Day 572, 5 Jan '16, Malta Pass Day 1. What, pray tell, is a Malta Pass? Well first off it's the thing we were patiently waiting for in Turkey for weeks - before we spent a day exploring the vagaries of the Turkish Postal Service (perfect oxymoron). But more specifically, a city pass (or in this case a country pass) is where you cough up a certain amount, here €49 each, and then can go to as many attractions and sites within 3 days as is humanly possible. We ...

Day 567, 31 Dec '15, New Year's Eve 2015 - Valletta! 50,000 people they said. Leave the car at home, they said. Risk never getting home again by relying on buses, they said. Naaah! Leave home at midday, have lunch at our favourite cheap eats cafe Dolceria Croce Bonaci (baked rice, vege omelette, salmon pie and two lattes - €10). Then we had a movie marathon - finally got to see Spectre, the latest James Bond movie and also Starwars, The Force Awakens. Super ...

Day 566, 30 Dec '15, Ta'Qali Crafts/Valletta Walking Tour. We spent a couple of hours this morning strolling about this artisan craft village. Obviously a lot of tourist tat and we have a sneaking suspicion that not all the silver filigree was actually hand-made (and certainly not in Malta). But still fun. Highlight of the jaunt was seeing glass blowing at the Mdina Glassworks. Compared to the other glass manufacturers this stuff is a cut above. Home for lunch...

Days 559-560, 23-24 Dec '15, Valletta, Lights, Action, Panto! On Christmas Eve "Eve", the 23rd, we ventured into Valletta - the walled capital city of Malta. We came prepared to love it and we certainly did. Christmas in Turkey was shaping up to be a bit like a strange older person hanging around a kindergarten... there, but sort of on the sly. Prayer calls would have drowned out the Christmas bells. If there had been any. But now it's Christmas - and how! Ev...