Day 319: 29th April 2018 - Playmobil Fun Park

We negotiated with the kids that if they did a little writing about their day at Esplora then we would take them to the Playmobil Fun Park. It took a little while, but by 10:30 we were ready to go. I really wanted to mooch round a market on the way but in the end it seemed like too much effort.

After watching 2 buses go past before we even got to the bus stop, and a further 2 not stop because they were full we eventually managed to get on a bus into Valletta where we needed to get a second bus out to the Playmobil Factory. We wanted to get another prepaid bus card in Valletta as ours would soon run out of credits, however after queuing for 10 minutes at the Bus Station Kiosk I was told they had sold out and we could get one in town next to McDonalds.



Much to AJ's disgust we marched into town and found the required shop.... which was also a book shop and the kids quickly disappeared upstairs to the kids department. English books are really expensive here but nevertheless we decided to treat each kid to a book which they were delighted with. Walking back to the Bus Station we heard and then saw a Scout Band playing in the precinct and stopped for a few minutes to listen.

Back at the Bus Station it wasn't long before our second bus arrived and we were on our way again, kids now deeply engrossed in their new books. The bus went past the airport and soon after the large bunch of young African guys got off and we saw that they were headed for what looked like a migrant camp. It was pretty depressing.... what looked like stacks and stacks of shipping containers turned into accommodation with staircases up the sides. It didn't look like a very welcoming place.


Not much further and we arrived. Despite me thinking that the kids might be a bit old for  the "Fun park" they were delighted to find life size Playmobil figures at the entrance.

It was pretty cheap.... 7.20 Euros for the four of us, and the atmosphere was very much like a chilled out UK soft play area, only instead of an indoor play frame there was crazy amounts of Playmobil to play with and a Playmobil themed play area outside.

Patrick and I headed for the café whilst we let the kids run free. Despite having brought a packed lunch we were enticed by the café food which looked both good quality and reasonably priced. We quickly made a decision to save our sandwiches for tea time and have a meal out for lunch. All four of us ate our fill for under 25 Euros!

We had a relaxed afternoon, Patrick and I taking some time to discuss our plans for the rest of our 2 year adventure and check the weather (again) using the free wifi. The kids played inside, outside and took part in organised craft sessions as well as browsing the extensive Playmobil shop. The only downside was that they used to also do factory tours which would have been great from an educational point of view.

All in all it was a good day out. Now time for an early night as we hope to go see the fireworks in Grand Harbour tomorrow evening!