Stayed on roof terrace of the Relax Inn and sun bathed- very hot and topped up tan. Met William Forrest a regular traveller to Malta who was about to rent a property out there and had a good chat. Then first 30 min run up to St. Paul’s bay and back.
Peter Bargh
Sights & SoundsArchive for the ‘Travel’ Category
Another attempt at walking Dingli cliffs, this time by catching a couple of buses to get to the cliff tops. The 48 to Birkirkara, and 201 from there. I got off in Dingle village and walked up to the cliffs and followed the track south along the edge with a plan to walk along the coast to the Blue Grotto. I managed but many times ended up losing the direction and wandering away from the cliffs. I did manage to find my way down to Ghar Lapsi and walked along the cliffs under the Hagar Qim temples. From the Blue Grotto I walked over to Zurrieq and caught a bus to Valetta from Kirkop.
Day resting on the roof terrace of the hotel. Talked with Bill (William Forrest) who explained some things about the island and staying here.
In the evening I had beef stroganoff at a local restaurant
A planned walk to Dingli cliffs started on the road out to Mosta, then over to Rabat and Mdina. I walked around both towns before heading off in what I thought was the direction of Dingli. I didn’t see any signs, and had forgot to take the map, so I ended up totally out of direction at Mgarr.
From there I headed towards Mosta , and spotted a post for entrance to Bingemma Countryside Walk. I decided to take this not knowing where it went, assuming it was the right direction. Minutes into the walk I slipped on a rock, fell and landed on my face. This resulted in concussion and I could not remember where I was or where I wanted to go. I also had a very swollen cheek, totally numb face and a closed eye…felt like I’d been hit by a heavyweight boxer.
I found a vantage point, but I couldn’t remember any names of places or recognise any landmarks. It was quite scary. So I just carried on walking and eventually I regained memory, but hadn’t a clue where I now was, and could no longer recognise the coastal point I needed to head towards to get back to Bugibba, so I headed back to Mosta, on the way I came across a murmoration of starlings which was an amazing sight against the setting sun.
I decided to do the north tip of the island so I caught a bus up to Mellieha heights and walked down to the bay, then up to the red castle (The Red Tower or Fort St. Agatha), and did the tourist visit to get a view from the top. On the way up I passed through some ruins. Totally graffiti covered wall. I spoke to a couple later who actually had one of these properties several years earlier. Time Share that went wrong. Superb vantage point, but now in ruin.
From the tower I walked towards the coast at Ghadira and then clockwise around the top passing a large cave where people were camping, Paradise Bay and the Gozo ferry. I then walked around the north east coast line including Armier Bay. And then completed my daily run 25 minutes using Couch to 5k and back to St Pauls Bay.
Walked from Bugibba around the coast to St Pauls Bay, I liked the look of properties at Xemxijm so walked around the back streets. From here I spotted a sign for the heritage trail and decided to follow it west towards the coast. It brought me to Il-Majjistral Nature & History Park which has a lovely walk following the coast north to Anchor Bay and Popeye Village. From here I walked down to Mellieha Bay and then followed the coast clockwise back round to St Pauls Bay. On the way there were several difficult parts to pass, but also got to see the lovely secluded Imgiebah Bay.
View below is Il-Majjistral with the island of Gozo in the distance.
Check out of Gallipoli and train to Lecce, then Bari and flight FR9874 to Malta. Then X3 bus to Bugibba staying in Relax Inn hotel, triq halal. Budget hotel – smells of old people…lots of coughing and smoke and piss. But roof top terrace and great breakfast – hot and cold buffet style. Didnt enjoy the typical British old person conversation at breakfast, so kept head down.
Apartment was just a short walk from main square. Luckily fairly quiet but the area gets rammed in Summer. Was a good spot for me to explore the north which I hadn’t done previously.
Walked along Gallipoli coast northwards – not that interesting and a very grey day, with just a hint of sun as it set. did get a decent view of the old town from afar though! And also saw an impressive murmuration of Starlings.
Train from Lecce to Gallipoli and short walk to b&b Anxa, via Parini 7, This was a spacious room, with my own bathroom across the hall. No one else was stopping there at the time so I had breaklfast to myself…and have to say this was the best continental breakfast I’ve ever been served in b&b. Absolutely masses to eat and impossible to finish all. Cold meats, cheeses, pastries, coffee, fresh juice etc – filled the table! Didn’t reckon much to Gallipoli though, poor weather didn’t help, but the old town just didn’t have an character and the modern town was basically a single high street with sterile kind of shops and restaurants. No desire ever to go back here!
A walk on a straight 10.5k long (and most boring) road from Lecce to San Cataldo brought me to what looked a bit like Mablethorpe. And similar weather!
