We had one last day left in Malta and we were going to use it to the fullest. Originally, we were going to go straight to Valetta in the morning, but as we woke up and saw sunny skies, we rearranged our plan and ran to the bus to go to the beach again. As we were walking to the bus, the skies suddenly got gloomy, the wind started blowing and it started to sprinkle. During our 25 minute bus ride, the rain stopped and we saw sunny skies with a few big clouds. We held our fingers crossed and were lucky enough for the sun to come back when we arrived to the beach.
Katya was determined to throw Mark in the water. But he squealed enough for her to change her mind.
We only spent an hour at the beach, got back to the bus, rode it to the apartment, got changed ate a bit of an early lunch of leftovers and caught a bus to Valetta. As we got to the city, we knew everything was different this time! It was Carnival time! Fancy dressed up people walking around, big floats getting ready for the parade, music, treats and a lot of children all around.
Awesome toreador costume.
Costumes very different from the Venetian Carnival, maybe because it's warmer here.
With Queen Victoria looking over the festivities.
I was looking for the special place for cannoli that our friends recommended, but it turned out to be closed, unfortunately. Instead we found the same pastry stand as from a couple of days before. This time I was much more careful about watching the scale as they weighed the sweets. And only because I noticed how much the scale showed, I called them out when they told me the price that was 4 euros higher than it was supposed to be. At first the guys said, "Oh, let me reweigh it", and then lowered the price. Anyway, not fair, but that's how they get you there on a very touristy street.
We walked over the to one of the streets and heard loud booming music--that's where the parade was. But my mom started feeling really sick and horrible in her head, so we had to quickly leave that area for a much quieter street.
Walking here was much more pleasant.
After not finding yummy cannoli, and not finding the carnival all that exciting, just a crowded and loud place, we made a decision to take the bus to a small fishing village of Marsaxlokk. It was about a 40 min ride from Valetta, but oh so worth it!
Just imagine a painting of colorful boats with a beautiful sky as a background. This is real Marsaxlokk.
It was around three in the afternoon when we got there so their Sunday market was closing down and so were some of the places to eat. You could tell that it was a busy place during the day here, especially in good weather. I had read about this tiny place right next to the fishing market called "The Rising Sun". It had a very family-owned sort of atmosphere with specialty in local fish. We sat outside as the weather was lovely and calm.
And this is how Mark felt waiting for food.
Mark ordered octopus pasta, but I don't think he realized it was going to have so much octopus in it. He ate quite a bit of it though.
Robert and my mom both had some sort of local fish. It was yummy, healthy but still had bones in it.
I had octopus that was delicious, nothing like fried calamari (I do like those as well though).
After dinner, we still had time to take a beautiful walk along in the harbor. The sun setting, the clouds, the sea, the boats--everything looked magical and almost surreal.
The only wish I had was that Malta were warmer... But that's what you get for coming here in the dead of winter.
A couple more pictures of this beautiful village.
Oh, what a day! What a trip!! Hours and hours spent on the bus, touring this island from North to South and crossing it from West to East. The kids were such troopers and enjoyed our little adventures with patience.
It was great for everyone to see my mom too.
Now we just need to make time to plan more holidays...the next one coming up is a big one, biggest one of the year and maybe the biggest one of our whole assignment in England (maybe only second to our trip to India). So stay tuned for more stories after Easter.
Cheers,
Lyana.
No comments:
Post a Comment