Thu 07.Oct.2021
Malta
If you never took a German lit course in college, you probably never waded your way
through Tonio Kroeger by Thomas Mann. Mr Mann spends a lot of time on the idea
that you cannot be doing things and writing about them at the same time. If you are
gallivanting around Malta, for example, you cannot also be writing about it.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Here we are on the last page of Malta-in-August pictures, and Malta-in-October pictures
are already starting to pile up. So without further ado ...
Little kids made good use of this fountain in Valletta in the blistering August heat,
usually with a grown-up keeping watch from the sidelines.
More sights around Valletta.
St Julians
You need to do it to believe it - the hassles of Travel in the Time Of Covid. Just
finding out the entry requirements for your destination coutry can require a long, frustrating
session with google and various govenment web sites. Often the answer involves forms,
which you then need to find and fill out, sometimes online, sometimes in hard copy.
Are you making connections in any intermediate countries? Repeat the process for transit
requirements, forms, etc.
It turns out that The Goodle U S of A requires a certified Covid-19 test within
3 days before entry. Even for vaccinated citizens.
I was leaving on a Monday morning, so I needed
a testing lab that would be open on Sunday, and take an appointment on short notice.
I found
it a bus-ride away, in the high-rise waterfront suburb of St Julians. A picturesque
enough place; I'm glad I discovered it. [As it happens, I am there now, as I type this
in October.]
Back in Valletta
Fort St Elmo at the tip of Valletta's peninsula, commanding the harbor entrances
on both sides. Backed by the tourist high-rises of Sliema.
The Barrakka Lift - a welcome short cut from the waterfront to the upper
city.