Malta

Malta was good. I had an potentially embarrassing moment on the Heathrow express on the way to the airport though. I was chewing gum. I sneezed. I no longer had chewing gum in my mouth. The gum was no where to be seen. There were a few people sitting in front of me but nobody got angry. I had a good look around before I got off but could find no evidence of the gum. So if anyone did find a piece of chewed gum about their person or on their baggage after travelling on the 5.55 heathrow express I apologise to them.

I had never even heard of Mdina. It is a beautiful medieval city, with well preserved (/restored?) honey coloured buildings providing the narrow streets with plenty of shade, with the odd palace or two, impressive open squares and a cathedral to finish things off nicely. It is set on a hill with great views over the thick city walls, next to the more modern town of Rabat. My little brother took us there for a wander around before sunset and a really good meal. It is an amazing place, yet, bizarrely there were almost no one there. It was good getting the view of the city with the setting sun before the food and seeing it tastefully lit up after dinner. It is brilliant and would have been worth the flight just to see that... We also relaxed on a beach, ate well and had a look around Valetta. Valetta is not as good as Mdina, but still has a lot of charm. The beheading of St. John by Caravaggio in the baroque Co Cathedral (i never found out why it is a co catherdral and not a straight cathedral) is impressive and the old buildings all around the city, despite being pretty run down are still impressively grand.

I had a great time and would happily go again. Getting up at 5.15 in the morning on Sunday was a little hard after a night on the town though. I might not do that again...