Friday, June 24, 2005

Malta day one

A bit delayed flying into Valletta today, but made it through ok. There's a regular bus service that runs from the airport into the city but it's in no way a shuttle! Many of the buses on Malta and Gozo are old British Leyland buses, yellow on Malta and grey on Gozo. Some are very old and rattly but great characters! Bus into the Valletta terminus took about 40 minutes.

Managed to find my hotel, the British Hotel, without too much trouble - I hadn't realised that Valletta is quite hilly and there are lots of steps! Found out later that it was one of the world's first planned cities - it's specially designed to withstand attack, but also the streets funnel the wind so there's a bit of a cooling breeze! There were meant to be statues on every corner when the city was built, and you can still see some of these today.

Great excitement at the hotel as the new Steven Spielberg film, Vengeance, about the 1972 Munich Olympics and the terrorists, was filming outside. From my perch (about four floors up - jeez I was glad there was a nice man to carry my bags up as there was no lift!) I watched for about an hour. Couldn't recognise anyone from that height, but allegedly Eric Bana and Daniel Craig are in the film. There was just one scene that they were shooting. I got a bit bored after an hour or so. Didn't see Speilberg himself - i guess he must delegate quite a bit of the scenes!

Went and had some pizza and a beer at the Cafe Deux Baronnes which has a fabulous view over the Grand Harbour and to the Three Cities. After dinner had a bit of a wander around, but Valletta gets quite quiet after dark (most people stay in Sliema etc.) so thought I'd be sensible and go back to the hotel.

No comments: