Up bright & early we were lucky to grab a coffee as they set up brekkie in the hotel foyer then headed off for the walk to the stazione with all of our luggage. Found our platform & headed off to board the train. Another uneventful trip, changed at Roma Termini for the Leonardo Express to FCO (the airport).

Air Malta flight was boarded from the middle of the tarmac so we set off in buses to the plane, flight was an hour or so .

When we were flying over Malta on arrival we were all struck by the same thought, how dry & baron the landscape looked. After the green & lushness of Italy it was a bit of a shock.

We landed & exited customs (well we think it was customs, we just waked straight out the doors.....????) we found our very helpful & courteous driver, NOT!!!! He walked off & we guessed we had to follow him, then we saw the old crappy red Transit van, we had been vey spoilt being transported around in Mercedes luxury. He told us to get in, there was no air con & it was already 1000 degrees, he then proceeded to pie our bags in with us instead of in the back of the van!!! Definitely no heath & safety or public liability issues in Malta!!! It was almost the trip from hell, but we made it.

Our apartments were in Sliema, a few minutes from the water & about 5 minute walk to St Julians. It was a great spot & good to have room to move around in our big apartments with balconies .

After a rest in the Sandra's penthouse air con we set off to explore & found the seaside to a beautiful & picturesque area. Again lots of pics, but too many to put up on this blog.

Malta is just gorgeous, a must see place.
I downloaded photos for Valletta (next days entry, it is too hard to adjust so these pics are of Valletta day out & vice versa)

We walked for ages & found a lovely restaurant on the waters edge to enjoy an afternoon snack & drink. We then wandered some more along the promenade & along the way some of the girls were enchanted by a young Englishman & his Essex accent trying to sell day tours......needless to say we ended up booked on 3 days of tours!!!!! Hahaha. More about them later.

We managed to get 'lost’ but found our way back thanks to our trusty map readers, Gay & Sandra.

For dinner that night we headed back towards St Julians & found a nice place in the square between St Julians & Sliema, the back up the hill to the apartments.