Malta has been involved in every war around the Mediterranean since…who knows. With that, their language and culture has a crazy blend of Spanish, North African Berber, Arab, Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Middle Eastern, Italian…everything. The language looks and sounds wild. It’s a really fascinating place.
My Austrian friend found 2 vegan guys for us to stay with, and we flew on Air Malta in the most uncomfortable seats I’ve ever experienced on a plane. I’m not very tall, but I was super smashed in those seats. Much too close together.
We took some buses from the airport and wound up twisting through some alleys to arrive at our home-away-from-home for the next 4 days.
We walked around and got some dinner at this SUPER HIPPY restaurant that no longer exists. It was good, but the sheer volume of incense and tambourine music was a bit overwhelming.
Day 2 was spent around the old part of Valletta, walking and walking to see forts, castles, Parliament, and more. There’s some really awesome architecture.
In the afternoon, we went through some old tunnels, more parts of the giant fort, and got a kick out of the signage in Malta.
The next day, we took a bus out to what’s supposed to be the Stonehenge of Malta, essentially. There was a ridiculously-high entrance fee, so we looked from a distance.
From there, we took a bus to a fortified hilltop city, Mdina.
On our last full day, we went to the southwest part of the island, to where they filmed the Popeye movie with Robin Williams. The admission fee was something like $30 each, which didn’t interest us. We tried to get some hilltop viewings for free.
Back in Valletta, we visited some Bronze-Age temp ruins outdoors (pictures allowed) and then the incredible underground temple of The Hypogeum (no pictures allowed). The Hypogeum was the coolest thing in Malta. Make sure to visit it.
We took our night flight back to Munich, once again smashed on Air Malta, and concluded this was a great trip for her birthday. Thanks, Malta!
