From the airport in Luqa, Fiona and I took a bus to Sliema, the resort town and shopping district (and tourist hub) that houses Seafront Tower, the hotel-turned-hostel where we made reservations.
When we arrived at the address, this is what we found:
Fortunately, the problem was Google Maps, not our reservation.
Here’s the real Seafront Tower:
It’s a former five-star hotel converted into a hostel; the rooms still have elaborate moldings and palatial bathrooms, but rather than ritzy hotel furniture, they’re full of bunk beds.
True to its name, Seafront Tower is on the waterfront. This is the view out the front door:
That city is Valetta, recently voted the cultural capital of Europe. There’s little I can tell you about Valetta, not having been there yet, except that it’s named for Jean de la Valette, Grand Master of the Knights of St. John during the famous 16th-century Siege of Malta.
If you want to know exactly as much as I do about Malta, read the book Ironfire (published as The Sword and the Scimitar in Europe) by David Ball. It’s a historical epic about the siege and it’s the only reason I even know where Malta is on a map.