Author: Mark Upfold

With so much to see in this beautiful country, and following on from 2 days ago ,the blog on Valletta, is this gem steeped in history.

Today Thursday 31st March is a National holiday, so the locals and tourists from 2 large cruise liners, were out in their numbers throughout the towns. We as a family decided to visit the historical Fort St Angelo on the middle island of the ‘3 cities’ – Birgu

Upper Barrakka gardens across the water.

During World War 2, the fort took 69 direct hits, causing considerable damage.

All historical data extracted from(wikipedia.com and heritagemalta.org)

Valletta is the capital of Malta. The smallest capital city in the European Union. The walled city was established in the 1500s by the Knights of St John. Valletta is a World Heritage site. The architecture is of Baroque style.

Another first for me- yesterday I used Public transport for the first time since my primary school days. For 1.50 euros or R24.00 I must agree that I was super impressed. The busses are modern, clean and comfortable. Also efficient and generally on time as I experienced and confirmed by the locals.

A few years ago, it seemed that all the worlds construction cranes were in Dubai. Well now they appear to be in Malta. In 2019 when I was last here, I commented on the same. Now in 2022, besides large projects, it appears that ‘older’ 3 floor apartments are now being upgraded to an additional 3 floors- 6 floors the maximum in residential areas. The modernisation looks good, but the traditional Maltese are not of the same view.

Valletta continued:

Any finally, although smaller that what will appear in July/August, the tourists are back.

There is always a first in life. Last night both Sergio and I, attended our very first European International football match. At the Malta National stadium, Malta played Azerbaijan.

An entertaining match, in which Malta won 1-0 much to the delight of the home crowd.

A small traditional fishing village in the south eastern region of Malta. Known for its traditional Sunday market, of fresh fish caught by the many fishermen of the area, from their brightly painted small boats. The walkway promenade has many restaurants and across the bay one can see Malta’s power plant complex at Delimara.

The name Marsaxlokk comes from the Arabic word “marsa” which means “port” and “xlokk” is the Maltese word for “southeast”. The word is related to the name for the dry “sirocco” wind that blows from the Sahara desert. (wikipedia.org)

Mellieha a large village in the northern region of Malta. It was one of the first of ten parishes. It existed in 1436 but was abandoned after the 15th or early 16th century, as the north of Malta was no longer safe due to raids by Muslim corsairs.(wikipedia.org)

For the next 3 months Golfari will be posting photos and blogs from Malta and some other EU countries where possible. A marketing campaign at the only golf course in Malta- Royal Malta, will be one of the first port of calls.

What with bitterly cold and rainy weather in Durban on the Saturday, with even snow falling in just north of Hillcrest, many thought Sunday’s venture to Maritzburg golf course on Sunday, may not happen.

Well arrival at 07h00 to a 2 degree greeting, was not enough to stop the Badger and Golfari members from teeing off, on time. The course was surprisingly green and in very good nick. Dave(New Zealand) and Dylan(Mtunzini) Upfold, some of these pics are for you, to remember the club, at least 20 years ago. That pie, chips and gravy and the golf will surely entail a return.