Trish,

First let me say thank you for following along and that we are truly envious that you may have an opportunity to stay in Malta for an extended period. Saclia may be in a better position to give you advice since we have only been once for a short period, but I will be more than happy to give you my thoughts on your questions. Please realize that I am not a city boy so my opinions may be jaded.

Valletta is absolutely beautiful! We only spent one day in the city and arrived from Mellieha by bus. We did drive through it once on our way to the Sunday fish market in Marsaxlokk. Those familiar with Malta may ask why would you go through Valletta to get to Marsaxlokk? The simple answer is one must be spell the city correctly in the GPS. Ahh� but I digress.

There is no doubt if you stay in Valletta you will be in the center of things. Culture, nightlife, and all the advantages of being in a metropolitan area will be yours in Valletta. However, it comes with a disadvantage� people. Janet and I chatted about staying in Valletta last night and her concern was that if we would have stayed in Valletta we may not have gotten out and about on the island as much. Valletta is rich with the history of Malta, but the richness of the Malta is found outside the walls - IMHO.

Being from Ottawa Trish, you may find Valletta more suited to your comfort level. (BTW � Ottawa is lovely city � lucky enough to go a few times for work). My major concern would be parking. If I was staying for a month, I think I would want a vehicle to be in control of destiny. Of course, there would be times that a bus or ferry would be a better means of transportation, but all-in-all a vehicle will give you much more freedom. The one thing I did not see in Valletta was a parking space. If you rent in the city, maybe one question should be about parking.

As you know, we stayed in Mellieha. The city looks over the sea, but not on the beach, so one avoids a lot of the �beach development� and is more like a real place. I am not sure what towns Saclia was referencing when she said NE of Valletta, but the area around St Paul�s Bay did not really appeal to us either (it is NW of Valletta). Mellieha is a large town, which offered everything we needed. The major advantage for us it was close to the Gozo ferry, great views of the Sea, and enough nightlife to satisfy us. Granted if we would have stayed longer than a week we would have been eating in more often, but the ability to walk to local restaurants and get to know the people was a major plus. The people of Malta are extremely friendly and that was my favorite part of our visit! So� I guess my final thought would be if we were returning for month, we would shoot for early September (warm � lack of tourist) in a village or town with a car.