A 4 am start was a bit painful, but we got to Gatwick with time to spare and, in spite of the early hour, enjoyed a glass of pink champagne and a bacon baguette in the lounge before boarding the plane. A nice start to our trip! In the lounge we bumped into an old friend of Simon's and his wife and discovered we were both heading to Malta and even to the same area so quite a coincidence!

The flight was short and uneventful and we were soon descending into Malta to a lovely, sunny afternoon. It was a beautiful temperature, warm but not over hot, just right! We had booked a transfer which was ready and waiting as we walked outside, perfect!

It was a 20 minute drive to St Julian's Bay and our hotel, Le Meridien. Waiting to check in we learned about Maltese time which apparently has two speeds which are slow and stop! Never mind, everyone was very pleasant and we were given mango juice while we waited. There seemed to be a problem with our booking which involved lots of whispering and phone calls and we had to wait in the bar for an hour while they sorted it out. Not the best start, but they did give us a free drink and when we did eventually get to our room it was on the 11th floor and had a huge balcony looking out over the bay. We also managed to get Starwood Preferred Guest status which includes free breakfast so not sure how that happened but ours not to reason why.

We wandered out to have a bit of an explore, and walked all the way along into the next Bay, Spinola Bay. All along the waterfront there are little cafes and bars. There is no beach as such, just rocks which lead straight into the water and sun worshippers stretch right out on the rocks and slip straight into the water to cool off. This seems to be the way it is in Malta with very little sand around.

We took a break at Raffael's a restaurant overlooking the water and sat right at the front in the lovely sunshine enjoying a beer. Lots of locals were there enjoying the food which we thought was a good endorsement so we decided to have a late lunch/early dinner. The food was wonderful but the portions were huge and we ended up taking half a pizza back with us for later.

A leisurely stroll back to the hotel and an even more leisurely glass of wine in the bar. Travel is such fun!