Notes From a Tiny Island

MaltaCalling is a blog with different kinds of travel experiences in Malta. In Going Postal, the author discusses the local postbox in Sliema:

Whenever I receive a letter or postcard from parts foreign or otherwise exotic, I always wonder where the mail was posted. Was it shoved into a green box protruding from the side of a run-down building? Was it handed to a short, funny-faced man behind 6-inches of plexiglass? (Don't laugh; I did this once!) In case anyone else shares this tick of mine, I thought it'd be splendid if you could see where your letter or postcard originated in Malta. Along with pubs, pigeon racing and driving on the wrong side of the road, the traditional red phone box and telephone box are quaint reminders of Malta's British past.

Our local postbox, phone box spot is located two blocks from us at 'Dingli Circus' -- a convergence of three roads that almost, but not quite, forms one of those quaint English roundabouts. 'Circus,' as in Picadilli Circus or Oxford Circus, of course, is the equivalent to 'piazza' (in Italy) or 'square' (in the USA), with one small difference: you can't just hang around in a 'circus' -- it would be like playing in traffic. Just yesterday, as we were passing through Dingli Circus, Anna Maria asked: "where is all the fun stuff? Where are the lions and elephants? Where is the bearded lady?"

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