I have just returned from my first ever trip to your attractive and historical island (from the UK) and feel compelled to give some feedback which you are, of course, free to accept or reject as you see fit.
Firstly, I acknowledge that Malta is one of the most fervently Catholic countries in the World, probably rivalling Poland for the large percentage which follows the faith. Indeed I understand from its guide that the Pope is visiting St Paul’s grotto in Rabat on 17 April.
As someone who makes a point of visiting cathedrals wherever I travel – I appreciate the architecture, the sense of awe, the décor, the sheer effort which goes into their erection – I expect to be admitted and I have never been asked to pay to enter. And yet this is exactly what happened in both Gozo and Valletta. Admission was actively and aggressively refused without payment. What sort of Christian attitude is this? In both places it was explained that the fee includes entrance to some museum or other, but I did not wish to see the museum and I was still refused entry.
Frankly I am shocked that a religion, whose places of worship are funded exclusively by its public, would seek to exclude that same public from access. Of course I understand that cathedrals are expensive to maintain and many times I have been asked for ‘donations’, even sometimes with a fixed value, such as in Salisbury or Canterbury Cathedrals here in the UK, but it is never compulsory. When some bad tempered, gum-chewing, phone-texting female teenager at the door in Gozo takes personal pleasure from telling me I cannot enter the house of God, I am frankly horrified. Wasn’t it Jesus himself who threw the moneylenders out of the temple?
Secondly, do the people who plan and look after your road system ever bother to ask tourists what they think of it? I suspect not. There you are, driving along with your loved one at your side; she busily trying to navigate, and suddenly the road splits and all direction signs have disappeared, or the previous selection of destinations has been replaced with a random selection of others. I must have used more petrol doubling back and trying different routes than on my actual journeys. Even the last roundabout but one to the Luqa airport from the direction of Mdina suddenly loses any signs. This is frankly outrageous. And this was the pattern on every single day I explored your islands. And don’t get me started on your potholes.
Finally, I am delighted that you now have Lidl supermarkets in your country. However, does every restaurant have to heat up their frozen food and present it as a ‘native offering’? Restaurant after restaurant, whether they were actually overlooking actual, real harbours, with beautifully painted real fishing boats or not, would serve the same sad, re-heated Lidl fare, most of it no doubt caught in a sea far, far away and served up as local food. This included battered calamari, fruits de mer for pizza topping, fish fillets etc. This will not do. Go catch something locally!
Other than that we had a good break, thanks for asking. Be happy, Maltese islanders, but do think of your visitors; we do talk to each other, you know.
Any comments?
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