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Maltese Musings #1 – An Introduction
As one or two of you may know, I have returned from a most welcome break in Malta, a journey undertaken with not only a certain amount of relief after a hellish time at work, but also with the flatmate, mutual friend Mikey and – wait for it – my mad Aunt.
We were definitely an odd group, it must be said. (In fairness, Terry seemed to do quite well out of it; some people seemed convinced the three of us were her paid escorts.)
And a good time, it must be said, was definitely had by all. Malta’ s a lovely little island and even in October the sun was constant, which for me resulted in massive sunburn on the first day and the rapid purchase of a baseball cap. Thankfully this quickly settled down and I’ve actually managed a quite reasonable tan.
A couple of days were spent lying by the pool, ploughing through books (I can heartily recommend Julian Clary’s Murder Most Fab and Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader, by the way), but otherwise we did a lot of walking, jumping on the disarmingly charming buses, and marvelling at the general psychosis which seems to affect the Maltese when put behind the wheel of a car.
I mean… really. They make London drivers look like law-abiding citizens.
Anyway, I’ll do a few posts over the next few days detailing the high and lowlights of our trip in the somewhat misguided notion that you may find it of interest and take yourselves off there sometime.
But ultimately, if you can cope with armies of almost pensionable tourists swarming around you (and indeed we think one or two of them had died weeks previously) then Malta certainly comes highly recommended.
I fully intend to return.
Posted on October 21, 2008 | Filed Under Holiday Excess
Comments
Response left by Bobbie on October 21st, 2008
The best thing is that on leaving a particular area there’s always a “you are leaving” sign which states “Thank You for Driving Carefully”.
And yet, Chris even saw one woman driving with her feet whilst changing a baby’s nappy. It beggars belief, it really does.
However, we were informed at one point that accidents per head of the population are the lowest in Europe, which is worrying considering that we saw six. I guess that they just don’t report most of them!
Response left by Rob on October 21st, 2008
Oh my god! Thats quite scary. I have to say I think every Country I have been too, they seem to be maniacs. Maybe your right about Londoners being law abiding citizens. Im not totally convinced though. Sounds like it was a well deserved break though..
Response left by Bobbie on October 21st, 2008
I went to Malta many moons ago….the year that Cher was Shoop Shooping her way through the charts…played in every bar and cafe on the island….and I was most amused at the ‘Bognor’ cafe in one of the seaside areas, which I can’t recall the name….it was hot, hot, hot when we went (my first holiday abroad) and therefore I’m pretty sure a shade of lobster red was quickly attired….which went well with the dayglo bermuda shorts.
Response left by Emma on October 22nd, 2008
Some of the names are odd aren’t they? I saw Windsor, Strand, and Brighton in the hotels and restaurants over there.
I suppose it’s all due to the British influence in the war.
Bognor is a bit of an extreme example though. 
)
Response left by Rob on October 23rd, 2008
Got something to say?
A guy I work with is Maltese and he is still on the floor at your portrayal of Maltese drivers
) Quite spot on apparently!