TODAY’S TOURING
It was an interesting travel day. Nothing extraordinary, but enough interesting to keep us on our toes. We scheduled a transfer from our apartment to the Rome airport through the vacation rental manager. At 7:00 AM the car was waiting at our apartment. Traffic was light and there were no issues getting to the airport. Because we were traveling intra-EU (e.gl Shengen zone) there was no immigration or customs. We checked in at Air Malta. There was no one in line and got our seat assignments. We waited for the flight in the Star Alliance lounge. I even got a decaf doppio (double espresso) made for me. However, when we boarded the plane, our seat was in the Economy section and we purchased Priority (a.k.a. Business class) seats. But no fear, it was quickly resolved. Priority Class seats in Europe are the same seats as Economy Seats, except:
- The middle seat, in a 3-seat side) is empty
- There is a partition between the seating sections
- Meals are served
- Alcoholic beverages are free
The partitions separating the sections can be slid forward and backward to accommodate the desired number of Priority Seats. The flight attendant simply moved the partition back one row 🙂
We were met at the Malta airport by our pre-arranged car and driver and taken directly to our apartment. We settled in and then took a short tour of central Valletta. We walked Merchant Street (it’s real name) to Barrakka Gardens overlooking Valletta harbor. Afterwards, we had dinner at Nune the Baker. It is sort of an odd place with good, common Maltese food. We tried the ftira (Maltese version of pizza) and loved it.
NOTE: There are two versions of ftira. The Malta island version is a sandwich. The Gozo island version is the pizza. Nenu the Baker was the only place we found in Valletta that made the Gozo island pizza version.
