When the words go silent the adventures begin! This happened as two young cousins (from NZ) arrived for a weekend visit, it was time to get a wiggle on and fill the schedule with, sights, sounds, activities, food, drinks and as far as Vivienne can go from daylight till dusk….
Saturday morning we hit the coast road heading south, four in a 2 door Subaru vivio, yoga exercise ticked off, as we began our day of squeezing in and out of Vivienne….full aircon (windows down) blasting as we headed past…
Kalkara, towards Smart City…
The newish business park and Shoreline shopping mall!
Dressed ready for a day of heat and cool dips along the way (bathing suits under shorts and singlets), next destination was St Thomas bay, where we stripped off and cooled off before taking breakfast at Zion across the road…
Again not disappointing…omelettes and toasties to quell the worms for the next few hours…
Next, St Peter’s Pool near Marsaxlokk..
Anyone who visits this famous pool must jump off the rock (after a somewhat substantial climb down) Sue having previously ticked this off her bucket list… sent the visitors down, while she and Trudi relaxed under a dusty tree!
Avoiding the climb back up!! Folding back into Vivienne, down the hill to the fishing village (and street market) in marsaxlokk town! Always a warm experience and working up a thirst…so upon arriving at Pretty Bay (Birzebuggia) the team made a unanimous decision it was definitely refreshment time!
Inching into the afternoon, time to move on to the Blue Grotto, where the cousins took the luzzu cruise out into the caves…
Trudi and Sue, took their 2nd swim for the day!
Deep water holes equals cooler and cleaner water…upon returning from the little boat tour the (young) cousins had a dip..
And took their 2nd jump of the higher rocks on the other side of the inlet!
An up hill climb back to Vivienne, followed by a drive into the next bay, Ghar Lapsi..and past the desalination water plant, converting salt water to household water!
Continuing up the coast along the Dingli cliffs
Cloud cover rolling in and providing some much needed respite from the direct fireball sunshine!….
As this part of Malta Island is very exposed.
The itinerary was a little large for one day as we raced to Rabat hoping to catch the WWII shelter and St Paul’s catacombes and shrine under the church…we missed the entry cut off by 15 minutes…so put this on the agenda for Sunday.
However, still time for the weekenders to visit Mdina, as most of the tourists had left for the day, it was a good time for this adventure! Trudi and Sue had (another) drink at the kiosk outside in the shade, gathering our energy for the upcoming evening…
Back home to shower and change, and bus to Valletta for dinner!
The fountain alight…on arrival
The city on fire with the Queen Tribute concert blasting away from the open air theatre just inside the gate. However, the hunt for a Pizza dinner not as easy as one would expect in a city teeming with restaurants!
We were actually playing the Maltese game and arriving for dinner at 9pm….along with everyone else…so seats were full or the restaurants didn’t serve pizza!!
After about 30 minutes of roaming the streets on already tired legs…we hit the jackpot! One table for four in a “Pizza” serving place!
More refreshments, food and a toilet stop, the tired Kiwis, Young and Old, joined the Main Street procession back to the homeward bound bus…
Sue and Trudi still standing (just)!
Next morning(Sunday) Sue took the weekenders to Birgu to take a Luzzu tour around the Grand Harbour…soaking in the sights and sounds of Senglea, Birgu and Valletta…
Catamaran dwarfing Fort St Angelo…
Cruise ships dwarfing Valletta…and the Cousins…
Enjoying being back on the sea!
A short drive home to collect Trudi for the rest of the days itinerary!
Round two to Rabat, and entrance to the WWII shelters etc…Sue and Trudi holding fort at the Italian cafe on the Square…
Keeping to our timeframe…google mapped Vivienne to Mosta! Where we met one of the local cousins Evelyn…
Who took the Kiwi visitors through the church, to see the unexploded bomb that was dropped through the dome into a congregation of 300 people in WWII.
We had our regular lunch invitation at Sam and Anna’s, mid afternoon, where we had a fabulous roast pork dinner!
The two Sam’s getting to know each other and no show without Bailey (the dog)…
Who was very well behaved in the crowd!
A flying visit is never complete without a stop at Rouge cafe in Cospicua and two for one cocktails! We had just enough time to take our visitors on the way home…
We actually managed two rounds before the 6pm cut off!
Vivienne was ready for a rest and so were the Kiwi team…so a quiet evening at home? A few refreshments, Trudi made toasted sandwiches and Sam helped Sue tweak the terrace plant watering system which had sprung a leak!
The weekenders left by 9am this morning and Trudi and Sue have been resting our overworked muscles…slowing attending to a bit of washing and shopping…
All who wander are not Lost girls 