I cannot help answering Bernard Regan's letter (March 11). The writer states that "there is little that is quaint and old-fashioned about the prices that tourists are asked to pay in pubs, bars and restaurants". He may be forgetting that we are in the 21st century. I remember a bus ride from Sunbury-on Thames to Kingston used to be 3-6 pennies, the last time I was there (1900s) to my surprise it was over £1.
Concerning food in Malta, he says: "Providing good food at reasonable prices should not be difficult but in Malta the customary diet seems to consist of little more imaginative than pizza and hamburgers with the odd omelette thrown in for variety".
May I remind Mr Regan that if he preferred to order pizza and hamburgers and omelettes, that is what he's going to get. I doubt if he ever asked for spaghetti, rabbit stew, kawlata, minestra, timpana, imqarrun il-forn (baked macaroni) and other Maltese dishes and delicacies, washed down with wine, and the tasty Maltese bread. They may be more expensive than pizza and hamburgers, of course.
As for the next comment about indifferent and unprofessional service... I found this to be so in some English restaurants and especially in Rome, where I complained that it was not what I ordered. I was told by the waiter: "Eat it". This was not a beach restaurant but one by the Colosseum.
The writer continues to say that "Our complaints were met with outright hostility and derogatory comments about the habits of the British". I understand that the trend is that the customer is always right, but I can visualise the way the complaints were presented and, hence, the way they were received. I have seen similar incidents while on a cruise. A British person complained about everything from the time he boarded until the end of the cruise. He spoiled his cruising pleasure and also those of some other people, mainly those who travelled with him, because others kept their distance.
Then he had the audacity to say: "Do not place your future hopes in the Germans, they will simply not tolerate poor standards of service and hygiene like the Brits before them".
Mr Regan does not seem to tolerate any standards of service and hygiene, and he is a Brit... he bitched just about everything. Besides, I have seen and met more German tourists in Malta than Brits, so there is his answer.
As for his comments about Malta not being quite exciting enough, and not having enough beaches, I agree the beaches are not as huge as the ones in England (mostly empty) or Canada if we want to compare. But I definitely prefer the ones in Malta. Take your choice, golden sand beaches or rocky beaches full of sun and the smell of the blue Mediterranean Sea. One has to go there and look for the good things and enjoy them rather than to look for things to complain about.
Oh, not to get the wrong idea, I am Canadian, British and Maltese.