A week in Malta

 We just got back from a winter sun break in Malta, my first visit there. It wasn't entirely sunny- it was warmer than the UK at 16-20C in the daytime but quite chilly at night, and always fairly breezy because it's an island.  But we had a good week and liked Malta a lot better than our previous winter destination of Cyprus.  People were friendlier and it just felt safer and better kept/cleaner, and there is history everywhere you look so really interesting.  The walled fortifications are just stunning. And the world class megalithic temples made us wonder why Stonehenge is so famous. We were staying in Valletta and the views in every direction made us feel like we were walking through a Canaletto painting.

I couldn't find any craft or fabric shops but I was on the lookout for Maltese lace and found one lace store open in Valletta.  In the window were some disappointingly coarse and even crude modern examples in shiny synthetic thread, and I saw a few more of this type in a tourist tat shop in Mdina (another walled city).  The Mdina shopkeeper said only old ladies make the lace now, no young people, and she said I would have to go to the sister island of Gozo to see anyone making it.  But I went into the Valletta shop another day and found he had some vintage pieces which were of much better quality. When I showed my interest, he got out a bunch of vintage pieces from under the counter which he said he had from his grandfather, who kept the shop before him.  I ended up purchasing a little mat from c. 1960s and admired several others.

The mat I purchased

We saw some antique lace in museums and also an example of the upright bolster pillow that was used.

By coincidence not design, we were in Valletta during the Carnival weekend which was a lot of fun. Total chaos - there was a parade route but the parade and floats was completely mixed up with the audience and performers in the narrow streets, turning it all into a huge street party that spilled into multiple streets with lots of the audience also dressed up.  And the carnival costumes weren't just DIY attempts - these were hugely elaborate themed creations encrusted with trims and embellishments and even electric lights.  The floats were a miracle of engineering - at first glance they are huge gaudy mobile platforms being towed along the streets by tractors, all lit up and blaring earsplitting music.  But when they got to a more open space, they would park up and unfold like a child's Transformer toy in every direction, with arms coming out and towers going up, and everything moving and rotating, with the added excitement of dry ice jets and confetti cannons.

It was also a good opportunity to test out some of the clothing I plan to take on my longer New Zealand trip, and to expose some flaws such as not having all the right charging cables with me. As usual I am obsessing over what to take with me, I went through this all last year with Japan. I think I have a bit of a anxiety issue about not having the right kit, I am definitely not a laidback traveller.  If I ever wrote a travel book, it would have to be called 'The Apprehensive Traveller'. Anyway, Malta was great and we may return another year because there is still lots to see.