Malta – day 6: last looks | alison richards | graphic designer and artworker

My flight home from Malta wasn't until afternoon so today was the day I was going to buy a ticket and explore St John's Co-Cathedral.

I left my accommodation in Hamrun, taking my bag with me because the apartment was too far away to be able to go back for it quickly. Malta didn't seem to have any luggage lockers but they did have a sort of Airbnb system for bags. You booked a baggage storage on the app and took it to a business who were happy to keep an eye on it for you. It worked out pretty well actually, and I dropped the bag off with them and went off.

The first stop for the day was the Co-Cathedral, where a line was already forming before opening time. I joined and waited for it to open before going inside. I had already quickly been inside on my first full day in Malta, a Sunday when a security guard let me have a quick look. It was so much better being able to see it close up. The decoration detail on the walls was astounding! I was one of the first people to go upstairs to the balcony overlooking the church and the view from there was just so good.

I'll stop describing it now and show you some pictures...

Wall detail. You’ll see lots of this, the detail was just crazy across the whole cathedral!

The floors were incredible too. Honestly I don’t think there was any part of the cathedral that wasn’t decorated!

This is a Caravaggio. He came to Malta in 1607 because he was wanted for murder! But instead of hiding, he painted this amazing artwork for the cathedral.

The Maltese cross was everywhere on the cathedral.

After the cathedral, I wandered around Valletta for a long while, stopping off at a cafe to have some eggs for breakfast and having a pretty chilled out morning. Valletta was a really nice city to walk around - yes it was hilly, but nothing like the hills in Lisbon or Porto.

Love the consistency of colour used here!

I went back to the food market for lunch, called Is Suq Tal Belt. I'd gone there last night for a great dinner, so I figured it would be a simple lunch. I ended up getting a falafel plate for lunch, and chatted to the guy there for a while. He asked me how long I was staying in Malta and would I like a guide. I had to decline - I was flying out at 3pm!

After lunch, I walked back to the place that was storing my bag and picked it up then walked to the bus stop. There was a good, cheap bus service from Valletta to the airport. I caught my flight home, this time going to Luton airport.

Now, I don't usually fly to Luton airport because everytime I have flown out of or in to that airport, I've had some kind of problem. This time was no different. I had bought a bus ticket back to London for about 30 mins after I landed, because I'm usually very quick out of the airport. However, I got to the bus stop and was informed that the bus had been cancelled. So had the next bus. I eventually caught a bus into London, over an hour later than I should have. Ugh, Luton airport, you're the worst!