Awesome Adventure 2016: Malta

We have settled into our new home, finding that we need to buy bottled water to drink because the desalinated tap water is just too tough to bear. After filtering my own water every day in Nepal many years ago and sometimes boiling and then cooling water in the fridge, I've never relied on bottled water! On Saturday afternoon, we walked down into Marsaxalokk town centre. The coloured fishing boats lived up to expectation. We found a reasonable supermarket to compliment what we could find in the small 'corner store' near our apartment. We missed the closing time for the fruit and vegetable shop and haven't seen it open since.

The following morning (Sunday) we walked back down to the much publicised fish 'and other goods' market. The quality of the fish was great and a reasonable price but there were also plenty of stalls with all sorts of cheap goods - with Sophie interested in the hair bands and Will in the computer games. We bought some pastries which were nice but overpriced. We spent the afternoon down at Pretty Bay. We knew that it would be a long walk around the coast and situated in a bay which also has a large shipping port and container recieval area. It was great to cool off but the sand that had been imported to create the beach was very fine, turning the water a milky cloudy colour. The beaches and harbour are cleaner than what we have seen in Greece but still not great - and nothing like those in Australia. It has been good for Sophie and Will to see the contrast. I caught the number 85 bus back with Sophie and Will, and John walked home. We had a few drops of rain the previous night and a decent downpour overnight. The apartment has been very hot as it had been closed up before we arrived but is slowly cooling down - day by day.

Today (Monday) we were determined to sort out the bus network properly and caught a bus to Valletta and another out to the St Paul's catacombs and separate Museum, grotto and another set of catacombs. We had lunch at a pizza restaurant before seeing the sights and will go back to Rabat and Mdina on another day, as there is plenty more to see - the Museum of Natural History, etc..., rather than burial sites. One reason to slow down the afternoon was Will's little collision with a doorway. He was down in the catacombs and misjudged a low area under an arch as he stepped up into a new section, hitting the top of his head - just as well he was wearing his favourite Tokyo cap! He has a slight egg on his head and a little scratch which we have dosed with savlon. We were thinking of going out to the Popeye Village tomorrow but might put that off until Thursday. There is a public holiday on Wednesday for Independence Day. We were home by about 5.30pm and John cooked up some of his squid with pasta! There is a cool breeze tonight - so, I suspect that summer is almost over for Malta.