Malta

St Julian's

We stayed at the Marina Hotel, part of the Corinthia Beach Resort on St George's Bay. It has since been renamed Verdi St George's Bay Marina. We had three nights there, from 21 to 24 December.

From the drone, the hotel is a yellow block at the water's edge, with blue and red balconies and solar panels on the roof. The arched Corinthia St George's stands right behind it. We stood on our balcony in white robes as the drone flew past. It also flew along the rocky shore, lined with apartment blocks.

Mellieħa and the north

Mellieħa Bay is a long curve of sand in the north of Malta. From the drone we could see the whole beach, the fields behind it, and the town and its church up on the ridge. We also filmed a timelapse of clouds moving over the bay.

At Anchor Bay we sat on the rocks above Popeye Village, a cluster of painted wooden houses at the water's edge.

At the Malta National Aquarium in Qawra, sharks and rays swam over the glass tunnel, and Praddy leaned in close to a big silver fish. One tank holds a statue of Christ with his arms raised.

Blue Grotto and Marsaxlokk

We were both in yellow the day we went to the Blue Grotto. We walked the stone path along the clifftop, past tall agaves, and leaned on the viewpoint wall to look down at the arch and the sea glittering below.

From the drone, the Blue Grotto is a huge arch of pale rock standing in deep blue sea. We also sat on a clifftop in the sun, with a watchtower on the headland behind us.

Marsaxlokk's harbour was full of luzzus, the brightly painted fishing boats, moored in front of the church and its twin bell towers. From the drone, small boats dot the whole bay, with container cranes on the far shore.

Comino

Comino is the small island between Malta and Gozo. We went over by boat, and it ran close under the cliffs, past the mouths of sea caves. We wore padded jackets on the water.

On land it was T-shirt weather. We sat on the rocks above the Blue Lagoon, where the water is bright turquoise over pale sand. The film opens here, with the drone low over a little beach of pale sand and dark rocks, then out over water so clear we could see the sand on the bottom.

Valletta and the Grand Harbour

From the Upper Barrakka Gardens, high on Valletta's walls, we looked across the Grand Harbour to the Three Cities on the far side.

We crossed the harbour in a dgħajsa, one of the traditional wooden water taxis, past a big cargo ship and into the marina at Birgu, lined with yachts.

The drone showed Valletta's limestone houses packed right up to the bastions above the sea. At dusk it flew out over the harbour as the sky turned pink, past superyachts moored below the Three Cities. From across the water we filmed Valletta's dome and spire in the last light.

Gozo

On Gozo, Ta' Pinu basilica stands on its own among small walled fields, with its tall bell tower beside it. We flew the drone over it in the late afternoon light, watched its outline turn black against the sunset, and stayed until it was lit up after dark.

At Mġarr, the harbour was full of boats under the chapel on the hill.