It seems ages since I last blogged. You see, we have been to Malta and I have been thoroughly distracted. Hopefully the title ‘Malta 1 – what the Doctor ordered’ will summarise nicely. The ‘1’ means there might be some further posts on the subject.
We are certainly enjoying a holiday in the winter. Just as the winter is dragging on a bit, it is so nice to escape the grey, drab, cold skies for a little warmth. This year we have been to Malta and had a thoroughly restful time. Not that we were idle at all – I read a good book, we had a number of trips and organised tours!
For myself, this is the second time I’ve been to Malta. The first was about 35 years ago and it was booked in a similar way – a conversation in a travel agent and before I knew it, there I was, in the Mediterranean in the middle of the winter! Neither hot nor cold, winter is a good time to visit. The daytime temperature was about 18ºC and sunny for most of the time. It really did give us a good boost, we both needed it.
We booked a 4* hotel with a sea view and slightly away from the hustle and bustle. I think we achieved the right mix of doing things or flopping around reading and chatting. And chatting we certainly were – I wasted no opportunity in chatting to people – on buses, staff in the hotel, the guide and so on.
For me, there was a hint of retracing old steps; steps that were 35 years old. The above photo shows roughly where I stayed before, although the buildings seem to have grown a lot in that time. I was also given a free boat ticket by the hotel on arrival; nowadays one has to pay for it.
Back then, it was a cold day in December when I walked into a travel agent to explained I couldn’t face Christmas/new year in England – please get me out of here! They did indeed and do you know, this time I even recognised roughly where I stayed before, or rather a church facade which looked familiar and I knew the hotel was a few doors away.
Back then, 35 years ago, there were a good number of British people spending the winter there. Looking back I feel as if I were in someone’s novel, someone like E.M. Forster’s ‘A Room with a View’ with the various characters milling around. I remember expressing some surprise that so many would be spending the winter there (as I was so hard up in those days) but they explained how it worked out “quite cheaply” for them. Many were from northern England, where it is quite cold in the winter and I think they said they their pensions were still paid while they were away from home. They had all been spending so much money trying to heat their old draughty houses, it was cheaper to live in a Maltese hotel, full board no less, for the entire winter.
“We’re healthier!” they would explain. “We make friends who we get to see each year, always in the winter. We stroll along the promenade and play bridge in the afternoon. Tell me young man, why are you here?”
Malta is a very easy place to go on holiday. Everyone speaks English and helpfully they drive on the left hand side of the road, just like us. They have red telephone boxes and postboxes, just like us. Nobody seemed out to fleece us, even though we obviously looked and behaved like tourists. The food was familiar. Most importantly, tea tasted exactly as it should.
All of this added up to be a very relaxing and easy-going holiday, just what the Doctor ordered.