19 October to 21 October

We flew into Malta from Catania, Sicily – a brief 1-hour flight on Ryanair (yuck). Firstly they changed the gate on us and we nearly missed the plane because you can’t hear airport announcements and no-one came to let us know. Then we found that passengers weren’t properly monitored for cabin baggage and although we were seated at the front of the plane, had to go half way back to find a spot for our carry-on luggage, which in turn meant that we had to wait for everyone to get off before we could get back to our luggage.

The first sight of Malta from the air was impressive – giant sandstone cliffs jutting out of a beautiful sea.

We grabbed a bus to the city to our apartment and this was the first AirBnB on the trip that we’ve been horrified by. Inadequate map from the host, a pitch black stair well to struggle up with luggage, then we got into the apartment we found no soap, shampoo, dish detergent, or even plugs in the sink. No wonder the cookware etc wasn’t clean. The PIN for wifi didn’t work. The promised washing machine was there but the “drying rack” was a broken piece of a drying rack. AirBnB will probably blacklist this host because of the safety issue alone, let alone the failure to provide their listed basics.

Anyway Malta was very interesting. It’s history goes back around 2,500 BC and there’s a strong Arabic influence as well as Roman and more recent British. It’s often referred to as an “open air museum” because of the array of ancient ramparts, ditches and fortresses originally built over thousands of years to protect against invasion of this very valuable piece of territory.

These days it’s a member of the EU, so the euro is the official currency and most people speak English. Valetta, our spot, was a beautiful port city with incredible sandstone buildings. It felt very safe and quite friendly.

Valetta also seemed to be a magnet for some seriously wealthy people. The massive marina was crammed full of vessels, many of them breathtaking in size and design.

We were lucky enough to catch a triathlon alongside the marina on our second day, featuring some of the world’s top male and female athletes. An absolute ringside seat in a bar was a perfect way to get an unimpeded view, especially the final laps which were quite thrilling.

On day 3 John went off to visit Medina alone, as Christine’s stitches were still causing a problem.

Next day, off on the Star Flyer.