Saturday 5th of April 2014

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The weather forcast for today was not promising, but fortunately it wasn’t accurate either – the sun was out and the wind was pretty mild, so all in all the temperature was quite pleasant.

The landlord of my parents’ flat works at the Għar Dalam caves and he’d arranged to get us in for free, but since the caves don’t open until 10:30 we went to have breakfast at the local café in Birżebbuġa. I didn’t get much, so once I’d finished I had a wander round and took some photos.

tractor refuelling
tractor refuelling

Birżebbuġa’s small beachBirżebbuġa’s small beach

local shops
local shops

Chinese restaurant
Chinese restaurant

Water’s Edge hotelWater’s Edge hotel

Pretty Bay water
Pretty Bay water

Soon though it was time to head to the caves, a short bus ride away.

entrance to Għar Dalam caves and museum
entrance to Għar Dalam caves and museum

I hadn’t realised but the caves also had a museum, filled with various geological and archaeological exhibits.

hippopotamus skullHippopotamus skull

Għar Dalam cave entrance
Għar Dalam cave entrance

stalactites and stalagmites
stalactites and stalagmites

looking out from the cave
looking out from the cave

my mum enjoying the view outside the cave
my mum enjoying the view outside the cave

My planned destination today was the Popeye Village, which meant going via Valletta, so we went for a quick coffee before going our separate ways for the day. While at the café I saw a chap selling hats, and thought it’d be handy to have one to keep the sun out of my eyes.

me in a straw hatQuite dashing, I’m sure you’ll agree

The Popeye Village is reached via Għardira, my planned destination for Day 3, and one can either get a bus from there, or just walk, since it’s only 1 km. I chose the latter, since it was a nice day, albeit very windy in that area (enough that I got to thinking I should just have bought sunglasses instead of a hat).

Għardira beach, with Mellieħa in the background
Għardira beach, with Mellieħa in the background

dry stone walls
dry stone walls

new road from Mellieħa
new road from Mellieħa

long straight road to the Popeye VillageThe road to the Popeye Village

Popeye VillageBehold, the Village

I’m glad I decided to walk, because as it turned out, I got more interesting pictures on the walk there and back than I did at the Village itself, which I found a little too touristy for my liking, not helped by the loud music blaring forth from one of the buildings.

rusty road sign
rusty road sign

horses and a catTiny cat!

field and wall
field and wall

engraved cactus
engraved cactus

side road leading up a hill, with parked car
side road leading up a hill, with parked car

stone building and old windmill
stone building and old windmill

The day was almost over, so I headed back to Valletta, to get the bus back to the flat. I was quite amused to see some cats hanging around the bus station.

cat at Valletta bus station
cat at Valletta bus station

Thus ended my fourth day in Malta. Tomorrow, Rabat and Mdina!