MALTA

I chosen to split the final 2 weeks holiday I had into 2 separate trips. With the previous one turning into a slight disappointment it looked like a good idea. Malta was the destination chosen because a) it was one of the few parts of Europe thats warm in February and b) I had not been there before. I only had 4 days off work so I had to go back just for the Monday as well as travel down to Gatwick, stop the night and fly out Tuesday morning.

The first afternoon after taking over an hour to do around 8 miles in the airport shuttle bus was my usual walk round and get a feel of the place. Malta was crowded, touristy but not bad and it seemed I had picked a good area in st julians. It took a while to connect with others in the hostel but after a few drinks a group of us ended up going to the bars at nearby paceville. I had seen more nightlife before midnight than on the whole of the previous trip.

The next day I took the bus into valletta walking around the old city and paying a visit to the war museum. I left it too late to do a bus tour and headed back late afternoon. The second night was as social as the first but we didn't go out anywhere. There was a good crowd of people in the hostel.

 

Thursday I did the hop on hop off bus tour covering the south of the island. I stopped at Vittoriosa for breakfast and a visit to another war museum. The second stop was at Marsaxlokk harbour but with an hour between busses I thought it was a bit too much. While sunny it was very windy on the open top bus and I was only wearing a T shirt. Everyone in the hostel seemed a lot more subdued that evening and most were heading off to bed before midnight.

 

Friday I did the other trip this time covering the north of the island, I seen the old city of Mdina and nearby Rabat. By the time I got to st pauls bay my energy levels were getting very low and I headed back where I slept for nearly 3 hours which I obviously needed. When planning the trip I was looking at doing a side trip to Sicily but with time low and the day trip costing over 100 euros I chosen to do Italy on a future trip.

Friday night turned out to be the best night out of the trip, after drinking in the hostel until late we headed to a nearby bar followed by another called Muddy waters before finally ending up in a club called footloose until around 4 or 5 in the morning. Great night out but it seriously affected the quality of the following day. Was going to visit the island of Gozo but never made it in the end.

I was however told by several others in the hostel that I hadn’t missed that much, I was already getting a bit “burned out” by seeing more old buildings and scenic harbours. 5 nights was the longest time I had spent in one place for several years. I had seen most of what I wanted to see in Malta so I couldn’t complain.

The people I met in the hostel did make a big part of the trip, I was partly expecting Malta to be mostly old people like it was in Tenerife and Gran canaria but it wasn’t and I had a far better time. I did go out for about an hour on Saturday night but had to cut it short due to an early flight.

Nearly missed the flight due to the roads to the airport being closed for the Malta marathon. Apart from that I had no problem getting home.