It is so that ones travels for 2023 have commenced! Now, for those that follow my globetrotting, you have gathered that I just love flying from London Heathrow. partly because I know that Superbunny is mostly safe with the baggage handlers…unless the piece of equipment that is needed is unavailable which is indeed what happened on this occasion at T4…nothing that a little manpower couldn’t resolve. One will therefore be shocked to learn that Malta is the only trip that I have planned this year which utilises LHR, what is going on!
Anyway, as mentioned above, we flew out of T4 which used to handle the majority of British Airways operations before the mighty T5 opened (fun fact for you right there), however, since BA vacated, it has somewhat become a little of a ghost terminal with only a handful of daily flights compared to the others. This suited us nicely as it meant a fluent journey to the plane…should use T4 more!
After a 2.5 flight high above Europe with a spectacular view of the Alps and Sicily, we touched down in Malta which Superbunny was quickly disembarked in one piece and was reunited on the scissor lift as airbridges are no where to be seen at said airport.
Taking Superbunny here was a last minute decision i.e. last week as I was in two minds whether it would be worth the faff considering the accessibility of Malta, but hey, why not give it a go! The issue is that I had pre-booked a conventional taxi (instead of an accessible taxi which are, as usual, quite scarce) on the pretense that Superbunny wouldn’t be joining and then by the time muggins changed his mind, said accessible taxis were booked meaning trusty public transport (bus) it was. Before coming to Malta, I researched the X2 bus route which brings you just minutes from our hotel (115 The Strand), however I decided to also put faith in Google Maps…not a wise idea! First, it took us on a scenic walk of the airport and the associated road network ending up in a petrol station followed by a bus which took us to a completely different area resulting in a 2km walk to the hotel.
In recent years, buses, particularly in Europe seem to have gained an universal design in terms of accessibility with either an electric or manual ramp accompanied by a wheelchair space hence one could have been traveling around Bristol…even asked a fellow buser to assist with clearing the area forgetting that they may not speak English.
The 2km walk to the hotel provided a great opportunity to assess the accessibility of the wider city area. I had previously read that the best way to get around in a wheelchair is straight down the road due to the narrow pavements, advice of which we used on many occasions…
Although the hotel was booked on the cheap (as usual!), it offers picturesque views over the water to Valletta, a perfect way to celebrate the end of a never ending journey…
Tomorrow, Superbunny will be confined to the hotel room whilst we hop over the water to explore hilly Valletta (apologies in advance to the PAs!)…