Malta East: Sliema, Valetta, St. Julian and Paceville

The east of Malta was busier and easier to navigate. The main towns are Valetta, Sliema, St. Julian’s and Paceville. Further north is Bugabba and St. Paul’s.

Valetta

I was in Valetta three times.

The first time was on day one in Malta, when Josie dropped me off. I got back in time from the Blue Grotto before she left for her meditation group. “Choose whether you want to go to Mdina or Valetta – and I’ll pick you up on the way home”, she said. I thought Mdina would be too much hassle plus I was going to go there anyway on tour. Valetta was easier to get to,  with more frequent buses.  She dropped me off at a bus stop. “I’ll meet you around 10 PM outside Hotel Phoenicia”. That gave me at least a couple hours to explore Valetta. It was more than enough for me to enjoy Upper Barakka Gardens with a panoramic view of the ocean. It was more than enough time for me to walk through Republic Street, the main artery of Valetta and have dinner at Pastaus, a quaint specialty pasta café. Their buckwheat pasta with anchovies, capers, olives, and tomatoes was perfect! Only cost 14 Euros including lemon iced tea. Shame I don’t drink alcohol, wine would be plenty and good here.

Josie was right on time when she picked me up at the Hotel Phoenicia right outside Valetta. It was a very good start to my week here in Malta!

My second time in Valetta was the following day, on the way to Sliema. Josie dropped me off at the bus station. “It’s hot!” She said. She’s been really helpful and considerate. It was easy from there. I took the Valetta bus. Tita, my Sliema host messaged me to try to make it at 2:15pm. So I had enough time in Valetta. I only had 5Euros left. I changed $200 for 171 Euros at the Bank of Valetta. The exchange at the airport was 75 for 100 instead of 85 to 100. From Valetta, there were buses bound for Sliema at the bus station — it’s huge! I think most of the island’s buses pass there.

My third time in Valetta was on my last day in Malta. I still had time to kill on the Sunday afternoon and decided to spend some time in Valetta. It was pretty quiet. Unfortunately, St. John’s Cathedral was closed on Sundays. I did see St. Paul’s shipwreck church. Fiesta banners of red and yellow, with saints and angels, coloured the streets. I ended up in the Lower Barakka Gardens. It was similarl as the Upper Barakka Garden. Right across was a bell tower. I walked down Merchant St. and then Republic St. The highlight was the best gelato (or ice-cream) I’ve ever had! Pistacchio flavor – it was so smooth!

I passed by Sta Clara church and noticed there were few Filipinos. On closer look I saw a notice on the side of the church that said at 5:30PM Tagalog Eucharist – for the Filipino Maltese Catholic Community!

I stopped by for coffee at the Freedom Square and wrote postcards. Nice to just chill at the cafe! A souvenir sold stamps so long as you bought postcards, and the postal box was right in front of it. Convenient!

Americano here is like espresso coffee. Too strong!

Bought a novel, The Sword and Scimitar, set in 16^th century Malta… maybe the inspiration I need. I started reading it by the Ghadir beach, while letting the sun set with the sound of the waves crushing… truly in the setting for the book!

Sliema

I did not know anything much about Malta, so it was a stroke of luck that my base for the rest of my stay was in a very convenient location in Sliema: plenty of buses that goes around the island, express to aiprot and Marsaxlokk, cafe’s along the promenade, and the bets part was Il Ghadir baths — things you never relaly read about on traveler guides!

Bay 1-3 of the Valetta bus station had plenty of buses bound for Sliema. It was 2pm by the time I got there. Around the corner from Tita’s AirBnB in L Graham, was Divini, a 4-patron size small café tucked in the corner. I had a freshly squeezed orange juice (3.50 Euros) and a set of coffee and chocolate croissant (2.50 Euros). Very late kinda breakfast I guess. I didn’t have anything this morning except for my healthy “chocolate” balls.

Tita was much younger than I thought. Her place was modern and neat. No fuss. I got settled in. Walked about the area. Perfect location! Right outside the main street, across it was the Il Gadhir baths. It’s way better than the ones in Sydney! It’s so accessible!  The beach was lined with smooth limestone slabs. I went to buy goggles at the corner (6.50 Euros) and sunscreen at the pharmacy, bought few grocery items at the supermarket — all within a few minutes walk to the apartment. I then went back for a swim and sunbathed at the beach. Colourful fishes swam with me in the crystal clear. The water felt delicious, tepid not too cold!

Loved the weather, the climate, the sun and the wind that balances the heat!

Il Fortizza

Second Day in Sliema: After a long day’s tour, I got back to the apartment around 6pm, took a nap, by 7pm, went to the beach for a swim. It was windier than the day before when I got there earlier. The water felt cold at first, but my body warmed up to it… loved it! There weren’t as many fishes as yesterday though the water wasn’t as highly visible.
Went back to the apartment to refresh, got changed and decided to have dinner at Il Fortizza – the fort/castle looking restaurant across the road. I wanted to treat myself to a good dinner. I ordered what looked scrumptious on the menu: tuna stuffed calamari. There was a bit of a mix-up as I changed tables with a young family. When my food got served, it went to the other table, and the guy just dug in without thinking twice. Overheard the wife questioning if that was his order – I asked the waitress to follow-up on my order. Took awhile before they realized the fuck-up… and the guy next table said he was wondering why his wife’s food wasn’t served with his, and that he thought he ordered calamari and octopus. Sigh…

Anyway, I got free desert and coffee to make up for it. The stuffed calamari turned out too strong for my palate – the combination of capers, olives, anchovies were just too much. Then the Ferrero Roche looking cake was too sugary, and the Americano was more like espresso. Strong flavors for my birthday!!!

I walked about the promenade to let my food settle down… I was a  stuffed!

I heard music at one of the bars by the ocean. Reggae. Looked down and saw people dancing. Went down the spiral staircase by the beach, went to the bar got myself shandy and joined the group who was more than happy to welcome me. They offered me weed – yup, smokers crowd. Goes with reggae I suppose. There was a guy I noticed who wasn’t drinking much and was definitely not smoking, just dancing. That helped ease me in. I just kept dancing! The DJs were pretty friendly bunch as well. Pretty cool and chilled vibe! Danced till midnight! That ended my birthday, leaving me satisfied! Dance and the ocean made up for all the fuck-ups for the day!!!

On my last full day, I managed to get my two other must-dos in Sliema: I had a photo of a huge mural street art… and then went back to the ferries terminal, walked up to The Point where I had a good view of Valetta. Below The Point platform, there was a nice swimming area just like in Ghadir – limestone rock beach and crystal clear water. There were groups of young people, couples young and old, and families swimming and sunbathing.

Truth be told, nice swimming spots are all over Malta anyway. Anywhere you go, the water is very clear, even where the boats are docked. I am curious why it’s so… the water never seems to get polluted or overgrown with seaweeds. Must be the salt content.

I finished the day at Surfside restaurant. It was poor service, made me wait for half-an hour. Food was not that great. I orderedTuna Bruschetta, with tomatoes, olives, capers and cheese… the bread killed the taste, or maybe the cheese. I think they put butter, w

The Surfside Restaurant

hich was totally unnecessary. The cheese didn’t go… I think they were trying to cater to what they think is American taste, which is horrible. That said, the ambience or venue, with a view of sunset and the ocean made up for the food.

Exquisite tortellacci!

It was a hit and miss for me when it came to food here in Malta. It wasn’t consistently good. I did have a great dinner last night… and two days before. The best dinner I had so far was Trattoria Cardini — their Seafood Tortellacci was divine: “Fresh egg pasta tortellacci stuffed with mixed shellfish & ricotta cheese tossed in a rich lobster bisque, fresh seafood and a king prawn.”

I love the chocolate croissants, fresh orange juice and coffee – I had them again one last time for breakfast by the ocean at Mason’s Cafe,  just before leaving for the airport on my last morning in town!

St. Julian and Paceville

St. Julian and Paceville were such a contrast to the quaintness o Hal Kirkop. The former were modern, the infrastructure and buildings relatively new. Hal Kirkop was traditional and old. It was great to experience the two polar ends of the cultural spectrum. 

St. Julian and Paceville is the place for clubbers and party-goers. I only got to spend an evening exploring the area. Online, I found a highly recommended place called Barracuda in St. Julian’s.  I ended up next door, at Piccolo Padre restaurant. I had a good view of Balutta Bay — an inner cove within south of St. Julian’s Bay.  The pasta netuno smiled at me so I ordered it and ended up a delicious choice!  Very seafood-y! So fresh!

Checked out Paceville after dinner. It’s where the club scene was and apparently, I stumbled onto the Red light district– where there’s a row of gentlemen’s clubs. I was actually looking for dance clubs. Finally saw Fuego, latin dancing club but no one dancing. Met a group of Filipinos at the beach, and they said action doesn’t really start till 11Pm or midnight… oh well. I didn’t want to miss my bus, so I left around 10:30.