Just two days after getting home from Iceland, we were perusing Google flights and saw we could get dirt cheap tickets to Malta for the weekend so we went ahead and booked it. Four days and three flight delays later, we finally made it, after midnight, picked up our rental car and headed to our flat. This was actually my first time driving on the left side of the road like they do in the United Kingdom (Malta was an English territory up until I believe 1965) and I totally did it! It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be! We rented a little red convertible and I really felt oh so fancy!
After a nice long rest. We were woken up to beautiful church music playing outside of our building. It was so loud and it sounded like there was a sermon going on. We got dressed and ready to explore the city, walked downstairs and right across the street from our flat, the Pope of all people was there addressing a crowd of thousands of people. So yeah, I was breathing the same air as the Pope! That was pretty cool!
After unsuccessfully trying to eye His Holiest, we made our way down to the Valletta Waterfront where we spotted a UK telephone booth and had a really nice lunch in the Valletta Harbor.
After lunch we went to one of the coolest Starbucks I’ve ever been to and then made our way up a giant elevator for 2 euro to the Upper Barrakka Gardens where we got an amazing view looking over the city and ocean.
That afternoon we decided to take a road trip and we headed to the Ħaġar Qim complex where we were able to see ancient temple ruins that dated back like 5000 years. The Ħaġar Qim and the Mnajdra are megalithic temple complexes that date back to about 3600 BC and are considered the most ancient religious sites on earth. The entire site is covered with a giant tent to protect it from weathering and surface flaking because of the lime stone used in the temple construction.
After leaving the ancient site we attempted to get into the city of Mdina but the traffic was so bad that we decided to leave. Mdina is an ancient city where cars are not allowed. We then headed to the west coast of the island and had a nice sit out on the beach in Golden Bay. The views were absolutely stunning, the water was so clear and the sun was shining. After a couple hours we made our way back to Valletta ready to embark on our next journey.
That evening we took a little stroll around Floriana where our flat was and walked by the Sarria Church through the Argotti Botanic Gardens and St Philip's Gardens where we saw more stray cats than I have ever seen in my life.
There are approximately 3000(!) stray and feral cats on the island with an estimated 1000 citizens who actually take care of them. It was feeding time so all the cats came out swarming for their dinners. They are everywhere and I’ve never seen anything quite like it.
The next day we made our way into the center of Valetta. Walking into this small city takes you through MASSIVE fortified gates that reveal a beautiful ancient city center. After a quick lunch we made our way to the St. John’s Co-Cathedral, a Roman Catholic Cathedral dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. Saint John's was built in 1572 and while the outside is quite minimal like the Medici chapel in Florence, the inside is extremely ornate, gilded in gold in a beautiful baroque style. It really did feel like a miniature Vatican with its design and massive stone carved statues.
Valletta is a really beautiful city. The Pope's banners were hung from the buildings, so when the wind blew it felt so festive and ethereal. Valetta has a very like middle eastern vibe which was really cool to experience because it’s probably the closest we'd ever get to being in the actual Middle East.
Apparently Malta has really strict building codes where buildings have to be painted a certain color and designed a certain way to maintain the integrity of their history.
After thoroughly exploring Valletta we headed back to the beach to see the sunset take in a few more sights. We hiked the Ħaġar Qim again, and visited the blue grotto from the cliffs, which are beautiful blue sea caves on the south side of the island.
If we had more time we would’ve visited Camino and Gozo which are 2 other islands that make up the Maltese archipelago. Malta is considered the smallest city state in the European Union. It's such a tiny island that it literally only took us an hour to get from the Valetta to the west coast, If you take a look at the map, the capital looks to be about the same size as the airport! What a great weekend, thanks Malta!
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