Stuck in Malta

After having such perfect days, my luck was bound to come to an end.

My karma cannot possible be that great. 

I found this out in Mdina, the ancient capital of Malta.   Read More...

I was charmed at first glance of Malta when I saw the multicolored windows and doors greeting us from the port.

Malta is a very small country south of Italy. Malta's current capital is Valletta, but until the 16th century the capital was the city of Mdina. To this day, this fortified city in the center of the city is a very popular tourist destination and is sometimes referred to as the "Silent City" as there are no cars allowed: only pedestrians.

We decided to opt out of an excursion through the cruise and just take a hop-on hop-off bus tour. Mdina was our first stop so we picked our spot on the top of the bus and cruised off.

Mdina was an awesome experience. It seems much more simple and minimalistic after some of the ornate sights we had been experiencing.

It made it more fun to spot the small decorations, which were like little bursts of color on the tan landscape.

And the views from over the walls weren't bad!

After we had walked around, checked out the sights, and bought some glass products, as Malta is known for its glasswork, we headed back to the bus stop.
And so did everyone else.
Somehow, the bus company did not have enough buses working that day. As the crowd grew bigger and my watch was counting down, I started to get a bit anxious.

In the end, we wasted about an hour of our time in Malta sitting outside the gates of Mdina waiting for the big red bus to arrive. The man stationed at the bus station that worked for the company was getting harassed and questioned by the crowd (quite large at this point) that had gathered. He told us that the company was sending three buses to take us straight back to port as we were out of time and would not be able to see anything else.
Disappointing as it was, such is life. We let the crowds squeeze and push their way on to the first bus before walking onto the second bus and watching the sights as they went by.

We did get to drive by Mosta, which is home to St Marija Assunta Church, which boasts one of the largest unsupported domes in the world. The church was built by the residents of Malta and is also famous for attempting to be bombed during WWII but the bomb fortunately failed to actually blow up.

The port in Valletta is a cute little walk. The bright colors and palm trees are incredibly charming. I am glad I got to walk around this as I was still disappointed that we had been stuck for so long.

I spend enough time in traffic in Qatar, I don't need to spend any more of it when there's a whole world to see!