If you'd rather not go horse-riding, you can always get a ride on the traditional horse and cart - the karozzin - which was hugely popular with British Servicemen in the hey days of the British Empire.
That is when both soldier and sailor needed to get quick access into the shopping areas of the city and, well, yes, sometimes straight to Strait Street, then better known as "The Gut". In this day and age, however, a ride on the karozzin round the city of Valletta has less sinister connotations and provokes much more mundane thoughts. Valletta sits on a peninsula, so everywhere you go you can see the Mediterranean popping up from different angles.
The periphery roads then provide one spectacular panorama after another as the old horse and its cheerful master take you along the shore and past Grand Harbour and Marxsamxett Harbour. Neither of them objects if you want to stop to take pictures, but beware of the impromptu commentary that you get about places and views that you ride past. Unlike official tourist guides, cabbies tend to add colour and volume to stories and legends that may have no historical substance, but are still interesting to listen to!
You may also find there is a strange odour following you around on the ride. Horses have natural needs too and, though well-intentioned efforts have been made to solve the problem of on-road deposits, there still has been no agreement between the authorities and the cabbies' union.
Whereas once catching a ride on a horse and cart was as easy as catching a taxi in London, that is obviously no longer the case in modern Malta. However, you can still find ‘karozzin stands’ in Valletta, Mdina and in Victoria Gozo. Rides aren’t cheap, but we can’t think of a nicer way to spend a couple of hours seeing Malta.
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