Day 1
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I just arrived in Malta a few hours ago and it’s burning hot (35 degrees Celsius) I took a bus from the airport to my hotel which took one hour. Not who I am sharing a room with but the shoes are all men’s shoes which makes me nervous. I’m still not sure if I would feel comfortable sleeping in a room that is full of men. It’s a good thing that the beds have privacy curtains. After putting my luggage away, I went to try some traditional Maltese snacks.
Pastizz is a popular Maltese pastry so I bought a chicken one for €0.50. I also tried some Cisk beer which tasted very bitter. After that, I took a short walk to the beach which is exactly where I am writing this from. This area that I am staying in seems to be crowded with wild drunk tourists. I am getting the impression that I’m staying in an area that is like “the Ibiza” for Italian tourists. But I need to explore some other areas of the town before I can make any judgements. Tomorrow morning I have a tour of Gozo Island which should be cool. For now, I’m going to head back to the hotel to shower and get an early night. I left my house at 6am today to catch my first flight…so I am exhausted. Good night.
Day 2
Today I went on a tour of Gozo Island. I think that I might prefer it to Malta island. It seems to be very quiet and peaceful in comparison. I felt like Gozo was less concentrated with tourists as well, which allowed me to get a real feel for Maltese culture. I also noticed that it seems to be a lot cheaper in the shops there. During the tour today I got to see the Ġgantija Temples which reminded me of Greece. We also saw a lot of amazing views of the ocean. The tour included lunch and wine which was nice. It was a very long day and I really enjoyed it. I have planned for tomorrow to be a relaxing day at the beach.
Here are a few things that I have noticed so far about Malta:
– The Maltese language is like a mix of Italian and Arabic.
– The traffic is horrendous.
– Maltese people are very friendly.
Day 3
I just got back to the hostel and I am waiting to have a shower. Today I got up really early and went to the beach. It was in the north of Malta and took 1 hour to get there by bus. I arrived at the beach at 9am and it was almost empty. This meant that I got to pick a sunbed right at the front of the beach next to the water. So I stripped off into my bikini and relaxed there for the next few hours. The beach that I visited was in an area called Mellieħa which was very nice. Everywhere that I have been so far seems nice except the area that I am staying in. There are lots of strip clubs and drunk people parading around everywhere. To be honest it’s my fault because I didn’t really research where I was staying this time. I saw how expensive all the hotels were, and picked the cheapest hostel I could get my hands on.
So anyway, I came back to the hostel in the afternoon and decided to relax for the rest of the day. I went back out in the evening at around 5pm and randomly found Portomaso Marina. It was full of people eating at restaurants next to a dock of boats. I kind of just went back to the hostel and here I am. I’m going to have a quick shower and continue my mission of finding some local Maltese food. Now, I am also contemplating whether to visit the Blue Lagoon on Comino Island.
Day 4
So today I got up early again and visited the capital city of Valletta. It’s such a beautiful city! Everything is very yellow. I absolutely loved it despite not going into any attractions. I chose not to because some of the entry fees were unreasonable. Or am I just being stingy? (haha!) Like they were charging €10 to enter a cathedral. I just think that’s ridiculous considering it’s a place of worship.
So I went to see some free attractions and wandered around the city instead. I also got to eat some more Maltese food which was nice. I had ftira which was like the Maltese version of a pizza. Mine came as a flatbread topped with sheep’s cheese, tomato, olives, and some other things too. I am hoping to eat some Maltese food again for dinner if I can get a table. I’m thinking about trying rabbit spaghetti because rabbit is their national dish. Well…I tried reindeer in Sweden so surely I should be okay with trying rabbit.
Day 5
I woke up at 9am which meant that it was too late to visit the Blue Lagoon. They say that you need to be on the first ferry at 9am if you want to enjoy it for a while without the crowds. I have been going on about the Blue Lagoon for days but still haven’t made it there yet. Maybe that is a sign that it’s not worth it.
So today I decided to do some beach hopping instead. I took the bus up North again but to a different area. This time I went to Golden Bay which was beautiful. Some thunderstorms started after a couple of hours, so I made a swift exit on the bus back to San Giljan. This time I tried some different pastizzi for lunch (one pea and one ricotta). They were both tastier than the chicken one that I ate on the first night.
After that, I went to the local stone beach because it wasn’t raining there. I actually sat in the water this time…until some 40 something year old men started creeping towards me. They were staring at me for a good 10 minutes and then started floating towards me (whilst continuing to stare) It was very uncomfortable so I just left. One of the downsides to being a solo female traveller is dealing with creepy men.
I went back to my hostel to relax and read for a while. Then went out to a restaurant around the corner to eat spaghetti alle vongole for dinner. This dish is an Italian classic and includes spaghetti, garlic, and clams. I actually discovered it in London before I had ever been to Italy. My university friends and I have a favourite Italian restaurant in central London, and we always used to order this dish. Nowadays we do try other things on the menu. Anyway…I’m so tired it’s time to go and rot in bed. Ciao for now.
Day 6
So today was my day to visit Mdina and Rabat. It took a while to get there because I had to get a bus to Valletta (45 minutes), and then change and get another bus to Rabat (40 minutes). Most services are scheduled to run once an hour so if you miss a bus then you’re screwed. Mdina is a beautiful area that is picturesque. The buildings are yellowy with colourful windows and doors.
Rabat is more “city style” with squares and restaurants. I went to St Paul’s Catacombs in Rabat. It was interesting how they told the story of St Paul. He came to Malta on a boat and the people were friendly….until a viper snake wrapped itself around his hand. So then the Maltese started to believe that he must be evil until St. Paul got the snake off himself without any harm. So then they started worshipping him as a god. He stopped them from worshipping him and started spreading the word of Christianity. Interesting right?
After this, I made my way back to the hotel but stopped off halfway in Valletta for some Lunch. I visited a Maltese restaurant and ate brunġiel mimli which is aubergine stuffed with minced beef, cheese, and tomato. I didn’t eat dinner today because that meal was literally enough to fill me up until the next day. My stomach was stuffed! I’m not sure what to do tomorrow but it will be my last day.
Day 7
It is my last day in Malta today. I have just showered and finished packing my luggage. Today was a VERY relaxed day and I did not do much to be honest. I went to a fish spa in the morning for my feet. The worker was a very nice girl from Poland. She gave me an extra 40 minutes for free and we spent ages talking about travelling. After the fish spa, I relaxed on the beach for about an hour…but the weather was not great today. For dinner, I had fried octopus with salad. This is another traditional Maltese dish and it tasted very nice. It was a very lazy day today…I didn’t really do anything else.
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