Malta Blog – July 2020

As we arrive in Malta, the covid-19 count goes from zero to 14, the highest number in 2 months.  Malta has been open to UK tourists for 11 days and there can only be 1 outcome - an influx of virus.  We are part of the problem as we are here for a week and will get to see all the family. There is very little sign of social distancing away from the airport.  Thank goodness for that because wearing a mask door to door for the 5-hour journey was really tough for me.  Having been confined to my study for 4 months, Mrs K decided I needed some time off and get out and meet some people.

We are quickly reacquainted with the political scandal surrounding the murder of a journalist in 2017. There is a memorial to her opposite the courts of justice. The Prime Minister has already stepped down and the net seems to be closing in on the suspects - a sorry mess.

I also hear that Malta has been engaging in its own form of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT).  Citizens have been given €100 each to spend in restaurants and other tourist businesses which have been crippled by the pandemic. This is a controversial policy measure because of what happened to the Weimar republic in the 1930s - it led to hyperinflation. It’s only €100 but what comes next?  If tourism is still on its knees in a few months time, how much more money will be printed in the name of Covid relief? Will people expect more handouts of paper money every time there is a bump in the road?

I am on my holidays but Mrs K's alarm goes off at 7am to wake me for my morning walk.  Our hotel is situated at the gates of the fortress capital of Valletta. Being July it will get obscenely hot so best to get a walk in before it warms up.  Mrs K's definition of fast walking is different to mine - that’s what my knees tell me anyway. Mrs K has to stop at each corner for me to catch up, doing her fitness regime as she waits.

A brisk 3 miles round the city and we are back at the calm of the hotel with breakfast on the terrace, looking over the bay towards Sliema.  I am wearing my England vs Malta World Cup qualifier T-shirt and Thomas and Agnes come over to ask me about it. They are in their 80s and have lived just down the road for the past 10 years. They lived near Inverness for 20 years before that so swapped snow for the searing heat of the Med.  Before that they lived near Crystal Palace.  Mrs K makes a joke about the Scots but before she goes any further Agnes points out that she is half Scottish. That could have ended the conversation but Agnes is now in full flow, telling us about their life. They are a sweet couple. After a few more minutes Thomas is trying to drag Agnes away so she reluctantly totters away into the hotel.  We will be like that soon.

The pool opens at 10am. We are there at 9.55am.  It is an idyllic scene, for the first 30 minutes at least. Then the Sliema WI arrive and there is a constant level of chatter which incredibly stays at the same level for the next 7 hours. What do these women talk about?

Sights from our many walks around the capital

One morning we have breakfast at Cordina.

This jewellery shop backs on to McDonalds and is owned by the family.

The Phoenicia hotel is nicely situated at the gates of the capital which has undergone an incredible regeneration over the last 10 years. What was once a slightly run down and rough city now has dozens of nice restaurants, all within walking distance.  We find a place on Monday evening called Adesso opposite the Ministry of Finance. We are just 1 of 3 tables. Still very quiet. The walk back takes us past the amazing fountain which was dry for so many years but is now fully restored and lit up to great effect.

We visit the Psaila house. They have had road works going on for 5 months and the street is impassable. The problem is that an air raid shelter was found under the street.

On Friday I had a proper lie in and missed out on the morning walk. Mrs K took advantage and went on a longer route around the coast towards Sliema - about 8km.  "Were you tracking me", Mrs K asks me. No, I was fast asleep and I needed it after a BBQ at the Psaila house the night before.

So on Saturday morning, even after scallops, steak and red wine at the upmarket 59 Republic restaurant in Valletta on Friday evening, i am up for a walk. We take the same long route (5.6 miles) in 29C heat and return to Valletta for a much needed drink and light breakfast of 1 pastizzi each. I am dripping in sweat and my hands have swelled up in the heat. It’s a thing apparently.

Later at the pool, Mrs K decides to give directions to a couple sitting beside us. Little do they know she hasn’t got a clue. They are grateful and the guy says I remind him of an actor from a film called Sexy Beast. I have never heard of it but it sounds like a compliment. But then I look it up and it seems to be a choice between Ben Kingsley, Ray Winstone and Ian McShane. Not sure which of those I prefer to be like.

After Chelsea are robbed of yet another FA Cup by a Anthony Taylor red card, we head out for a last meal. We walk down to the waterfront. It is Saturday night but surely it won’t be too busy? Wrong. The Maltese are out in numbers, spending their restaurant vouchers. We have to wait to get a table, which I don’t like at the best of times. Browns is absolutely packed full of very large family groups of Maltese, shouting at the top of their voices. Minnie Mouse is doing the rounds for some reason, touching all the kids and hugging a lot of adults too. When the Maltese get a further spike in cases, they will probably blame the tourists but the fact is that there is no social distancing being practiced here. We don’t stay long.

The hotel is an oasis of calm. In fact a bit too calm because it is tricky to get a drink after 10.30pm, but the guy on the front desk helps us out..

We head home tomorrow (Sunday).