Harry hangs around at Norwich Airport
The Xemxija Heritage Trail, San Pawl il-Baħar, Malta - 26th October 2026
It's time for the annual Holiday That Isn't the Ireland One, and this year we decide on Malta, largely because a) it's relatively cheap and b) we can actually fly from Norwich, an airport that has a huge advantage that it's not Stansted, where the long stay parking is only 100 metres from the terminal, it only takes ten minutes to get through security, and where it's only 26 miles away instead of 70. On the first proper day at the Xemxija Bay Hotel, we head up the road to do the short but interesting Heritage Path, followed by our first look around the local area.
previous album: Another Saxophone Trip, Cambridge - 23rd October 2026
A KLM Embraer ERJ-190 Cityhopper at Norwich
Not even Norwich is immune from Ryanair queues
Isobel trundles onto the plane
We're on the transfer bus from Malta Airport
We get our first two-for-one cocktails
Harry looks back as we leave the pool bar
Isobel and Harry hang around by the hotel 'shop'
A view from the hotel room balcony
The hills are full of prickly pear cacti
A green metal shepherd's hut
Isobel looks around in a cave
Harry wanders into the cave tomb
Harry and Isobel walk past more cacti
We visit some ancient stone beehives
Another cave
Harry roams around outside a cave
A Roman road
Health and safety: a 2.1m-deep Punic tomb
Harry waits for something to happen
The remains of a stone farmer's hut
Some sort of apartment block on a hill
Isobel emerges from a tomb cave
Isobel peers into the farmer's hut
Giant wall art on apartments
The Selmun Palace
A WWII bunker
Graffiti on a WWII pillbox
Inside the concrete pillbox
Another view of the pillbox and its machine-gun slit
Inside the Roman baths
The remains of a plunge pool in the Roman baths
Terraced fields on the hills
A Swallowtail butterfly pauses for a rest
Isobel peers through a hole in the wall
Epic dereliction, Xemxija style
Piles of rubble exit a doorway
One of Xemxija's grander buildings
The blue waters of Xemxija Bay
A curious isolated apartment block
Some foundation piles are excavated
A boat on the bay
Harry has some lunch at the Xemxija Bay Café
A blue door with a Maltese cross
Harry and Isobel on the road back to the hotel
A derelict house near the hotel
The sun sets over Xemxija
Isobel ponders the cocktails list
A jumble of apartment blocks
Sunset along the valley
Moonrise over Xemxija Bay
We return from an abortive attempt to find a café
A side street down to the bay
A marina at night
We're back at the Xemxija Bay Café
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Harry hangs around at Norwich Airport
Harry hangs around at Norwich Airport
A KLM Embraer ERJ-190 Cityhopper at Norwich
Not even Norwich is immune from Ryanair queues
Isobel trundles onto the plane
We're on the transfer bus from Malta Airport
We get our first two-for-one cocktails
Harry looks back as we leave the pool bar
Isobel and Harry hang around by the hotel 'shop'
A view from the hotel room balcony
The hills are full of prickly pear cacti
A green metal shepherd's hut
Isobel looks around in a cave
Harry wanders into the cave tomb
Harry and Isobel walk past more cacti
We visit some ancient stone beehives
Another cave
Harry roams around outside a cave
A Roman road
Health and safety: a 2.1m-deep Punic tomb
Harry waits for something to happen
The remains of a stone farmer's hut
Some sort of apartment block on a hill
Isobel emerges from a tomb cave
Isobel peers into the farmer's hut
Giant wall art on apartments
The Selmun Palace
A WWII bunker
Graffiti on a WWII pillbox
Inside the concrete pillbox
Another view of the pillbox and its machine-gun slit
Inside the Roman baths
The remains of a plunge pool in the Roman baths
Terraced fields on the hills
A Swallowtail butterfly pauses for a rest
Isobel peers through a hole in the wall
Epic dereliction, Xemxija style
Piles of rubble exit a doorway
One of Xemxija's grander buildings
The blue waters of Xemxija Bay
A curious isolated apartment block
Some foundation piles are excavated
A boat on the bay
Harry has some lunch at the Xemxija Bay Café
A blue door with a Maltese cross
Harry and Isobel on the road back to the hotel
A derelict house near the hotel
The sun sets over Xemxija
Isobel ponders the cocktails list
A jumble of apartment blocks
Sunset along the valley
Moonrise over Xemxija Bay
We return from an abortive attempt to find a café
A side street down to the bay
A marina at night
We're back at the Xemxija Bay Café