La Madame et sa valise: busy busy

I had decided to go and do some sightseeing yesterday, however was not sure how long it would last.

I decided to do the hop on , hop off bus which would be there every around every half hour if I decided to go back to the hotel.

We took off at pace, with the first stop being Silema. I sat up top just to catch a breeze, but as we left Bugibba, I caught a familiar smell, a fresh, briny smell, something I was used to on holiday many years ago in Torrevieja. We rounded a bend and there were The Bugibba salt carts, the area for the production of sea salt, I was breathing in the smell, which gradually faded into a lung full of diesel fumes.

Silema was a nightmare to get into due to masses of building work, it was sad to see the beautiful centuries old architecture being swamped by blocks of flats and high rise buildings ( like the hideous skyline of London now).

We headed on to Valetta my first stop. I had decided to head to the Co- Cathedral to see the only signed Caravaggio in world and it did not disappoint. A monumental painting approx 12ft by 17ft, it was commissioned by the Knights of Malta

As you know, I love a cathedral so just taking the time for quiet reflection was a huge part of this visit.

I won't bore you with the 3564789244 photos that I took.

This was my main reason for the visit to Valetta and as I have plans to return in cooler months I headed back to get the bus to Mosta.

The rotunda of Mosta is very well known for the fact that a bomb dropped by the germans in WWII did not detonate, and the 300 people in the church survived. The pilot of the plane that dropped the bomb did return to Mosta to apologise to the people, something that they admired greatly.

As we were approaching the drop off there were so many people waiting to get in that I decided to stay on the bus and head to Mdina, this in turn was much the same and in the heat of the morning, I headed to the roman villa and then back on the bus half an hour later. As I have said I intend to come back to Malta and revisit these places properly.

The bus drive back took us through the countryside, the small vineyards and many poly tunnels producing some of Maltas potatoes and tomatoes. The side to the roads full of huge prickly pears, the fruit for human consumption and the cactus used as animal feed if needed.

I was back at the hotel by early afternoon having left at 7.30am, it was time for a shower to try to cool off slightly.

I had a late afternoon sleep at the pool, and then decided to get ready for dinner.

I have taken to wandering the back streets of St Pauls and Bugibba in search of food rather than heading down onto the main strip, last night did not disappoint. About 2 streets behind my hotel and less than 5 minutes walking I found a lovely restaurant where I had spaghetti, with mushrooms, onions and sour cream. Oh my days it was delicious, as was the rose that I washed it down with.