Majestic Salamanca, Spain

I spent my first two years in Spain residing the majestic city of Salamanca, and they were just great!  So it was with much anticipation that I recenty decided to spend a weekend there revisiting some of my old haunts.

Salamanca, 2 hours north of Madrid by car, is the capital of Castilla Leon and has probably one of the most beautiful Plaza Mayors in the world.  The old town is an absolute delight of elegant, golden sandstone buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries, with two cathedrals (!), the oldest university in Spain, and heaps more of historical marvels.

It also has a vibrant nightlife due to the international student population, an outstanding tapas culture, and superb red wines and mature cheeses to top it all.

Arriving from the south, as you cross the River Tormes, your eyes are treated to a lovely view of the cathedrals perched up above the city.  Accommodation in the old town is surprisingly cheap and abundant, but even if you have to go slightly further out as I did, you can walk practically everywhere in 20 minutes.

The barroque Plaza Mayor is huge, and is the heart of the city; it is said that the Salmantines must pass through it at least once a day, and all meeting up should be done under the clock.  In the evenings it is bustling with smartly dressed locals taking an pre-dinner stroll.

Although the streets surrounding the Plaza are full of souvenir shops, many selling the typical handmade silver jewellery unique to Salamanca, they are still atmospheric.

The old town is compact, so within a kilometre you can visit numerous attractions.  Start with the fabulous old and new cathedrals, which are joined so you buy one ticket for both; a seperate ticket must be bought in order to climb up to the roof - which is well worth 3€ extra.  I also saw the city museum, the civil war museum (free but you really need a bit of Spanish to be able to make sense of it), the fascinating art nouveau museum  (free on Thursday mornings), San Domingo monastery and the outside of the other churches. 

Also, take a stroll along the river to see the painted trees and cross the old bridge.

The biggest change I noticed from when I lived there was a huge improvement in the variety of food on offer in the bars.  What was once strictly limited to pinchos of meat, tortilla and the local favourite, mashed potato with paprika, has blossomed into a vegetarian's heaven with excellent modern tapas on offer everywhere you turn.  As in the other Castillian cities, you can get a local red wine with a tapa for 2.50€.  Now that's a bargain!

So, needless to say I had a great time. Salamanca is a swell place; its cheap, has good food and wine, and a wealth of cultural delights to keep you busy.

Malta - surprisingly full of treasures - Easter 2018

Valletta

Easter in Galicia can be pretty grim weatherwise,  provoking a need for a short holiday in warmer climes, so I was delighted to discover Ryanair's new direct flight from Porto to Malta for 150€. 

We landed at midnight, when public transport is long finished, so took a 30 minute taxi for the set price of 20€ to Sliema.

Sliema - a chaotic concrete sprawl, but centrally located - with plentiful cheap accommodation and car hire. It is not attractive by any stretch of the imagination, yet the old part maintains some authencity with its quaint narrow streets, lined with colourful galleried windows.  Despite the sea-front bars, kebabs, and pizzas joints, the area was fairly quiet when we were there in March.  All of Malta is within a half an hour drive from Sliema which is hugely beneficial.

Day 1 we took the ferry over to the capital, Valletta.  Less than 1km sq, Valletta is easy to navigate as the main streets are an orderly grid, with the 2 busiest thoroughfares in the centre of the peninsular.  Having had a bit of a stroll to get the feeling of the place, we headed for St John's Cathedral. 10€ entrance fee probably sounds extortionate, but once inside you will understand. Its austere exterior gives no clue to what might await inside. I have seen many cathedrals, but was astounded by the interior.  One disappointment was that the museum is closed until 2019, so we weren't able to see the famous tapestries. 

Next on the agenda was the Knights Palace, which also houses famous tapestries, and also costs a tenner.  Much to my disappointment, 2 of the rooms were closed due to an art exibition being held in them, and the tapestry room is so dimly lit that it is practically impossible to see the details of the designs.  It is still worth visiting for the lovely murals, but it irritates me when you are charged full fee in these circumstances, something which happens all too often.

The rest of the day was spent strolling around the town,  investigating the small shops,  and enjoying the atmosphere of Valletta.

Day 2 we spent the morning walking the Sliema promenade and wondering aout the curious rocks which seem to have been salt pans in the past.  We hired a car from Hertz for 40€ for 2 days, headed north along the coast road, passing through the intriguing Spinola Bay, and then by - passing the rest of the sprawling resorts until we reached the Gozo ferry terminal.  Then we wandered back down through the countryside to glimpse Rabat.

Day 3 We returned to Rabat and adjoining Mdina, the citadel.  Both are lovely, peaceful and friendly. At this point I will remind you that this is March, I have since read complaints on Tripadvisor that they were unbearably packed with tourists in the high season.  We visited St Agatha's catacombs and its peculiar little museum - home to a bizarre collection of artifacts eg. a 4000 year old mummified Nile crocodile,  Egyptian dolls, Roman ceramics,  fossils, paintings, and a myriad of other odd things.

After refreshments in the main square, we were advised to try "the best pastizzi in Malta" in bar Il Silem next to the Roman Villa.  And bloody delicious they are: 30 cents a pea pastizzi and 90 cents a pea qassat, which is a round pie.   The Roman Villa was a tad disappointing, with one large mosaic and a couple of smaller fragments.    From there it is a few metres to the gate of atmospheric Mdina,  where Games of Thrones was filmed.  Known as the Silent City, it is beautiful, golden and serene, filled with majestic buildings.  I would say we spent about 3 hours visiting Rabat and Mdina and i would be more than happy to revisit them both some day.

Mdina

 Dingli cliffs are a couple of kilometres from Rabat, and quite pleasant but not jaw dropping.
We were intrigued by nearby Clapham Junction Cart tracks but found them hard to find.  I advise researching carefully before you go as relying on Google maps as we did, isn't a lot of help.  Basically, when you find the signpost to turn off, a few yards up the road you will see a rusty old closed entrance gate and a breeze block building to the right. Head that way and then up the hill.  There is no information signs marking anything so you will have to discover them yourself.  There are lots, they may not seem very impressive at first but as you go on and find more their fascination grows.  There is also an unusual and very spooky cave dwelling complex here.  In the end we spent over an hour wandering the site and now it was too late to visit the Hagar Qim temple. 

Cart tracks

We got lost on the tiny back roads as we tried to make our way south but eventually arrived at Pretty Bay, which turns out isn't pretty at all.
After a quick cuppa, we headed south to Marsalokk.  Now that is extremely pretty. So much so that we went back the next morning.
Although there's not much to do other than a quick glance inside the church and a stroll along the harbour where stalls sell local produce and gifts, I'd say the village is the nicest place we visited on the island. Neighbouring Marsakala is worth a quick stop for its stunning views but the town is modern and dull.

Marsalokk

So there we have it! A 4 day trip jammed with interesting sightseeing, which has left me with a strong desire to return, as there are many more things to see, not least the famous temples.

Marsakala