'Vale' to Valletta

Apologies for the many disruptions to our series of Maltese posts. We'll finish off today with just one more, before we hand over to the bears - ourselves included - who went on a new adventure last week.

No trip to Malta is complete without a trip to the capital, Valletta. We only just got our Valletta tour in, as we visited on the day we came home, possible, thanks to a evening flight. We walked into Valletta from Sliema, following the waterfront, and it was a lot further than we thought. Approaching the old city area was a bit like climbing a mountain, with a lot of false summits. By the time we got there it was time for lunch and we munched our pies out in the street, doing a spot of people watching - we did look out for other bears but didn't see any. Our first visit was to the Cathedral of St John with it's famous Caravaggio painting of the beheading of St John. We had audio guides to talk us through all the gilded sights.

As we're not really culture vultures, we particularly enjoyed the outdoor sights, especially the terrific views over the Great Harbour, which of course were free. The Saluting Battery with it's row of cannons was very impressive ...

... sadly we'd missed the daily firing and we couldn't find the right materials to hand to have a go ourselves. You might be forgiven for thinking I was sitting astride a cannon in my next picture - it was actually a telescope!

Looking out at all those historic buildings so close to the water, I thought it had a bit of a feel of Venice - or at least how I imagine Venice to be, as we've never been there.

We got a bit carried away exploring, and ended up having to hurry back to our apartment so we could catch our airport transfer. We stayed at the Sunseeker apartments and thought they were rather good.

We had a pleasant kitchen and dining area which was vey well equipped and we had a nice spacious bedroom and a small bathroom.

We did have a small balcony, but it was usually in the shade, so we tended to go up to the rooftop sun terrace with its swimming pool and sun loungers. It was a bit early in the season though to do anything more than sit in the sun.

I'm sure we'll go back, as it is a great value destination, but maybe January was a bit early for reliable sun; it was fine for walking and exploring though.

Lots of love, George and the Malteser bears xxx