Today we headed out to open our first Maltese bank account, well the plan was to open it today, but this is Malta! We should have known it would not be as easy as going into the branch and getting an account opened.

There are two main banks here in Malta, HSBC Malta and the BOV (Bank of Valletta). HSBC seem to have a lot more branches and we have been told that the customer service is better, we therefore chose them. The actual completing of all the forms process was relatively easy and straight forward. Having an account though is a whole different kettle of fish.

They advised us that we should have an account in about two months! This is where we needed to grab any reserves of patience we had left (after the ID Card’s). Can you imagine going into a UK bank to open a basic account and once completing the forms they tell you that you needed to wait two months, there would be an uproar, but hey this isn’t the UK.

On the plus side, we have timed it quite well arriving here in Malta. From January this year Malta has changed their currency over to the Euro. Before it was the Maltese Lira with a few shops accepting the new Euro currency. This makes things a bit easier for us as we are used to the Euro from our time living in Spain.

Hopefully with a little patience and probably luck, we will have an account soon……

No Comments »

If you have got several millions to splash out on a yacht, then you would fit in well mooring up at Vittoriosa in Malta. This is one of the Three Cities sitting opposite Vallettta.

The wharf area of this tiny city was lovely and is home to some nice restaurants and cafes. We forced ourselves to have a cappuccino break outside one of the cafes whilst trying to decide which Yacht we would like.

It was a lovely peaceful area and we could have sat there all day but we managed to drag ourselves away and headed past the Casino. Well if you are going to have Yachts moored in the marina, you might as well make one of the lovely grand old buildings into a casino.

We then came to a lovely apartment block, it was new but fitted it’s surroundings well. The views these apartments had were fantastic, we could easily see ourselves living here. But do we buy the apartment or yacht first?

We continued onto the tip of the town, Fort St Angelo which had great views of Valletta. We then headed into the heart of the town, this is when we truly fell in love with the place. There were narrow streets which were filled with plants and the houses were beautiful and old. The streets had a very Italian feel to it.

There are some interesting buildings and churches to see in Vittoriosa and we did love the place but you can easily explore the whole town in a morning.

We then decided to get a water taxi called a Lazzi over to Valletta, who needs a yacht? These were basically like a long thin rowing boat. Now I am not a great fan of little boats as I am just too close to the water, okay sharks! This one made me feel a bit nervous especially as the water was splashing over my arms, is it meant to do that?

It was funny as when we got in the water taxi one of the first things the old Maltese man who was rowing us out of the marina mentioned was the apartment block we had liked. He was saying how they are really expensive and that they cost about three times the amount of the old Maltese houses in Vittoriosa and that they are mostly occupied by English, German and Canadian people. Trust us to like somewhere that costs the most!

No Comments »

We have always been great supporters of public transport, wherever we have lived, but what on earth is going on with the buses in Malta?

Though they have started to introduce a few newer buses most of them were built in the fifties. Now you must understand we have a fine appreciation for some of the wonderful old classic cars that were built in the fifties that have been loving restored and cared for. This is not the case however with the buses in Malta, the interior of the buses are way past needing repair. The seats are so uncomfortable with chucks missing and rust truly set in. You don’t even want to get us started on the suspension, or should we say lack of it.

Every time we get on one of these nightmare means of transport we hear the English visitors moaning every time we go over one of the many potholes in the road. Heaven forbid if you have had a hip replacement and if you are pregnant do not even get on one of these old buses unless you are looking for a early delivery. We do not exaggerate, they really are that bad. What makes it worse is that the really old dilapidated buses are the ones they use for the longest journeys and into the heart of Malta where the roads are even worse!

Yet you still hear the odd crazy British person saying they are an institution and that they are nice to see. Nice to see yes, to ride- you have got to be out of your mind and as long as you have the odd person making comments like this the rest of the population and visitors will continue to be ignored. It is with no great wonder why Malta has the most cars per population in the world.

No Comments »

You certainly have got to have a relaxed approach to sorting out an ID Card in Malta. To be fair it only took five trips to Valletta and hours of waiting! We soon learned to take food, drink, a good book and not forgetting a big chunk of patience.

Everyone who lives in Malta should have an ID Card and it is needed before we can do a host of other things, such as open a bank account. It has been quite a process, The first time we went we were informed that even though we had numerous ID information, they also needed our marriage certificate. We then went back the next day with the certificate to find they were closed. Now we really should have checked this as we have learned since living in Malta that there seems to be at least one bank holiday a week!

On our next visit we both had to have our photo’s taken and complete some forms. We then had to wait to receive a letter in the post telling us to go back for another photo before we could collect the cards. Both of our details had errors and so this went on.

However today we finally got our cards, one of which still has an error on. We do not have the strength to go back again at this stage to get it changed and who cares that we are now both women?

No Comments »

How can anyone get lost in one, if not the, smallest city in Europe? Well we managed it today in the historic walled city of Valletta. This to us was no bad thing as with each turn of a corner we found another historical landmark or gem. It really is a labyrinth of history with some beautifully kept buildings centuries old.

We entered the city gate and was greeted by the hustle and bustle of the city on the main street of Triq ir-Repubblika. This street plays host to an array of shops and restaurants and runs right from the city gates down to Fort St Elmo. From Fort St Elmo we walked along the outer fortifications of the city. It was a great walk and took several hours but it was well worth it for the views out over the water and at one stage over the Three Cities. We also found many sheltered squares, little cafes and many old houses, some crumbling to the ground, along the way.

We also loved the what we came to name the ‘Hello sirs’. You cannot walk very far in Valletta without a little Maltese man coming up to you or shouting from across the road “Hello Sir” then going into his sales talk of why we really should take a horse and cart ride with him. It was a refreshing change from the timeshare touts in the tourist resorts.

It will take several more visits to fully see all that Valletta has to offer and we are looking forward to our next visit when we shall take a map!

No Comments »

We thought we were visiting the town of Sliema in Malta today, so why is it that we were faced with the UK high street stores of M&S, BHS and Next, to name but a few. This is not what we were expecting! We feel cheated and robbed but not for long, there is nothing like a M&S biscuit to keep you going and what’s this we see they are now selling frozen meals from back home!

The shopping area was very popular and busy, imagine your local town on a Saturday afternoon, but with sunshine! As much as we will appreciate being able to get the odd item from back home in the future it was not what we were looking for today. We wanted to feel like we were in Malta.

This was soon achieved though by just walking a few streets inwards away from the shops. Wow, what a difference a few streets make. It was so peaceful and most of the buildings were old with lots of character, it reminded us a lot of Italy, which is a place we love.

Apparently the locals regard Sliema as quite an upper class area and a nice place to live. We can certainly see that once exploring onto those backs streets. We will definatley be back and not just for the M&F food!

No Comments »

How long will it take for us to save enough money to buy a Yacht?. This is one of the first questions we asked ourselves today whilst exploring the area of St Julians. We had stumbled upon a wonderful exclusive development called Portomaso. It was a huge apartment complex built in the shape of a crescent around a lovely marina, which was also home to several nice restaurants and cafes. We could definitely see ourselves living here, with a yacht in the marina of course.

This was a huge contrast to our first impression of the St Julians area, as we had just visited Paceville. Now okay this was during the daytime and Paceville is not known for being a quaint, quiet town, just the opposite in fact. It is well known for being the top nightspot of Malta for locals and tourists alike. It is not an area we would be in a rush to visit again during the day but we will have to explore it at night to see if it lives up to its reputation.

After having a stroll around Paceville and then Portomaso, we decided to discuss what colour yacht to buy over lunch. Well there is no better place to discuss such things than at one of the restaurants overlooking the water in St Julians. The setting was lovely and the food was great. It is a shame we could not decide on the colour of the yacht though..whats wrong with pink?

No Comments »