Our trip to Malta - Day 2.

Today we were up in time for breakfast and wandered downstairs along with the other guests. It gave us an idea how many were staying at the hotel and from the numbers I would say that it's less than half full.

Today was exciting for us as they were delivering the car around noon. Not knowing what Maltese time keeping is like I wasn't sure whether noon really meant noon or whether it meant somewhere between 11 & 1.

As the sun had burnt through the clouds Neil decided to make use of the pool. It's a  salt water pool and from Neil's reaction not the warmest of pools he's ever been in. I decided to play safe and grabbed a seat in the sun, a swim was not on my agenda and I settled with my books instead.

Near noon we made our way to reception to wait for our car, camera at the ready so we could jump straight in and start exploring. Barely ten minutes after noon our car arrived with an apology for his lateness. He said the car we had ordered had not been brought back so they had brought an alternative. Paperwork signed, we jumped in and headed off around the coast road towards Buggiba, the main town on St Paul's Bay.

As we entered Buggiba the difference between it and our tranquil setting was obvious. The streets were packed with buildings from very old to fairly contemporary. Along the seafront the buildings sat shoulder to shoulder, not a space to be seen between them. Across on the seafront every inch was taken by a bar or restaurant with a platform onto the edge of the water. As we walked along towards the main square the density of shops and restaurants continued 

and the vibrancy and pace of people was far above that of our little sleepy hamlet, only a 10 minute drive away but worlds apart in atmosphere. Buggiba was a nice town to visit but I was very pleased I had not booked our week there.

We carried on around the headland of St. Paul's Bay,  past a strange building that we had seen from our hotel room but had been unable to guess what it housed.

 I thought it may have been a sports stadium but it turned our to be the aquarium centre. If we do get the rain that has been promised that would be a good indoor visit.

After stopping at a bayside restaurant for lunch, we continued our circuit of the bay until we reached the road back to the hotel. The little car was fine for what we wanted to do and suited the narrow streets perfectly.

Back at the hotel we decided we would make use of our half board status and ate there, later we parked the car and walked down to the bottom of the village to take advantage of a couple of beers and free wifi. Last night's hotel food had been good but tonight it wasn't up to the same standard, although I did enjoy my swordfish. We had decided we would try the nearby Indian restaurant tomorrow night so after dinner we took a walk along the main street to check what time it opened and then had coffee at the Beach Haven bar which has a pontoon out over the water. 

It is so relaxing sitting there watching the boat lights in the distance bobbing up and down and listening to the gentle waves as they break against the rocks.

Tomorrow we will head north towards the island of Gozo and take the ferry across to have an explore around the smaller island.