Destination #36 - Malta

Okay, so the first 24 hours of "vacation" were a bit stressful. Of course, I left packing to the last minute and there was the unfortunate task of having to prepare my suitcase to ship back home. My morning consisted of making sure my suitcase was under weight and closable. Having accumulated things in the past 2 years, I unfortunately had to leave things behind. Because I couldn't part with everything, my backpack to travel with is packed to the brim and is heavier than the last trip I did. That was the first half of the day. The second half was of course taking off. Between getting through security and boarding my flight, I dropped my boarding pass somewhere. I have heard nightmares when using Ryanair, which happened to be my flight carrier, that they charge extra when things like this happen. Luckily, this was not the case and I was able to board the flight without losing an arm and leg. A few hours later and I was on the ground in Malta, taking the bus in the wrong direction. Counting my lucky stars again, there were some English people on the bus who did know what they were doing and were able to tell me what to do! That wasn't even the end of it too as I had to connect to a different bus, which when I got to the stop, they were no longer running. Desperately turning on my mobile data, I found an alternative bus that FINALLY got me to my hostel. Needless to say it was late and I was exhausted.

The following morning, I came to the conclusion that I was just not going to get on well with the bus system as I waited and waited for a bus to come at a particular stop to take me into Valetta. This was not the best start to a holiday. Everything was made up though when I had a decent breakfast in the sun overlooking the ocean. I cannot recall the last time I was in weather this perfect. Not a cloud in the sky.

Since the buses weren't going well, I decided I would walk all the way from St Julians, where I was staying, to Valetta. I really took the scenic route so it took quite some time to reach the capital but it was well worth it. I was easily captivated by Malta's beauty. Valetta itself had a really old, medieval vibe to it and I sometimes felt like I was in Game of Thrones. :)

I also stopped by the Blue Grotto later on which was a bit underwhelming as I couldn't get very close and there was really only one spot to view it.

For dinner, I got a big plate of pasta. I think since Malta is so close to Italy, this falls under the cuisine because there seemed to be an abundance of pasta places! Later on, I went out with people from the hostel to experience some of the nightlife.

The next day I went on a tour that took us to the Maltese islands Gozo and Comino. The first bit was Gozo where I can't really say I got to see a whole lot...it was a bit of a rushed tour. It was a fairly long boat ride to get there and when we landed, we hopped in vans to take us around. The vans made only 3 stops. The first was a souvenir shop which I think could have been excluded. The second was the Azure Window which was the most exciting part. If you're a Game of Thrones fan, this can be seen in the pilot episode.

Gozo

We were only there for 20 minutes though which was annoying. Then the third stop was the city centre which was also a bit underwhelming. We eventually ventured over to Comino, an island with only 3 residents. Here, they had the Blue Lagoon. Beautiful, but the water was freezing and the beach was teeny tiny and packed, so I had to settle for sitting on some rock.

By the time I had got back to the main island and to my hostel, it was time for dinner in which I just helped myself to a ham and cheese pastry thing and some gelato. I chilled for the rest of the night as I had an early flight to Athens the next morning.

Malta was stunning, even though I know the second day didn't sound all that great, but the main island from what I saw was beautiful and there was plenty left to still do that I didn't get to see. Put it on your list!

Next:
Athens
Mykonos
Paros
Santorini
Ios
Milan
Venice
Cinque Terre
Rome
Sorrento
Assisi
Florence