Malta

Ok, first of all - Malta is not Cyprus. There. Now that that's been taken care of we can get on with it.


Last bank holiday weekend in 2008 Lou and I finished work early and jumped on the next plane to Malta. It was hard not to immediately like Malta, we arrived into the warm balmy night air - something I'm yet to experience in England. After a cheap yet eventful cab ride into the city we had just enough time to check-in, grab a nearby bite to eat and sample the local brew before finally checking out the promenade and heading to bed.


Opening the blinds in the morning seemed like a good idea until it seared a permanent view of the harbour into my retinas for the next week. It was bright. And hot. 33 degrees hot! This set the standard for the remaining 3 days we were there. Giddy-up! After a shitty breakfast we got the harbour ferry over to Valetta - the old town - for a look around. The city had a lot of character with a moorish influence that seemed to ooze history. We checked out St John's co-cathedral which had the most lavish interior of any cathedral we could recall. After a quick lunch break we jumped on a yellow bus and headed for Dingli in search of Dingli cliffs. It wasn't really until this point that we realised how small the island actually is - we knew it was small but we couldn't put it into perspective until we started driving around.


After a semi-successful cliff finding mission we got a party-bus back into Mdina - a charming town built on top of a hill in the center of Malta where every restaurant and pub seemed to have great views of the entire island. After some beers, cheese and antipasti we headed back into Valetta to take a look at the other side of town from the top of Upper Barrakka Gardens and were rewarded with some spectacular sunset views of the harbour. We did one more lap of the town by night before heading back to the strand to checkout the parade and other festivities that had been going on all weekend (fireworks all day during the day - who does that!?). The grand finale at midnight involved some crowd pleasing fireworks that had been placed up and down the street on frames that spun around threatening to set everything nearby on fire.


On Sunday we spent the entire day aboard the yacht Fernandes which took us sailing up and down the island stopping at various coves and harbours. The highlights of the day were the stop at the Blue Lagoon and taking a speedboat ride to explore some nearby caves. Being fed and watered all day by the staff wasn't bad either. =)


On Monday we started early(ish) to try and fit in a few more sights before our late-afternoon flight. First stop were the ancient temples of Hagar Qim and Mnajdra. The Blue Grotto was within walking distance (and was downhill to boot!) so we headed there next where we got a tour of the many coastal caves. The Blue Grotto was the biggest and had an arch that must have been at least 50 meters high - very impressive. All the sightseeing was hard work so we decided it was time for a swim in the absolutely perfect water. By the time we got back to Sliema we had just enough time for a harbour cruise before heading for the airport.


Malta has it all going for it - friendly people, interesting culture, a tonne of sights, perfect weather and some of the nicest waters I've swum in. On top of that it's pretty easy on the wallet with flights being the only expensive part of the whole trip. Definately one to recommend.


You can find heaps more pictures here!