Check your change! Some coins may not be what they seem

Lately I paid EUR10 for a EUR1 coffee and rightly got my EUR 9 change in return ... or did I?? Well I'm sure I took a fleeting glance at my change and all was in order. I had a EUR 5 note and two Euro coins...

Later during the day I specifically needed to pick out a EUR 2 coin. The one I picked out looked exactly like a 2 Eur coin at a glance but I suspected foul play when I couldn't spot the number 2 on either side.

However believe it or not its NOT a fake. It just happens to be one of Thailand's official currency coins!

To learn more about coins that look like Euro coins you can visit this interesting forum

http://www.eurobilltrackerforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10008

So please be on the look out. Check your change COIN by COIN or you might get an unwanted surprise. The Thai coin is worth a fraction of a Euro roughly 25 euro cents!

Public Transport in Malta

Lately I was invited to attend an exhibition launch in Valletta on a Friday at 8pm. I figured it could take till 9pm for the event to warm up, till 10pm to really get going and to fizzle out around 10:30pm

So I decided to take a bus to Valletta thinking I should be able to catch some 11pm bus on heading home. Unfortunately on arriving I confirmed with the driver that the last bus was scheduled to depart at 10:00pm !

This is naturally a huge setback for any tourist but also for us locals. It is also in contradiction to Malta's recent publicity encouraging people to make more use of public transport in order to safeguard the environment. If bus schedules can't even cater for a simple event in Valletta can you imagine how even more impossible it becomes to try and attend something in Mellieha!

Thankfully some kind tourists recently put pen to paper about this frustrating disservice. You can read their letter at this Times of Malta link "No night bus for major tourist attraction"

No small wonder that most tourists prefer malta car hire or making their own airport transfer arrangements!

Big loss of Kudos for Malta - RUBBISH RUBBISH

I'm very proud of Malta but please teach her to wash at least once a week especially in the sticky and stinky summer months. Oh and do make sure she cleans those hard-to-reach bits like under the pavement and outside communal buildings (which tend to become no-mans-land)

And rubbish bins become so hard to use when the filth piles up three feet or higher. If you can get to them that is ... mostly inaccessible when totally surrounded by bag after bag of domestic rubbish ... tsk tsk ... now is that the right place to dispose of domestic rubbish ??

And can whoever delivers unwanted junk mail please refrain from dumping stuff on doorsteps. If it won't fit the letterbox just don't deliver it. There's no point in littering the streets with your junk. Why don't the authorities fine this blatant littering. It can very easily be traced back to the polluter and the polluter should always pay.

Certainly people need to do their bit and learn some good manners and good habits. But the authorities also need to clean their ears and their acts ... No we are not doing enough. More cleaning, more bins and more maintenance and upkeep are required. Come on Malta you can do it!

What to look out for ?? when renting a car in Malta

Car Hire providers in Malta are wide and varied. Some are run by individuals while others are actually backed by an international car hire network. So does it all boil down to price?

The most important thing to keep in mind is to always read the small text in the terms and conditions section. Don't just compare prices at a glance. ALWAYS Compare the full service. Prices that are really cheap normally also come with unwanted surprises upon collecting your car ... particularly where insurance cover or certain extras are concerned. You might easily have to fork out TWICE the originally paid price to get decent insurance cover UNLESS you want to take the risk of course.

As in most cases trust is practically everything. According to a recent report by a prominent holiday portal the following are some top Maltese car hire websites committed to providing car hire value for money with quick or instant quotes, clear terms and and an easy online booking procedure:

Cheap Car Hire Malta
Low Cost Car Rentals Malta
Bargain Rent-a-car Services
Most Reliable Airport Transfers Malta
24/7 Auto Rentals
Malta Car Hire - Compare Prices
Small but Friendly Car Hire

Related links
http://www.realholidayreports.com/reports/reports.asp?id=273&carhire_id=22290

Does an imminent election effect you as a tourist?

Lets say you're planning a Mediterranean Holiday and while googling around you come across Holiday Accommodation Malta and say Villas Short lets Malta but then you look up news malta and find out that your vacation would coincide with the country's election time which takes place every 5 years. What is your reaction?

a.) You dread the potential instability and tick off Malta from your list of potential destinations
b.) It doesn't bother you at all
c.) It actually interests you to see what election time looks like in Malta giving added value to your holiday

Share your views with me! As at time of writing the party currently in Government boasts of exceptional tourism experienced in 2007 and anticipates an even better 2008. Not so for the opposition.

What is your impression? Especially if you're a local hotelier or restaurant manager, perhaps you run a Malta or Gozo car hire firm? How was business in 2007? What is 2008 really looking like? Is the current tourist a planner and a spender or is he more of the late booking weekend break type who doesn't spend much? Is Malta only attracting ageing tourists or are we attracting more of the clubbing type to our very unique town of Paceville where partying never ends??