A Market, A Grotto and Some Cliffs

This morning we were up at 7:00am and after showers anDingli Cliffsd breakfast we were ready for our day of exploring. Around 9:30am Graham and Jessica came over and then we all walked over to the Freedom Monument where Graham had made arrangements for a van to pick us up. Once in the van we were headed to Marsaxlokk. It took us about thirty minutes to get there and we arrived to a packed and busy city. First, it was Sunday and they were having their market and second, it was Freedom Day on the Island. We spent quite a bit of time walking through the market. They have everything from fresh fish and seafood to local honey and produce, clothes, souvenirs, pastry, candy and pretty much anything you want or need. We ended up buying fresh strawberries, local honey and some nougat. After spending time walking through the market and along the harbor we decided it was time to get some lunch. Graham wanted us to eat at Tartarun but they were full. So we ended up at T'Anna Mari. Thomas had a salad with chicken and I had lasagna made with rabbit. It was all very delicious. Lunch lasted two and a half hours - a long, leisurely meal. We left the restaurant and stopped at the Marsaxlokk Parish Church and then continued to a bus stop so we could move on to our next stop. After about 20 minutes of waiting Graham figured out that the buses weren't coming into the city because of all the activity so he called for a van to pick us up.

From Marsaxlokk we drove to The Blue Grotto near Żurrieq. The van dropped us off near the ticket office for the boat ride to the grotto. We got our tickets and made our way to the boats. There was about ten of us in a small boat and we took a thirty minute ride in and around the coast and caves. It was beautiful! I wish it had been warmer so we could have spent more time on the water. But even so the area was incredible and after our boat ride we walked around the area for a while before heading to a bus stop to make our way to our next destination.

We took the bus to Dingli Cliffs. We spent about an hour walking along the cliffs enjoying the beautiful views of the Mediterranean. As we walked the sun lowered itself and gave us a totally awesome ending to our day. The area along the cliffs is wonderful, a natural and serene place. We enjoyed the late afternoon while we left the cliffs and headed into the town of Dingli to catch a bus back to Valletta. It was 6:00pm when we finally caught the bus and made our way to Valletta. Once in Valletta we wandered around looking for a place to eat. Most of the restaurants were packed (remember it was Freedom Day) but eventually we ended up at Is-Suq Tal-Belt which is like a food court. So we could all find something to eat that we wanted. We had a good meal and then we walked around Valletta for a bit before making our way back to the bus for our trip back to Birgu. We finally arrived at the apartment around 9:00pm. We are all exhausted but happy. It was a wonderful and beautiful day along the coast of Malta.

Another Day in Birgu

Last night was a weird night for me. I had a hard time sleeping and was up a couple of time during the night. I went to bed around 9:30pm (Thomas had gone to bed earlier and was already asleep) and fell asleep right away. Then around 2:00am I woke up and tossed and turned and finally around 3:00am I got up and did some work on the computer - editing pictures and blogging. At around 4:30am I went back to bed and was able to sleep until 6:00am when I woke up again and read for a while. I was feeling weird this morning - I had a headache, my mind felt like it was in a cloud, my body was achy and my mouth was dry. Around 7:00am I fell asleep again and slept until 10:00am. I finally got out of bed and took a shower. Once dressed I was feeling a little better. While I was sleeping Deanne and Thomas had gone to the grocery store with Jessica to get us some food for the apartment. Once Deanne and Thomas had returned we put the groceries away and then we all went for a walk. We followed the waterfront in front of the apartment, walked around Kalkara Creek over to Kalkara. We visited David's Bakery and St. Joseph Church before heading back and making our way into Birgu. We walked around the area and went into a couple of parks, sat and relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful day. Around 4:30pm we returned to the apartment and relaxed for a while.

At 5:00pm Jessica came to the apartment and we visited for a while and around 6:00pm we headed out for dinner. We ended up eating at Sottovento on the waterfront. We had a really nice dinner except we were dining outside and it began to get cold. It was a little uncomfortable but we enjoyed our dinner just the same. After we ate Jessica left the restaurant and headed back to her apartment and we went back to ours. Thomas and I got jackets and then went out for an evening walk. We made our way along some of the small, out of the way streets. The town was quiet and peaceful and beautiful. We loved our walk and it was a nice way to end the day. Back at the apartment Thomas went to bed but I stayed up and read for a while. Looking forward to exploring more of the island tomorrow.

Getting Settled in Birgu

Once we had our luggage we made our way out of the airport. It was strange to me that we didn't go through any customs in Malta. We found our taxi driver (we had set up a pick up before we left) and he took us to the van. Then he drove us from the airport to the apartment in Birgu (Vittoriosa). We are staying at Apartment St. Angelo Mansions situated just behind Fort St. Angelo. We have some incredible views from our balcony. It took us a while to figure how to get into the apartment and then we spent some time getting to know the apartment and getting settled. Dave and Deanne decided to take a nap and Thomas and I decided to go and take a walk.

We walked along the water and found some restaurants and I took a few pictures. There is a marina next to where we are staying and there were tons of large yachts there. We saw a few churches and just wandered around the area. After an hour or so we returned to the apartment. By this time we were all ready for some food. So we walked back to where we had seen the restaurants and decided to eat at Cargo Bar & Dine. Dave had a pizza and the rest of us had chicken fillet burgers. It was all delicious. After eating we walked around the area again, showing Dave & Deanne what we had seen earlier. Once back at the apartment, we all felt the effects of the long flight and all the traveling and we were all exhausted. None of us were able to sleep on the plane. Thomas and I took showers and got into our pajamas. Then Thomas decided to lay in bed to read and in no time he was asleep. Deanne and I stayed up until around 9:00pm and then we were both ready for sleep. I did get some pictures edited and a little blogging done. Birgu is beautiful - I love all the natural colored stone and can't wait to explore more of the island.

We're Off to Malta

Today we leave for Malta but we had most of the day before we had to head to the airport. Thomas and I were up around 7:00am and we dressed and went down to Deanne & Dave's for breakfast and coffee. Dave made us all fried egg sandwiches. After eating Thomas and I returned upstairs to take showers and get all of our things packed. Then we brought our bags downstairs and now we were ready to go, we just had to wait for our ride this afternoon. To kill time we visited, played dominoes and read. We had a light lunch around noon and then read until our ride picked us up.

A friend of Deanne & Dave's (Mark) picked us up around 2:00pm to drive us to Boston. The ride took a little over an hour and thankfully there wasn't too much traffic. We checked our bags in and got our boarding passes then headed for security. This went quickly and before we knew it we were at our gate (E8). We are flying Alitlalia to Rome and then a change to Malta. We had an hour to wait for boarding so we read until then. Thomas and I were in seats 21AC, so just the two of us, which made it more comfortable for the eight hour flight. We got settled and I started reading. I think I read for an hour and a half and then they served us dinner. It was chicken and veggies and it was pretty good. While eating I watched Bohemian Rhapsody. I loved this movie, just incredible. Once that movie was over I watched two others - Spy and The Happytime Murders. After finishing these movies I tried to sleep but I never was able to get comfortable. Then they served us some drinks and a pastry for breakfast and before we knew it we were landing in Rome. The movies kept me entertained and made the flight go faster. But I was sure glad when we landed and were off the plane. It felt nice to be up and moving.

We landed at gate E11 in Rome and needed to get to gate B21 for our connecting flight to Malta. So we started walking . . . and walking . . . and walking - there were signs overhead leading you to your destination and they had times listed for getting there. From our landing gate it was about a 22 minute walk to the 'B' gates. Right before getting to the 'B' area we had to go through customs. The line was long but it went moved fast and we were through in no time. And finally, we arrived at our gate and had about 30 minutes to wait until boarding. Once we started boarding we had to get on a bus and they drove us out to the airplane. We had to climb stairs to get in. The flight wasn't full so Thomas and I had a row to ourselves so it was a comfortable flight. It was also a quick flight and before we knew it we were landing in Malta. From the plane we headed to baggage claim. It wasn't long before we had our luggage and we were ready to explore Malta.

A Relaxing Day

Today was a relaxing day before we leave tomorrow for our overnight flight to Malta. We spent the day in Leominster with our friends Deanne and Dave (who we are traveling with to Malta) visiting and getting last minute things done before our trip abroad. We woke up around 6:30am and got ready for the day. Around 8:00am we headed down to Deanne and Dave's for breakfast. Dave made blueberry waffles and bacon. It was a great breakfast and visit. Once we were done eating Deanne and I went run a couple of errands.

First, we went to the bank so I could get some Euros. I got €200 for the trip. The transaction took us only 15 minutes and we were on our way. Our second stop was the store to get some shampoo. Thomas and I hadn't checked our toiletries and neither of us had shampoo, so I picked up a couple of travel size bottles. Now we were done with our errands and we returned home. We spent the rest of the morning visiting and then around noon we had sandwiches for lunch. After that Thomas and I went up to our room and we spent some time reading and then we both took naps. We woke around 3:00pm and then got ready for the evening.

At 4:00pm we went down to Deanne and Dave's to visit and at 5:00pm we had happy hour (or a little more than an hour). At 6:45pm we left the house and headed for dinner. We ate at the Columbia Tavern. Thomas had a turkey dinner and I had a hamburger. The food was good and the atmosphere and company were great. We had a wonderful time eating and visiting while sitting in front of the fire. It was a little after 9:00pm when we returned home.

Thomas and I are now relaxing so tomorrow we can get things packed and head to the airport for our flight to Malta. We are both exicited - I wish we were there already.

Another Adventure Begins

Today we started another adventure. We are off to visit friends in Massachusetts and then together we continue on to Malta. We started our day around 5:30am when we left Santa Fe and headed to Albuquerque. We arrived at the Sunport, checked in, made our way through security (which turned out to be quite pleasant - all the agents were friendly and were smiling), and then continued on to our gate. We had about an hour wait for boarding so we read until then. The boarding process was long and ridiculous. We started boarding at 8:35am and the last people got settled at 9:25am and we didn't leave until 9:40am - the flight was scheduled to leave at 9:15am. It was a long flight - 3 hours and 40 minutes. We read for most of the flight and also took a short nap. Finally we landed in Baltimore at 3:05pm. Our next flight left at 4:05pm so we had an hour. Thankfully our next gate was only a short walk away. We arrived at the gate and waited about 10 minutes and then they started the boarding process. This time it was much quicker and we left Baltimore on time. The flight to Manchester was only 1 hour and 25 minutes. I closed my eyes and must have dozed off because before I knew it we were landing. Once we landed it took us only 20 minutes to get off the plane, walk to baggage claim and get our bags. Deanne and Dave were waiting in the cell phone lot and once we had our bags we texted them and they came and picked us up.

We drove to Westminster, Massachusetts and went to dinner at The 1761 Old Mill. It was a great place with windows over looking the stream, water rushing over rocks and a large fireplace with a welcoming fire. We had drinks and dinner and visited. Thomas had teriyaki steak and I had garlic shrimp and chicken. With all dinners they serve corn fritters and pecan rolls. Everything was delicious. After an hour and a half we left the restaurant and headed for Deanne and Dave's house. We got settled in our room and then we all sat in the living room and visited for a while.

It has been a long day and now we need some rest. Tomorrow we just hang out in Leominster and get a few last minute things done before leaving for Malta on Thursday.