Coastal towns

Originally Sliema was a fishing village, as were many of the other towns up the coast. As urbanisation took hold, all these towns merged into one continuous urban conglomeration and the only indications that you are entering a different town are the road signs at the town limits.

The weather was still overcast so I decided to save Valletta for Saturday. Especially when I saw that there was a Malta Segway tour company. I called to reserve a place and I was expected 1030 the next day. For today I would explore the towns up the coast to compare them with Sliema. The next town up is St. Julian's. This has hotels, restaurants, night clubs, the whole tourist catastrophe. The shopping centre there was indistinguishable from one anywhere else in the world.

Most of the noisy tourist businesses are in an area which belies the name Paceville. Quite different in character from Sliema which has a quieter and more dignified ambiance. Most of the medium term rental placs that I found by search were in Sliema. But the number of high rises are increasing, causing anxiety amongst locals about the changing character of their town.

I wondered if this pizza joint's motto was a conscious send up of Ibiza DJ David Guetta's F*** me I'm famous! double entendre which I noted during my 2012 visit.

I was actually after a beach, St. Georges Bay. When I saw it, my reaction as an Aussie was, you call that a beach? Contrary to what you might imagine, Malta is not in general a golden beach destination. The best is said to be at Mellieħa, up north.

Past Paceville, the coast did get more peaceful.This is an area of resort hotels and quiet residences with small gardens.

So having reached the end of the urbanised area, I waked back along the Sliema waterfront. It has a long lungomare which residents take advantage of for strolls and a rocky beach for suntans.

In the afternoon, after a siesta, I decided to cover the towns between Sliema and Valletta, which are Gżira, Xbiex, Msida, Pietà and Floriana, by walking along the waterfront. These are working class neighbourhoods with little of interest for the tourist, unless you are after a particular church or historic building. Even the water isn't as attractive as it looks, there is a lot of flotsam in it.

Floriana has residential buildings but also lots of administrative buildings. It's the first town leaving the bus station at the Valletta city gates.

This is the fountain at the bus station. I declined to enter Valletta, leaving that for the morrow.

When I first checked in, reception gave me a map and said of Buġibba and St. Paul's Bay, don't go there. Not because it is dangerous, but because it is tacky. It's an area of mass tourism resorts. Well, with a warning like that, how could I resist disobeying? I figured I could take a pleasant evening ride on a bus using my 7-day pass, find dinner and come back.

It actually doesn't look too bad in the evening light.

Following the principle don't choose a restaurant on the main drag, I scoured the town for an establishment on a quiet street. Finally I found one serving Maltese specialties. I decided to try the bragioli. Basically it's thinly sliced beef stuffed with veal mince, olives, herbs and cooked in a tomato sauce. I found it a bit too rich for my taste, and the sauce too tart. I usually don't have much luck with beef dishes anyway. But now I know what Maltese bragioli is.