I realize that my posts have been pretty sporadic for the last few months, but it hasn't been for lack of trying. There has been a lot going on in my personal and professional life during this time that has kept me away from blogging. My posting activity will be even more infrequent - well, non-existent, actually - over the next three weeks because my wife and I will be on vacation (or holiday, if you prefer) in Malta for the rest of this month and into early August. I hope to resume reviewing albums for your listening pleasure shortly after my return stateside.
So as long as it's the topic of discussion, I just wanted to investigate the slight possibility of any blog readers living on the island or visiting during my stay. If so and you'd be interested in meeting up, please drop me a line so we can discuss a potential get-together. Bonus points to anyone who can show us the real off-the-beaten-path places in Malta and Gozo.
Posts
Wishing you and the wife a fantastic vacation.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Get to Sliema, walk along the promenade you get to a stretch where the ferries are berthed, one after another. Stand here you can see across to Valletta.
ReplyDeleteTurn your head around you have a stretch of buildings behind you. These include Marks and Spencers, one or two department stores, Italian coffee shops.
Between these buildings you see the traffic swinging left from the promenade and going up a hill, shops on both sides of the street.
Follow the traffic up. About twenty, thirty yards up, you will see a sandwich board announcing the meals they have that day.
Follow the advice of the sandwich board and go inside.
You find yourself in a club. It supports the Sliema Wanderers football team. It offers cheap food, cheap drink, and tips about Sliema and Malta.
You have to be prepared to walk. You can get very confused because alleys and narrow passages have been built on a very steep hillside. It takes a few days to realise that the roads at the top of the hill are the shortest distance between two points. Coming down the hillside and walking around you can get lost as easily as you can get lost in the alleys around the Old Square in Prague.
If you stick to the food in the tourist stretches you go nuts because it is very limited. Obviously the Turks will offer you salad extravaganzas in the kebab shops but the best deals on offer are found in the hinterland between Valletta and Sliema where the Maltese work and eat.
The central bus terminal in Valletta is a great place to start.
What you find is that the Maltese love their football with a passion that leaves you speechless.. Anything - cafes, bars - carrying football signifiers, such as club names,colours, is worth visiting.
Enjoy your trip and thanks for your music.
Enjoy the trip!
ReplyDeleteBeen to Malta last autumn and loved it. Not many beaches, at least of the white-sand type, but lots to see and do around the island.
Have a nice hollyday!!
ReplyDeleteI check your blog every day. You've given me some wonderful music. I hope you and your wife have a great time!
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C4%A7ana_%28folk_music%29
ReplyDeleteCheck out the local folk music whilst in Malta
Good Holydays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI wish you are having a great time. Have you read Pynchon's "V"?
ReplyDelete@ Remy, Porc, arthur, Tim, & paramecio,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the well wishes. Wifey and I had a fantastic time.
* * *
@ Anonymous,
I truly appreciated your suggestions. We stayed in St. Julians, right next to Sliema, so I was able to wander around the streets as you had suggested and found some fantastic off-the-beaten path places in the process.
* * *
@ osmucon,
Thanks for the information. We did enjoy some excellent folk music at a wine bar in Valetta on one particular evening. An unforgettable experience indeed.
* * *
@ Ansina,
Thank you for your consideration. I was aware of the prominent place that Malta has in V, but I just haven't had the time to read that book yet. Someday soon perhaps. I think that I will enjoy it even more now that I have experienced Malta first-hand.
* * *
Anyway, I'm back home in Chicagoland now, so I will resume with new posts very soon after I've completely recovered from jet lag.
Regards to you all,
RF