Driving On The Left

Driving On The Left

We checked out of the Airbnb to go pick up our rental car in St. Julian. Going to St. Julian from Valletta was the easy part – hop on the Valletta-Sliema ferry that runs every 30 minutes. Like their buses, they don’t run on schedule either.

Leaving Valletta behind

It only took 3 minutes to get across, but more than 30 minutes for us to walk to the car rental place. We thought our day would get easier, but it just became more stressful. The Maltese drive on the left side, like the Brits. To make it even more challenging, driving a manual with the driver on the right side of the car.

This is a whole new world for us.

Joe’s driven on the wrong side of the road a couple of times already, and I’ve had to remind him to stick to the left. Our new mantra in our heads right now is “look right then look left”. We’ll be happy to leave this island in one piece.

So far, our impression of Malta is that it’s quaint, but tiny. We had originally planned for 10 days in Malta, but cut it by a week because we wanted to make it back home before the borders close on us. In hindsight, cutting the Malta portion was the right decision. This island is minuscule. I feel we’ve already hit a great majority of places today.

Mdina & Rabat

  • Mdina Gate
  • St. Paul’s Cathedral
It was nice strolling through the narrow alleys in the old city of Mdina
With its colorful doors
And knockers

Dingli Cliff

The highest point in Malta at 820 feet above sea level overlooking the Mediterranean. That is lower than our place back in California overlooking the Pacific.

Ghajne Tuffieha Beach

Very shallow waters

Mellieha

Church of Mellieha

Popeye Village

Hate to say this, but Popeye village was the highlight of the day. I’ve actually never watched the entire movie, but only snippets of it. The set has been preserved since 1980, and they do charge an entrance fee for those inclined to go in. We were perfectly happy just viewing it from the cliff.
Checked in to our first hotel this entire trip, and we’re so ready for some rest after a hectic day on the road.

2 thoughts on “Driving On The Left”

  1. Ha it’s always a challenge! Being from the UK, most of the world drives on the “other” side, for us, so we face that challenge in most places we go. However, the more we drive abroad, the more we think us Brits got it totally wrong, because driving on the right seems so much more logical and somehow straightforward. It’s better to stick to manual though – it’s so much better for those mountain climbs and hairpins.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a reply to thehungrytravellers.blog Cancel reply