|
"Bobby Ward's short story of Public Transport in Malta."
Being on a "busman's holiday", so to speak, one of the highlights of my visit was to see
and travel on the Maltese Bus System. At the first chance I got I went on a bus trip not knowing or caring where I was
going. Malta is not that big so it's not like I was going to get lost!!!
The buses are all owned by the drivers themselves and the pride they take in keeping them
clean and shiny is clearly evident. In the front of most of the buses you will find an altar with daily fresh flowers, dedicated
to the saint of their choice. In the evening time the more religious drivers would have a candle burning on the altar.
The buses are all pre-war and at the time of my visit a couple of years ago the Local Council
wanted to upgrade them but this is being strongly resisted by the drivers. I personally hope the drivers succeed as the
charm of these old buses would be lost forever. There are few seats on the buses and the handrails are so close to the ceiling
of the bus that it is virtually impossible to hold on to the rails, and the suspensions? Well, talk about suspensions; you
cannot...There's none!!! However, the buses are charming even when they are full, which is quite often. Ah, I suppose I'm
an old romantic but when these things are lost, they may be lost forever.
 As I mentioned earlier, my trip to Malta took place a couple of years ago. I went
on vacation with my good lady wife for three weeks. My wife is sometimes know as "my better half". ( I mention that to
keep in her 'good books' ). Anyway, the reason for our visit was that we were celebrating our joint birthdays on
February 2nd 19**. ( The year is...I'm not going to say but we won't see 21 again). We chose Malta on a
recommendation from a well-travelled friend of ours and everything he told us turned out to be spot on.
Malta is an unique Island, steeped in ancient and, indeed, recent history. I could
write a book and still not include half the things to do and places to see. In fact I was intrigued by the huge part this
tiny island played in defeating Germany in the 2nd World war. On one of our various trips we visited a church where, during
the war, a huge bomb had come through the roof, bounced along the aisle and came to rest at the foot of the altar and
did not explode. Remarkably too, the church was packed to capacity at the time. To this day the repairs to the roof can be
quite clearly seen as too can the bomb itself, which is still in the church!! ( I'm presuming it has been made
safe?). Not to be missed either is a visit to the Silent City or a visit to Gozo, a nearby island, which, they say, is
'frozen' in time.
 Before I finish I have to mention the lovely people of Malta. Their politeness and
good manners, not to mention their endless patience, would put us Irish to shame. Another nice "custom" was when people were
getting onto the buses they would place a couple of coins in the 'tips' plate beside the altar and always say "thank
you" to the drivers. This may sound 'old world charm' type of stuff but it's good to be 'a part of' and is something that
is fast disappearing from Irish Society. I sincerely hope that this brief story will encourage many of you to visit Malta
before it is too late. Malta is an Island that you have to see and experience for yourselves.
Bobby Ward.
PLEASE NOTE: We received a very nice email from a Mr L. Mizzi from
Malta (20/03/05) who kindly informed us that much of the public transport has been upgraded but that some of the buses ( like
those shown in the photographs on this page) have been kept because, (1) they are still in very good
working condition, (2) they are a tourist attraction, and (3) they are part of the fabric of Malta.
So visitors now have the best of both worlds; a partly new bus fleet and an old fleet
that's synonymous with the Maltese way of life. I believe it is certainly part of the reason why people like to travel to
Malta and why the Maltese people are so well liked.
|
