Day 1 in Malta:
We arrived in Malta early on June 20th and were excited to have two full days to visit and explore this small country. I was also excited to reconnect with a friend (Rita) I met during previous travels to Thailand who lives in Malta. From what she had told me a few years ago on Koh Phangan, Malta was a must-see with beautiful architecture and rich in culture. We had made plans to meet up that day but she messaged me first thing in the morning, explaining that she had to go in to work. It was unfortunate as Abra (Adam's sister), Adam and I had decided against booking one of the cruiseship's shore excursions to do our own thing. The shore excursions make it easy to visit key attractions while docked and are setup by the cruiship. They take the hassle away from trying to figure out how to go from point A to point B, while being back to point A in time not to miss the cruise's departure time. For my part, I'm a big fan of doing my own planning, and 'winging it'.
We left the cruiseship around 10:30 that day, ready to explore the city of Valletta. We didn't have much planned, other than trying to locate a restaurant suggested by Rita for us to take Adam's parents out as a thank you for their kind generosity during the entire trip.
Valleta is a fortified city which means a tall and impressive wall surrounding the city greets us, as we take our first steps in Malta. We headed towards the wall, trying to find a way into the city, over the wall. As we walked alongside the wall, an opening revealed a tall outdoor elevator, that would take us all the way up inside the walled city for a Euro. We purchased our tickets and proceeded to the top of the lift. As the elevator door opened to the Barrakka gardens, we were immediately greeted with stunning arches and fountains. Malta is a small island surrounded by the Mediterranean sea, which we could see from many angles through the cream-coloured arches. The first few steps into Valletta took my breath away. The contrast of the deep blue sea against the beige stone structures was simply beautiful. I was excited to see more. We walked about in the city, and saw more of the egg-shell coloured structures within the city. It was such a contrast from a city like Venice, where neighboring buildings and shutters were all different colours and shapes. Despite the fact that most buildings are the same colour in Malta, some of the awnings, doors and shutters were different colours as well.
We walked through the city and noticed many signs saying that WiFi was free and available throughout the city. As someone who didn't bother with an international data plan, I was quite happy about being in a WiFi hotspot! I connected and noticed a message from Rita saying that she would be able to get off work earlier, around 2pm, to meet us and show us around. Sweet! I was looking forward to catching up, and also to seeing Malta from a local's perspective. It was still a couple of hours away so we kept on walking around and exploring the beautiful city. One thing about Malta, or that part of Europe in June, is that it's hot... not the type of heat we are used to in Canada... the type of heat that makes us shiny, all the time. Restaurants and pubs blast mist from fans on their terrace to keep their patrons (somewhat) comfortable. As desirable this was, I noticed that the mist would evaporate before it even hit the top of patrons' head. Perhaps that's the goal? In any case, it was hot, hot, hot. I had my trusted hand fan with me and used it profusely. We took pictures, took in the sights, and enjoyed every minute of exploring we had. I found myself saying 'wow, that's so pretty' over, and over... and it really was so pretty! We slowly made our way to Scoglitti, which is the restaurant suggested by Rita, to make a reservation for 7pm. We wanted to ensure we had a table by the water so that Adam's parents had the best experience possible. Once the reservation made, we got to a point where we were all thirsty and wanting to sit for a little while, so settled on a little restaurant a little further away to grab a drink, and wait for Rita to meet up with us. It was shortly after 2pm, she needed to go home briefly and make her way to us... I sent her our location and waited for her to arrive. It was pretty cool to see her after 4 years. I introduced Abra and Adam to her, and away we went. She took us to Mdina, which is another fortified city which served as the capital of Malta during the Medieval period. We parked outside the wall and walked in. More of the same cream-coloured buildings and breath-taking architecture... we walked around, catching up and taking photos. We walked past a beautiful cathedral, and wanted to see inside but there was a rope blocking access in, preventing us from going in. As a true local, Rita moved the rope to let us in and take some pictures... this lasted about a minute, until security started towards us, and we ran out. I don't believe we were doing anything wrong per say, but we moved a rope - oh well. We were getting hungry at this point, so Rita suggested a restaurant with a view of the city. We sat for a while, ate and drank, and were ready for more exploring. Rita drove us around a few areas in Malta, showing us the highlights and best views. Malta is beautiful, I really can't say it enough. Once 6:10 rolled around, we realized that we still had to make our way back to the cruise ship to change, and walk over to Scoglitti with Adam's parents to make it in time for dinner. We hit quite a bit of traffic on the way back and I was starting to stress a little over how little time we would have to walk over there. Adam's father has knee problems, so pressing him to rush to a restaurant is not an option. Rita assured us that reservations in Malta were pretty relaxed, meaning we could show up an hour late and still have our table reserved. We are definitely not used to this in Canada, where certain restaurants give up your table if you're 10 minutes late! We finally made it back to the terminal around 6:50, and Adam's parents were on the streets, already making their way over. Rita kindly offered to drive them over, so that they would be on time, and Adam and I would walk to meet them there. We got there about 10 minutes after they did. As we were close to the cruise ship terminal, we were also close to the lift, but when we mentioned it to Rita, she laughed and told us that there was an entrance to the city only a few streets past the lift. We decided to skip the lift and go the 'stairway' to huffin' route ... that's a play on words that doesn't work but hey, it's my blog and I'm keeping it in!
It became clear that we didn't drink enough water on such a hot day, namely because water is not free in Malta, nor super readily available. A small bottle is one Euro, and restaurants that offer a glass of water with a meal will also charge for water. By the time we were climbing the stairs into the city, I started feeling faint and dizzy... I was dehydrated and it didn't feel good. I asked Adam to stop so that I could regain my composure, but I needed water. We bought 2 water bottles which I drank faster than I ever had... save a few sips for Adam. I regained enough energy to get to the restaurant in a decent amount of time. The service was slow, but the food was great. We waited about an hour between our appetizer and our entree, but it was worth it. We all left with a full belly, and smiles on our faces. We headed back to the cruise ship to call it a night, and get ready for our second and last day in Malta.
DAY 2
We woke up fairly early to make the most of our second day. Fortunately, my cold symptoms were all gone, and I was ready to explore. Rita had recommended us going over to Gozo for the day, which is a tiny island off the northern tip of Malta, to explore and relax on the beach. It was about an hour and a half to bus to the ferry terminal, plus the time it took for the ferry to get over to Gozo. We had to be conscious of time, and be back on the cruise ship for 9:30 pm, as we were cruising over to Sicily at 10pm. Our plan for today was to leave around 10:00 am to try and make it to Gozo for noon. Unfortunately, as I was packing my bag, I couldn't find my bathing suit... I had last worn it in Montenegro, and had placed it in a bag, wrapped in a towel, which we had borrowed from the cruise ship. The more I searched for my bathing suit, the more positive I became that the room attendant must have taken the towels which we had left in our room, which contained my bathing suit. It wasn't a good start to the day... not only couldn't I find my one and only bathing suit, the whole purpose of that day was to relax on the beach and get to swim in the Mediterranean! I reached out to our room attendant, Jose, and asked him if he had seen it. He contacted the Chief of Laundry but no one seemed to have seen my pink Roxy bathing suit. Now most women can probably relate to this... but buying a bathing suit is not an easy task. It's not like the first bathing suit you see and try on will actually fit. In fact, I had tried on many in the past year and decided against all of them... The thought of actually having to go out and shop for a new bathing suit in the shortest amount of time possible to get to spend some time on Gozo got me stressing out big time. I was upset at the attendant for not checking the towels, mad at myself for not separating my bikini from the towels, and frazzled at the fact that we were losing precious time in Malta because of a bathing suit. It may not seem like much, but not having a bathing suit kind of defeated the purpose of going to Gozo. There is much to see on this island but we wanted to see the beach with the red sand. We wanted to swim in the Mediterranean. And we didn't have a lot of time to do it. This is where I thank my stars.... Adam was amazing through all this. He was calm, patient, understanding, and loving. He never said anything to make me feel badly for wanting to take time to shop for a new bikini, or that we wouldn't be able to enjoy much of Gozo... he was great. He patiently waited while I tried on some bathing suits, and didn't complain or even seem annoyed when I asked to go to another shop. This man is a keeper for sure.
By the time I found a bikini I liked, it was already 12, meaning we were about 2 to 2.5 hours away from Gozo. We decided to take a taxi over to Civitavecchia the ferry terminal, which would save us about an hour. Taxis don't really go in the city looking for passengers. Instead, people walk over to the taxi 'terminal' and pay for the fare in advance to secure a taxi. We got there, paid EU35 for a trip to Civitavecchia to a woman in a booth who handed us a voucher, and told us that a taxi would be there shortly. The first taxi driver that showed up looked at the voucher, noticed it said Civitavecchia and declined. Civitavecchia is basically on the opposite side of Malta so it's a fair distance (in his defense) but we paid for the service to get there, and wasn't impressed to see him say no. The woman in the booth told us not to worry, that she was getting us another one momentarily, so we waited patiently. The second driver showed up, and basically did the same thing as the first driver. I was starting to regret having purchased a voucher, and questioned whether we would have any driver say 'yes' to the drive. When I asked him why he declined, he explained that he had to stay close because it was a busy day with cruise ships arriving, bla bla bla. There was a group of 5 behind us, and this second driver basically asked them where they wanted to go, and that he would take care of them. They were in line to purchase a voucher, but the taxi driver basically tried to get them to pay him directly, while also moving them ahead of us. That's when I lost patience. I went to the woman in the booth and asked for an explanation. She said a third driver was on his way, and I expected more of the same from this driver. Sure enough, he looked at the voucher, said no, and I put my foot down. We had a back and forth where I tried as calmly as possible to find out why we were not getting anyone to drive us to Civitavecchia despite having already paid for it. He also gave me the 'busy with cruise ship' argument, at which point I showed him our 'Celebrity Cruise' bags, and told him we were cruise ship people. If they are getting rides, then so should we. I was not pleased and told Adam I was going to get us a refund. That's when #3 agreed to drive us. We got there, jumped out of the taxi, bought our ferry tickets and waited a few minutes to get on. The ferry ride was only about 20 minutes, which went by pretty fast. The day's stresses slowly melted away as we got closer to Gozo. We didn't have too much time left to spend on the island, but we still wanted to take it in as much as possible. We docked, got off, and decided that an ATV would be the way to go for us. Adam hadn't driven one in 15 years, and I never had. It was a pretty cool way to get around the island, although people drive on the wrong side of the road... okay not the wrong side but the opposite side than we do in Canada. It was a bit tricky to figure out how to take the corners but Adam was a pro. We had a blast going around the island, and it wasn't too long until we got to Ramla beach, which is the red sand beach. We parked, I got my bathing suit on, and we got our beach on! It was lovely... Adam and I took turns going in the water as we wanted to have someone look after our belongings, and it was amazing. The Mediterranean was salty and refreshing. It was a great couple of hours that more than made up for the start to the day. We had to make our way back however, as we had to make sure we got back to the cruise ship on time. Adam took the scenic route back to the ferry terminal, to see the sights, but I think to drive the ATV as much as possible, and we made our back to Malta. We considered the bus route back to the cruise ship terminal but it was multiple buses that would take close to 2 hours to get back, so we decided to try our luck with another taxi. Oy. We walked up to a taxi driver, told him we were heading to the cruise ship terminal, and he tells us that it's EU40. I questioned him, saying that it was only EU35 to get here, and he says that there's a special tax that has to be paid from the ferry terminal. I wasn't having it ... it felt like a scam, and I expressed that. He finally agreed to take us, once I turned my back and started towards the bus.
We made it back with a couple hours to spare, which we spent in Valletta. We saw the sun set on the cream-coloured city, giving it a pinkish hue... got a couple of Maltese bottles of wine to take back with us on the ship. It was, despite it all, a great day. Adam and I agreed that we needed to go back to Malta and spend more time there. We feel that we saw quite a bit, thanks to Rita being so wonderful in showing us around, but that there is too much to see to do it all in two days. Malta is beautiful and culturally rich, and definitely deserves to be visited! Just stay away from taxi drivers...
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