Europe 2018

Day Eight – Trip into Valletta

Thu 6-Sep-2018 Kulendran Anaimugan 1 Comment

3 Sep 2018

The group decided the previous night that we will go into Valletta today and tour the city. The others were going early into Valletta to have breakfast. We were going to have breakfast in our hotel and meet them in Valletta.

We took the public bus into Valletta.

Although Malta has plenty of historical sites and of course Valletta has plenty, in what seems like unfettered construction of apartments is a blight on the general landscape. Most apartments are generic and uninspiring. Construction is not coordinated and buildings do not fit into the historical backdrop. The roads don’t seem to cope with this construction boom. I feel there will be crunch at some point.

The landscape is almost devoid of greenery. What plants there are, are either dying or are in poor condition. I believe water supply is an issue here. There is litter, plastic and rubble everywhere, even outside our 5 star hotel. It was rather disappointing to see.

Valletta is quite different and being the capital is quite tidy. Malta was recently appointed the European Cultural Capital by the EU and hence it seems like money was spent sprucing up Valletta.

Outside city walls in Valletta

Outside walled city looking back at statue of Independance

Roman columns outside theatre setup within Roman ruins

Facade of an old building in Valletta, Malta

Various street views in Valletta

We met up with the group on the main street of Valletta quite by accident. We went away in different directions and then met up for lunch in an air-conditioned restaurant. It was a hot day and therefore the air-conditioning was a good welcome. The food was good too.

Our next stop was the Grandmaster’s Palace.

Display of body armour through the centuries

Castille Hotel fascade in Valletta, Malta

Old buildings in Valletta

Europe 2018

Day Seven – In Malta

Tue 4-Sep-2018 Kulendran Anaimugan 2 Comments

2 Sep 2018

We slept in late after a long nights rest. We made it to breakfast at 9:30 am. It was quite a spread. After breakfast, we decided to wonder around the hotel to see what facilities are available. We are glad we booked into the the Westin Dragonara. It is slightly pricey but the service and facilities are good.

We decided to do the hop-on-hop-off bus tour of Malta with our friends. We got our friends to meet us at the hotel as our hotel is a pickup point.

Booking for this trip is rather convoluted. We booked the trip through the concierge at our hotel. He gave us a receipt but we were told payment will be collected at stop 17 of the tour. We get to stop 17 in Silema and two men boarded the bus to collect the fare.

The tour takes us past Valletta but not into the town and heads for Mdina. There are two tours; North Island tour and the South Island tour. Mid-way to Mdina the bus stops at one of the regular stops. Those going on the South Island tour needed to change buses.

The bus then takes us through Mdina and heads for Golden Bay where we get off to have lunch and look around. Golden Bay is on the West coast of the island.

After lunch, we caught the next bus that took us to St Paul’s Bay and then back to our hotels in St Julians. Mid-way, the bus stops to wait for the another bus behind to pick up passengers from that bus. It is not the most efficient system and the fast driving around the island did not improve the experience. However, we did learn something from the commentary. We waited nearly 30mins or so in the hot sun for the other bus to turn up. I would say the hop-on-hop-off bus service is rather crude but we got to see a lot of the island.

At night, we all went out for dinner to celebrate Fiona’s birthday. We had a scrumptious seafood dinner on the beach.

Europe 2018

Day Six – Departed Munich for Malta

Sun 2-Sep-2018 Kulendran Anaimugan Leave a comment

1 Sep 2018

We left a wet Munich for Malta today. Our flight was at 2:30 pm. We left for the airport early. Flight was slightly delayed. We got to Malta around 5 pm.

We hired a car at the airport. There are many horror stories of car hires in Malta. So I pre-booked a car through Avis. Driving here is a challenge too. Road rules are very loosely observed. We saw this first hand in the airport carpark itself. We saw cars driven against traffic flow.

It is warm in Malta. Our drive from the airport to our hotel was stressful and harrowing. Hopefully this will improve over time. The roads are rather confusing and this is while equipped with a GPS.

Our rooms at the Westin Dragonara is very comfortable. I booked a room with a king sized bed but got one with two queens. We are not complaining. We both have our things spread on our own beds.

We met up with our friends later. They are in an apartment close-by. We went out for a relaxing dinner.

Europe 2018

Day Five – Day Trip to Neuschwanstein Castle

Sat 1-Sep-2018 Kulendran Anaimugan 5 Comments

31 Aug 2018

Today we made a day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle. Walt Disney made a trip here in the 1930s and modelled the Disneyland Castle on this castle. The castle was constructed from 1869 to 1886. It was never completed. This was one of King Ludwig II’s splurge on castle building that sent Bavaria into debt at that time.

The day trip will be a total of 10 hours. It takes 2 hours to get to the castle. Then there is a steep 1 mile walk up to the castle. There are coaches and horse drawn carts that will take you to the top. All of us in our group decided to walk up.

Our tour guide was great and was an absolute fountain of knowledge. She was informative and gave us this complete history of the castle. The made the trip more complete. The only thing is that the weather was not kind to us. It rained for the entire trip although it was not pouring heavy. This made photography a bit challenging as the pictures below show.

Hohenschwangau Castle is almost across the road from Neuschwanstein Castle. King Ludwig II and his brother Otto spent summers with their parents in this castle.

Neuschwanstein Castle in the fog

Pictures above taken from a bridge, half a mile up from the castle. It was raining and misty. Adds to the atmosphere of mystique.

Our guide booked those interested in a 35 min guided tour inside the castle. It was an eye opener. I would not say it was ostentatious. It is just that King Ludwig II had a real passion for detail and craftsmanship without regard to cost. We can clearly see that this was an expensive project. When the King died under mysterious circumstances (and it is still a mystery) in 1886, all construction came to a halt. Therefore the castle was never completed.

We could not take any pictures inside the castle so you have two options here:

Google for the pics.
Make the trip yourself.

King Maximillian and Queen Marie resided in the building to the left and building on the right housed the servants and the quarters for Ludwig and Otto. The King and Queen rarely saw their sons.