OK well the hols did not go well. My sister was not at all well and as she has asthma and breathing problems it was necessary to curtail the holiday and come home. I am in the throes of filling in claim forms to see if I can get any money back for cancelled flight etc.
When I last visited Malta about ten years ago, I posted about it here and had this to say then:
"I had not been back to Malta since living there as a child and was not expecting it to be in any way similar to the enchanting place I had loved. What I was not expecting, however, was the somewhat shabby, down at heel, tacky appearance of large parts of the island, with houses seemingly built and then abandoned, new flats next to empty craters full of rubbish and discarded bricks, wonderful old buildings shabby and peeling cheek by jowl to nasty, modern, hastily put together holiday flats and garish hotels. It felt very much like Spain used to be back in the 60s and 70s and this was reinforced by the fact that every single eating place advertised 'Pizza, Burgers and Chips'"
I received a very irate email from a lady who lives in Malta who felt I had been very rude about her island. I was sorry to upset her and said so, but that was my feeling at the time.
This time we were staying in St Julian's Bay and, while I did not expect it to be the same as our childhood days, both of us were totally taken aback at the mass of concrete that greeted us. The drive from the airport to our hotel was one main road and traffic and it was continuous from start to finish. The view from our hotel window was of an endless stream of traffic (main road goes right through the town), half built and abandoned building projects as I mentioned above and a skyline full of cranes. The roads were packed with noisy traffic and negotiating the pavements was a nightmare, particularly for my sister who is awaiting a knee operation and walks with a stick, as they were uneven, full of potholes and missing cobbles.
I am sorry to repeat what I said before. I really am as I love Malta and spent so many happy times there as a child. This island had the most appalling time in the war and the bravery of its citizens was simply staggering. No wonder the entire island was awarded the George Cross. I just feel that the rebuilding and recovery at the end of WW2 had to be done quickly because of the bombings and the destruction so no overall design or plan was in place, hence the ugliness of many of the buildings.
But here are two pictures to show how parts of the island remain beautiful. Sadly, we were not able to get there this time but I do not want you to think that it is all ugly, because it isn't.
And looking on the bright side, after the flight home and a dreadful drive from Gatwick in the pitch dark and pouring rain after a sleepless night, I got home in time to watch Ed Balls on Strictly Come Dancing! No post about it this week but this Saturday it is BLACKPOOL so I shall be there with my Kiss me Quick hat and will make sure I have fish and chips for supper.
