On the Wall - Sliema - Malta

Brother Peter's Boat - after meeting up in St. Pauls Bay

Well today is the first day that we fully realise why the marina manager did not suggest that we tie up to the wall. We've woken up to a north easterly which is blowing hard enough (not very hard) to bring in a swell that is really tossing us about on the wall. We do not yet have the equipment needed to decrease the force of the tug when we reach the end of docking line. So before we do much else today we'll have to do something to improve the situation.

Other than that we actually really like this spot.

Sliema is a pretty upbeat part of Valletta; technically it is not part of Valletta but it is pretty close. Unlike Valletta which is a very old city Sliema has hundreds of modern apartment buildings, shops such as Armani, Versace, Marks and Spencer etc. Its close to bus stops and we can get a ferry across Marsamxett harbour into Valletta at a cost of 85Euros, and sometimes we can get internet on the boat. So we quite like it here.

The moorage situation in Malta is quite grim, and the government run marinas like Msida, Tax Biex and Manoel Island are all to be privatised at the end of this year, so the great moorage rates - ie. one year at 1400Euros will be a thing of the past.

This past week we have visited with my family - my brother Peter and his wife Sue have a fabulous villa in the St. Andrews area where my other brothers, Ronnie and his wife Sherida and Michael and his wife Ann, plus Peter's two adult children are staying.

We also visited with my Uncle Sav and his wife Mary who still live in Balzan which is the village where my Grandmother used to live. Even though I was there briefly 5 years ago I had forgotten directions and Tony was wondering if my aging memory was completely failing me. But once I found my Grandmother's house I knew my way around.

When I last pulled into Valletta's harbour 5 years ago I passed 'Gun Post' which had become part of the tourist attractions to do with the Second World War, and was in fact one of the posts at which my father manned a heavy ackack (have no idea how to spell that) gun when he was posted here during the war.

This time around I was very disappointed that I could not see it, and it was not until Tony and I walked around the harbour that I found it, and it has been converted to a cafe/restaurant with an incredible view, its called the Spitfire restaurant now.

Apparently Malta's tourist board has decided to play down the War tourism card a little as they now want Italians and Germans to feel equally comfortable when they visit Malta. And we have noticed that quite alot of them are here and they seem quite happy to be so.

If we stay in Malta for any length of time we'll probably have to learn to take siestas like the locals do otherwise we are missing out on the evenings when everyone is out and about - its the only time that the sun is not boiling our brains. Its also when there seems to be fireworks almost every night during the summer. The Maltese love fireworks and they also love their Patron Saints. Every village or town has a Patron Saint and on the anniversary of that Saint (either their date of birth, death or when they were cannonised) the village celebrates with a feast day and fireworks. As Malta is about 30miles by 19 miles and is quite densely populated that means that there are fireworks almost every night somewhere, and they are never really that far away. Sometimes I wonder if the Maltese got desensitised to loud bangs during the Siege of Malta, which lasted 3 years and the island was bombed every day - sometimes several times per day. They seem to put alot of effort into making their fireworks bang/boom so loud that the vibration actually seems to shake one's actual skeleton. Its quite a rush really.