Streets of Malta: St. Julians

St. Julians is Malta’s social centre, the “town” with the most bars and restaurants in Malta. If you walk along the promenade towards Paceville, everywhere you look it’s buzzing with life. But like I did with Sliema, I took a look (it’s a rhyme!) at its side streets and quiet back alleys.

Hidden passage

This beautiful, but slightly creepy passage is freely accessible from the street. It’s typically Maltese as you find similar passages in many houses. The combination of the aging steps and those beautiful arches in a perfect row with sunlight flooding through, however, make this passage particularly interesting in my eyes.

Maltese balconies - always unique

A splash of colour can change everything. It’s amazing how a fresh layer of paint can transform a whole house, at least at first sight.

One of many abandoned shops

An abandoned shop has become a place for waste collection.

Block of apartments in St. Julians

Not all houses in Malta have that specific, kind of antique touch to them that comes with coloureful balconies, ornamented windows and facades made of sand stone. This plain block of identical buildings has nothing of the character you can feel in other streets. In fact, I think it looks depressing.

Maltese town houses

This is exactly what I mean when I talk about character. Each building is slightly different from the next one, refusing to fit into a perfect row, and tiny details like the lamp complete streets like this one.

I prefer places like these to sleek, picture-perfect, modern buildings (although some of them look really cool!).
What about you?