Ħaġar Qim and Blue Grotto

Today was Maltese food day, and visiting some of the big ticket tourist sites.

The day began with a drive to the south west coast from our centre island location, a journey of 12km.

First stop was the Blue Grotto, a limestone archway in a sea cliff, through which you can take a boat ride in fine weather (10 Euro, 20 minutes), and admire the crystal clear waters. It's billed by Malta Tourism as "majestic", "phenomenal" and "a bucket list must". In reality it's an unspectacular hole in a rock, and way overhyped. No boats running today, as it was too rough, but the cafes and souvenir shops were happy to take your money.

We had a traditional Maltese lunch at one of the above mentioned cafes - ftira, a ring-shaped flattened sourdough roll usually eaten with fillings such as tuna, fresh tomato, onion, capers and olives (hold the olives on mine).

Next stop was Ħaġar Qim, a series of 5,000 year old megalithic temples, predating both the pyramids and Stonehenge. There are 2 main temples, featuring slab walls, doorways, and altars, and only a few statuettes were found during excavation (no bones or utensils), which leads them to believe they were used for worship, not habitation. They are made of limestone and very close to the coast, so in 2009 a roof was built over them to protect them from further deterioration.

Dinner was alfresco in the Rabat city square. Bragioli for me (stuffed Maltese steaks - essentially steaks stuffed with meatballs, covered in a tomato sauce. Also called Beef Olives, they contain no olives, but are the shape of olives).

And for Oliver, rabbit stew, the national dish of Malta. Rabbits gained popularity in Malta when the Phoenicians introduced them in around 900 BC as a dependable source of fresh meat, and are still popular, becoming a cultural symbol during British rule, representing Maltese identity.Read more