Questionnaire for the Guest of Popeye Village

Popeye the movie was a live-action vehicle for the sadly departed Robin Williams, which opened to a "mixed" response from the critics and a big 'no thanks' from the (non-)viewing public, who stayed away in droves.  It was filmed in Malta on a custom designed set, and rather than sell this off to unscrupulous property developers like a regular country, Malta decided to keep "Sweethaven" village and turn it into a tourist attraction.

If anybody knows of a worse movie to have inspired a theme park, then please let me know.

Now I have not yet managed a visit to Popeye Village, but fortunately my glamorous assistant Danya has, so who better to give us the lowdown?  I came across a questionnaire from another famous theme park (to remain nameless), and despite the fact that the English is a little quirky in places, I reckon it will allow us to find out more about this famous Maltese attraction.

Restaurant Review: Aphrodite Taverna, (St Paul's Bay)

It is fair to say that Aphrodite did not manage to grab a primo piece of real estate on which to open their restaurant.

Rather than trying to describe it's location, probably easier to just show you on this map:

What's a Good Salary in Malta? - Updated

...it doesn't grow on trees here in Malta!

It is always difficult to discover exactly how much people pay or get paid in wages.  Potentially embarrassing dinner party conversation, don't you know.  But I have done some digging around on the internet to try to come up with an answer for you.   A lot of sites ask people to enter their own wage and job type and work on estimates that way, but I'm guessing this attracts the type of person with a better salary, not to mention encouraging them to exaggerate a little, so I will try to stick to more reliable sources.

St Paul's Grotto and Catacombs (Rabat)

 

It is not unreasonable to describe St Paul's Grotto in Rabat as Malta's most sacred location - at least if you are of the Christian persuasion.

Certainly this humble cave is held in such esteem in the Christian world at large that the last two Popes who came to Malta (Benedict and John Paul) both paid a visit to this shrine.

The grotto is located beneath St Paul's Church in Rabat, and for a mere five euros you can walk in the footsteps of the pontiffs, and of St Paul himself of course.  According to legend, this is where Paul stayed for three months after his ship foundered on the Northern Maltese coast, and from where he spread the word of Christianity to the Maltese population.

Who Says There Are No Rivers in Malta?

Aah, Venice, city of dreamlike wonder, Queen of the Adriatic Sea. What a joy it is to... no hang on, wait a minute, it's just rained for more than 25 minutes in Malta so the streets are knackered again.

Oh Msida, city of the unpainted apartment block, Prince of archaic family run shops selling foodstuffs dating back to the turn of the millennium...

Seriously though, this happens every single year there's a decent flurry of rain.  You could definitely canoe down this street, and outside of Venice that is not something you want to be saying about your suburban throughways.