Sliema, Valletta and Mosta

Well today saw a temporary glitch in the weather. We woke up to grey and very wet weather. We had to set the alarm this morning as we were having a lads trip out back to Valletta. Graham was here back in 1972 and had lots of memories so we took him back to reminisce. Like the other day, we drove to Sliema and caught the ferry across. Unlike the other day, the Sat Nav had us up hill down dale and it was chucking it down. John drove and did us proud. The ferry crossing was a bit choppy and a bit wet, but in true British style we stood upstairs and outside.

Once at the other side we wandered up to find “Strait Street”, a street Graham remembered from his navy days. It was full of bars back in the day. With the help of a Joseph and Google maps we found it. We looked around and you could see some of the old bar signs and get an idea of what it did look like in the 70’s. He was telling us about a bar he remembered and an old bloke walking past said “Ah the good old days, they messed that all up”. We then moved on to the gardens where we had a beer and lots more memories of where he had been and places he remembered. At 12 O’clock at the harbour, they fire a cannon, this is a historical thing and used to be fired daily so the ships could set their chronometers by it. We watched that with a view over the 3 cities. Next we made our way to “The Pub”. A small English watering hole where Oliver Reed had his last drink. It was very characteristic and full of Navy memorabilia. There were pictures of ships and all the hat name ribbons from them. We found 3 or 4 that Graham had worn (not the actual ones obviously). We then headed back for a spot of lunch and to pick up the ladies and kids. They had had a fun packed morning in the big pool which was freezing if my mind serves me correctly as well as making balloon figures.

This afternoon we ventured to Mosta to see a church ⛪ which Sharons dad had told us about. It was bombed in the Second World War whilst a service was in progress but the bomb never exploded. We were allowed in but there was a funeral in progress at the time, so we went in anyway - I can see Max and Izzy’s teacher when they say we took them to a funeral !! It was a spectacular church based on the pantheon in Rome. You could see in the roof where the bomb came through and the actual bomb was also on show. Quite fascinating. As an added bonus we were able to go down in to the WW2 underground bunker - all good stuff. We had a nightmare drive back as it had gone dark and there had been an accident but we got back just before afternoon snacks closed which was a good job👍

Dinner in the restaurant at 7.30 before this evenings entertainment which was Karaoke. 2 contestants from our party, Joseph and Izzy. Both were absolutely fantastic and did us proud. A few beers, good chat and a singalong, once again a great nights entertainment.Read more