Malta, Day 3

The receptionist in the hotel had warned us when we checked in and enquired about our float-plane booking that stormy weather was forecast for today, which might mean that our flight would be cancelled. He'd been helpful at the time, had phoned, and had obtained a promise that Harbour Air would contact the hotel is there was a problem. Now he said there'd been no word, conditions had improved overnight anyway (though it was still a bit rainy), so we took it that our arrangement still stood. We left our bags in Reception and went for a final wander around Valletta to pass the time until our 1.30 flight. I'd asked for my bag to be taken down from the room rather than have to lug it down the several flights of stairs and through the maze of passageways, the guy on reception had promised this would be done, but we weren't really surprised when the taxi we'd booked to take us to the floatplane terminal was there before the forgotten bag was. So we left the British Hotel feeling even worse about the place then we already were. To repeat: if you ever go to Valletta, don't stay at the British Hotel on Battery Street.

The taxi took us round a part of the city which we hadn't seen before, making me wish for a bit more time (perhaps another day) in Valletta. The overall layout is confusing at best anyway, and means that you'd really need to take a harbour taxi or suchlike to explore further afield than the central area we were based in. We checked in for our floatplane flight and had time for a quick beer at a place in the attractive harbourfront area. The flight was less than fifteen minutes, and cost 42 euro, but Carl and I were delighted we'd decided to do it. The weather had improved, and was dry and bright when we arrived in Mgarr on Gozo, to be greeted by our three travelling companions and Fergus, our music group member who's bought a place here.

Fergus had recommended the Grand Hotel for our stay, we'd followed his recommendation, and we were delighted we did when we checked in and saw the magnificent room with its fine view over the harbour and down onto the hotel's 2nd-floor swimming pool. Okay, so the price was almost twice what we'd paid in Valletta, but the standard was far more than twice as good. Two of the gang (Carl included) weren't going to tonight's opera, so they'd arranged to go early to Victoria and wait around there until the performance finished. Fergus met us at the hotel and drove us to Victoria for the 7.30 start of Puccini's Turandot. It isn''t en especially long opera, but two extended intermissions meant that it was going on for 11.00 pm by the time things finished. Carl and I had opted out of the 'meet the stars' after-opera dinner the others were going to, so we'd booked a table at a restaurant back in Mgarr. It took several phone calls to let them know we were running later than expected, but still they were fully prepared to remain open late specially for us. We got a taxi back, our table was waiting for us, and we treated ourselves to the local delicacy of rabbit stew.

A good day, though a fairly hectic one, and a good introduction to Gozo.