we’re in through the gate and it would be like stepping back to medieval times were it not for the throngs of tourists everywhere. There’s more shelter from the stiff breeze here inside the walls and it’s pleasantly warm. Horses and carriages clatter around the streets, looming up alarmingly from unexpected corners. We stroll. It isn’t a large city but the buildings are magnificent- in particular a church with a most beautiful, painted ceiling. Further up the street we emerge into a small square and a portion of wall that can be walked upon. There is a smattering of gift shops, although it isn’t too commercialised.
An hour is long enough to get a flavour of Mdina, so we wander back and across the bridge to the park, where the loo queue is as long as ever. Husband, of course, reappears in no time and goes over towards the area of bus stops, little knowing that my queue extends inside the toilet block. When I emerge he is shouting for me to hurry as the bus is about to leave and he’s prevented the driver from leaving- phew!
We stop at a few more places pass by some of the large resorts that dot the north coast, like St Paul’s bay. Looking at these, I’m glad we’re based at Sliema as the weather isn’t lending itself to lolling around on a sun lounger.
Later, we walk down the road to ‘Giorgio’s’, where we get a very delicious meal. We still have a bus trip and a harbour tour to fit into our week.
Novels by Jane Deans [Grace]: The Year of Familiar Strangers and The Conways at Earthsend. Visit my website: janedeans.com
Anecdotage 