malta: malta: popeye's village and mellieha

The bacon in the breakfast buffet of my hotel in Victoria never did improve, sigh.

I packed up and checked out and walked to the bus station. I know I've already said it, but the transportation system of this island is great, and makes exploring the whole island really convenient.

It was easy to catch a bus to the ferry port. I had to wait about an hour for the next ferry to leave. I didn't know the ferry schedule ahead of time, I wish I had. The port itself was pretty, with another big church and homes near the water. If I'd known how much time I had to kill I would've wandered along a couple streets.

I sat on the upper deck of the ferry, because why not. The ride was only 20 minutes, but quite windy. I remembered the ferry port on the island of Malta, and remembered how to get to the bus stop right there.

I'd used my phone to figure out how to get to the next accomodation I'd booked, and realized that one of the buses would go out to something I wanted to see along the way. Taking this bus meant I'd have my pack with me while walking around, but it meant I wouldn't have to make an extra trip to see it.

Popeye's Village isn't Maltese at all. It's actually an old film set, built for the making of the 1980s Popeye musical. The place is photogenic, and visitor numbers continue to increase every year with the rise of social media as a travel platform.

It is also called Sweethaven Village, and is built in Anchor Bay. The bay is right between two cliffs, and the view I wanted was from the top of one of the cliffs. The view was totally worth it, even though it started pouring while I was out there. Yuck. Rain is the one kind of weather I really really really don't like. 

I didn't pay the entry fee, as going in didn't really interest me. Well, that's not entirely true. When it started pouring I took cover in the ticket office, along with the others who got caught outside. Whoops.

When the next bus pulled up the whole soggy lot of us climbed on. I assume everyone knows how good wet clothes smell? Yeah, just imagine that for 30 people in an enclosed area.

I'd booked accomodation in another small town, called Mellieha. There isn't much to see or do, but it is built on a steep hill, so there are plenty of stairs to climb. I didn't really want a stair workout at that point, buuuuut....

I checked in, then rested for a while as everything dried.

I went back out and explored for around 3 hours. Not surprisingly, one of the places I went was another huge church. I saw the outside of the church, but the church doors were locked so I wasn't able to see the interior.

I walked all the way around the property of the church, which actually wound down the hill, so I ended up on a lower level. This lower level brought me to the entrance of another church. This second church was a lot smaller, almost tiny. This smaller church is where people from around the world come to pray to a certain saint.

In one hallway there is a big display of items left by visitors, when they've come to pray to the saint. 

There are photos and letters too, telling the stories of those prayers. This was definitely among the most interesting church displays I've ever seen.

To be honest this church is the only specific thing I saw in Mellieha. The streets weren't particularly photogenic. When I looked up the city on Wikipedia I was stunned to find the population listed at 10,000, I never would've thought that many people were around.

Mellieha is mostly a resort town, the current town is basically as it was developed during British colonial times. 

Around the town there are the remains of British forts and natural caves used during the military parts of Malta's looooong history, but I didn't make enough time to see them. 

I doubt I'll be back to Mellieha.