Valletta at night

Well.. went out last night on a night excursion to the Valletta waterfront. I'm sorry to report that Malta is STILL boring. But now I am bored AND have a stomachache because I'm not used to processed food anymore.. the word "suffering" springs to mind.

Went to the Upper Barrakka Gardens inside Valletta (it's a fortified city) and I have to say it was really beautiful. It overlooks the Grand Harbour and a lot of people were making out there - sort of a romantic spot for young and old alike. Malta is really into arches and the harbor was very dramatic draped in these arches. But these beautiful spots are likely few and far between.

Got dropped off at the Valleta waterfront where there are about 10 restaurants set against the water. Surprisingly the one that was TOTALLY PACKED was Hard Rock Cafe. Uhh... Chose a Mediterranean place that was more Italian than anything. Lovely pasta! But was too heavy and oily considering my diet the last few months and it took them 2 hours to serve us so ended up eating at 10:30pm. Came home with a monster ulcer-feeling stomachache.

Met this lovely couple from Manchester in their 50's who were really sweet and let me talk their ear off all night. Deborah is originally from Barbados and so we were chatting about Barbados life vs UK life, and she was so interested in developing world stuff and I had so many stories to share of course! I miss Bangui. Being here is all sorts of funky and lonely and I've tried to call Adel to no avail. Deborah told me I'd have to leave him behind and the notion was kind of a funny one to be getting from a stranger. Why do I have to leave anyone behind??? I'm not good at leaving people behind unless they're done me some serious injury.

More later, my tummy hurts too much!! And sorry for the blurry photos - no tripod and only the DSLR at my disposal!

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Unfortunately missed my tour today because tummy felt like it was tearing apart (Joy, I totally thought of you!!) and couldn't get to sleep until 7am. Called to tell them I wasn't feeling well and they were nice enough to rebook me for Friday free of charge, probably since I had spent money on 4 tours, that kinda stuff makes you memorable I guess!

Got my ticket to Sicily when I came home last night - hope the Ferry is going to easy on the tummy tomorrow! I'm excited to see Italy again. As much as Rome was kind of .. ehh to me, there's no doubt that country does its shit right, much like France. God I love Italy and France! The quality of stuff (food, clothes, art, architecture) is so superior it's hard not to appreciate it. I imagine that's what Japan or Korea is like for electronics - they just really know what they're doing and that's always an awe-inspiring thing.

Malta so far is funny. Every person I've spoken to complains about working really hard because wages are really low. But at the same time cost of living is really low too! C'mon you're doing extremely well for a country of 425,000, no? But I do feel like visiting here is like vacationing in a blue-collar country. It's fine, but it's not exactly right, it's like everything that you get is second rate - from service to food to accommodations. And then some of the nicer resorts are literally out in the middle of nowhere! You either vacation for the sights (of which there are a couple, but very very run down), the food (which is decent but not extraordinary or memorable - Italy or Greece would be better ), or the people/culture (and they're not incredibly happy or interesting or warm - India or Barbados or Haiti may be better for this, I have never visited). Here it's kind of like.. what the hell am I doing here?! Our tour yesterday was basically a cab driver - he never opened doors for us (that was me assisting the old ladies!), described the areas we were passing unless I asked, or cared to answer questions. It's like.. you just told me your country relies heavily on tourism, so why don't you take your tourism seriously? Once again, stuck in the 80's where the idea of "service" was minimal at best.

It was nice to go on a tour though and see other people's hotels. The other resort I was going to book instead of this one (Ramla Bay) was the Golden Sands, which is a Radisson resort/timeshare. It's brand spanking new and is set nicely on some cliffs, but is ALSO in the middle of nowhere! But at least they are near a village where they can buy groceries, as opposed to me here, the only thing I can get my hands on are rocks and salt water! Boo. But I think the price difference is something like 400%.

Alright, should rest a bit for a pretty hectic next 3 days. Am really looking forward to Sicily tomorrow!!! I promise not to gorge on Italian food!