The long corridor to our room
The Phoneboxes of Valletta, Malta - 29th October 2026
We're off to Europe's smallest and most southern capital - Valletta - via the Number 42 bus from Xemxija, a route which certainly goes around the houses but eventually drops us off at the bus station right in front of the walled city itself. The city, sometimes called an "open-air museum", is certainly compact and is a nice place to wander around, and as we do so it becomes apparent that it has a surprising number of red British K6 phone boxes scattered around. The day after - our last - we head back to Mellieħa for a look in the underground WWII shelters followed by a lunch of pastizzi, before returning to Xemxija where it lashes it down for a while. Then it's back home with an early start, a transfer bus to the airport and the flight back to Norwich. But before all of that, Nosher and Harry are off for a walk which takes in an look at the entrance to a Cold War-era underground emergency flour mill, built in the 1950s in order to store tons of wheat and the equipment needed to make bread to feed the island in case of emergency. After that, we find the path down to Mistra Bay - possibly the nicest of the seaside areas we'd encountered so far - with Isobel meeting us as we're on the way back, so we return once more so she can have a swim.
previous album: A Boat Trip to Gozo/Għawdex, Malta - 27th October 2026
Xemxija's Emergency Flour Mill
The passage into the flour mill
Harry reads an information board
Harry walks the path to Mistra Bay
A curious building on the clifftop
Harry peers out through a broken wall
More health and safety with a 20-metre deep hole
A first glimpse of Mistra Bay
Down near the quay
The Mistra Battery, with Buġibba in the distance
The coat of arms of the Order of St. John
Mistra Bay, near Mellieħa
A view of the well-preserved Mistra Battery
We head back towards Xemxija
Isobel goes for a bit of a swim
Some steps, cut into the rock
Isobel climbs the cliff
Mistra Bay from the top of the cliff
A derelict building
Piles of rubble inside the derelict building
Part of a derelict resevoir system
A giant walled resevoir
1930s Critall-style windows
Isobel reads a book on the balcony
A couple of cats look up at us from down below
The hotel pool at night
The enormous bastion walls of Valletta
Republic Street in Valletta
It's busy in the walled city
Harry and Isobel roam around
A lot of the streets are steeply stepped
Possibly Triq il Batterija
The first of many K6 phone boxes
The imposing Victoria city gate
Isobel looks up a side alley
A boat parked on Liesse Hill
Bright colours in a streetside café
Isobel stumps up Old Theatre Street
Another bustling side street in Valletta
Republic Square is reminiscent of Barcelona
A statue of Queen Victoria in Republic Square
Another K6 phonebox, along with a post box
Wet flagstones after a shower
The distintive boxed bay windows of Valletta
The St. Paul Store on St. Paul's Street
An old-school ironmonger
Isobel walks the wet paved streets of Valletta
A café owner tips water off an awning
We end up at Xemxi Café for some lunch
Our Xemxi mixed platter arrives
The Submarine Café's food is delivered by basket
Fruit and veg in a market stall
A distressed green door on New Store
An impressive church façade
Another K6 phonebox
A nice dome in a church
A grand church in Valletta
A jumble of buildings on Wuesternwinds Beach
A pony and cart waits for tourists
We spot another very raggedy pigeon
The oddly-arranged granaries of St. Elmo
Isobel wanders around some more
The very bottom end of Republic Street
A traditional Vallettan town house on a steep hill
Isobel and Harry trudge up a long flight of steps
A stone mason works in a building
Back in Republic Square
A pair of K6 phoneboxes
Contra jour at the exit of Valletta city
We wait for the 42 bus back to Xemxija
Isobel and Harry on the bus
Xemxija il-Baħar
Harry's on a phone, Isobel's on a book
Funky painted steps in Mellieħa
The underground shelter of Mellieħa
A reconstruction of a maternity unit
Harry looks back along the tunnel
The long tunnels of the Mellieħa shelter
Isobel and Harry in a larger section of the tunnel
We wander around in a church square
The Parish Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary
The altar of the Parish Church in Mellieħa
Pjazza tal Mellieħa
We climb up to Triq il-Madonna ta'LGħar
Isobel and Harry on Triq il-Madonna ta'LGħar
A view down the street with Gozo in the background
Harry waits on some steps
Back at the hotel, it has started lashing rain
Rain makes the valley almost disappear
Water flows down Triq ir-Ridott
Isobel and Harry come down to see the rainbow
There's a rainbow over the bay
Rainbow boats and an actual rainbow
Cool crepuscular God rays at the valley end
The Xemxija aquaduct
Orange clouds and rain over the bay
More impressive clouds over St. Paul's Bay
The fruit dude's stall
A mass of orange cloud hovers over some apartments
The Xemxija Bay Hotel's pool area
Cars on the busy road around the bay
We're in the Xemxija Bay Café for the last time
It's 4:20 in the morning as we wait for the coach
The streets are empty for the first time
Hanging around at Malta Airport
Ryanair loves a queue
There's another rainbow
We fly over the Alps
Another plane leaves a dark contrail
Norwich Airport's runway
Harry strides across the apron
A Boeing 737 8-200 'Max'
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The long corridor to our room
The long corridor to our room
Xemxija's Emergency Flour Mill
The passage into the flour mill
Harry reads an information board
Harry walks the path to Mistra Bay
A curious building on the clifftop
Harry peers out through a broken wall
More health and safety with a 20-metre deep hole
A first glimpse of Mistra Bay
Down near the quay
The Mistra Battery, with Buġibba in the distance
The coat of arms of the Order of St. John
Mistra Bay, near Mellieħa
A view of the well-preserved Mistra Battery
We head back towards Xemxija
Isobel goes for a bit of a swim
Some steps, cut into the rock
Isobel climbs the cliff
Mistra Bay from the top of the cliff
A derelict building
Piles of rubble inside the derelict building
Part of a derelict resevoir system
A giant walled resevoir
1930s Critall-style windows
Isobel reads a book on the balcony
A couple of cats look up at us from down below
The hotel pool at night
The enormous bastion walls of Valletta
Republic Street in Valletta
It's busy in the walled city
Harry and Isobel roam around
A lot of the streets are steeply stepped
Possibly Triq il Batterija
The first of many K6 phone boxes
The imposing Victoria city gate
Isobel looks up a side alley
A boat parked on Liesse Hill
Bright colours in a streetside café
Isobel stumps up Old Theatre Street
Another bustling side street in Valletta
Republic Square is reminiscent of Barcelona
A statue of Queen Victoria in Republic Square
Another K6 phonebox, along with a post box
Wet flagstones after a shower
The distintive boxed bay windows of Valletta
The St. Paul Store on St. Paul's Street
An old-school ironmonger
Isobel walks the wet paved streets of Valletta
A café owner tips water off an awning
We end up at Xemxi Café for some lunch
Our Xemxi mixed platter arrives
The Submarine Café's food is delivered by basket
Fruit and veg in a market stall
A distressed green door on New Store
An impressive church façade
Another K6 phonebox
A nice dome in a church
A grand church in Valletta
A jumble of buildings on Wuesternwinds Beach
A pony and cart waits for tourists
We spot another very raggedy pigeon
The oddly-arranged granaries of St. Elmo
Isobel wanders around some more
The very bottom end of Republic Street
A traditional Vallettan town house on a steep hill
Isobel and Harry trudge up a long flight of steps
A stone mason works in a building
Back in Republic Square
A pair of K6 phoneboxes
Contra jour at the exit of Valletta city
We wait for the 42 bus back to Xemxija
Isobel and Harry on the bus
Xemxija il-Baħar
Harry's on a phone, Isobel's on a book
Funky painted steps in Mellieħa
The underground shelter of Mellieħa
A reconstruction of a maternity unit
Harry looks back along the tunnel
The long tunnels of the Mellieħa shelter
Isobel and Harry in a larger section of the tunnel
We wander around in a church square
The Parish Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary
The altar of the Parish Church in Mellieħa
Pjazza tal Mellieħa
We climb up to Triq il-Madonna ta'LGħar
Isobel and Harry on Triq il-Madonna ta'LGħar
A view down the street with Gozo in the background
Harry waits on some steps
Back at the hotel, it has started lashing rain
Rain makes the valley almost disappear
Water flows down Triq ir-Ridott
Isobel and Harry come down to see the rainbow
There's a rainbow over the bay
Rainbow boats and an actual rainbow
Cool crepuscular God rays at the valley end
The Xemxija aquaduct
Orange clouds and rain over the bay
More impressive clouds over St. Paul's Bay
The fruit dude's stall
A mass of orange cloud hovers over some apartments
The Xemxija Bay Hotel's pool area
Cars on the busy road around the bay
We're in the Xemxija Bay Café for the last time
It's 4:20 in the morning as we wait for the coach
The streets are empty for the first time
Hanging around at Malta Airport
Ryanair loves a queue
There's another rainbow
We fly over the Alps
Another plane leaves a dark contrail
Norwich Airport's runway
Harry strides across the apron
A Boeing 737 8-200 'Max'