Signage.
Yea gods!
As a first-timer, I need clear and specific signage. The Valletta port had neither. The address that came with the booking was to the competition, not my ferry. TomTom had a variety of possible locations, none of which were definitive.
Still only took three goes to find my gate. Or so I thought.
Lunch at the harbour.
Nice view of all the boats. Acceptable vongole. And for a reasonable price.
Rode into Valletta for a farewell cuppa at Marks&Sparks.
Walkabout.
Ended up having a chat, long chat, with “Fred” from Strasbourg. Has a nice BMW650. Now lives most of the time in Malta. Taking care of his mother.
Rode back to the ferry check-in office. It was open! This office is where the signage seems to direct you, but the building was closed earlier.
Discrete signage pointed me upstairs. Why say discrete? The chaps in the office shouted for me to come upstairs. Obviously, I am not the only one who missed the small signs!
Back to the gate identified earlier (by asking). Was now told that I needed to be at the gate 10m over. Parked. Walked back and double-checked that I was at the right gate. Confirmed.
A few minutes later, Willie from Finland rides up on his Honda. We chatted. He’s done much the same as me: Germany; Italy; Corsica; Sardinia; Sicily; and Malta. But in a shorter timeframe, of one week. Is heading back in a similar timeframe.
We boarded.
Willie goes to his room. Drat. Jealous am I. My bed is a chair. Same as the in-bound ferry.
We sup’d together, where I learned that Willie was an instrument engineer. Is looking forward to being home.
I scored a couch, so had a very comfortable crossing.
Up at 5am on Tuesday morning, so plenty of time for TaiChi. Awesome, on a calm sea with the sun rising!
We rode off.
Me to Agrigento. The valley of Temples. Biggest archeological site in the world.
The museum associated with the Valley of Temples, also has poor signage!
I rode by the place four times, before riding back to the Valley for more explicit directions. Still took 10mins and a map for another staff member to explain the directions. And even that only made sense because I had ridden the road 4 times. hahahahahahaha.
No wonder the Egyptian, Persian, Greek, and Roman empires fell. People cannot pass along basic information!
Think that’s not true?
Sweden has just distributed leaflets to everyone, advising to store bottled water. What happened to society’s knowledge of capturing and storing rain-water?
Well.
Fixed portion of my trip is done. England to Malta via Heidelberg. Am back in Sicily as a free biker 🙂
Next blog will tell you about temples, heat and more Canadians 😉