We just returned from a much-needed escape from the “Frankfurt grey” to Malta for some sun and milder temperatures. While it certainly wasn’t swimming weather, we enjoyed 50 and 60-degree weather, sunny skies, and felt recharged enough to return to the cold and grey climate of Frankfurt. We arrived early afternoon Saturday and departed early afternoon Tuesday which was a perfect amount of time to explore a good chunk of the island. I jotted down these notes on the flight back so I wouldn’t forget any details. We stayed in this adorable Air B&B right on the water in Valletta.

To be fair, we literally did see a guy handling a set of falcons at the Blue Grotto overlook and Jeff watched the movie on the flight home, so the title is allowed. 🙂

The Eats

We now have a travel routine of eating breakfast wherever we stay and lighter lunches or snacks before a larger dinner out. It’s a combination of less $$$, more time to explore, and a bit easier on the digestive system while traveling. We enjoyed some amazing cuisine in Malta – here are some highlights:

• Tuk Tuk South Indian Cusine: we ate this several hours after arriving and we were starving. Jeff had a spicy lamb dish, I had Madras chicken with extra spice and we split some coconut rice and a cucumber salad which was nice and cool after the spicy meat dishes.
• Legligin –  “Legligin” is a Maltese word basically for “taking a swig.” Our Air B&B host recommended this place and it did not disappoint. They charge €27.50 for a tasting menu (they do not have an a la carte menu) and you get a chance to numerous Maltese and Mediterranean dishes.

Here is what we tried (that I can remember!):

• crusty bread (they brought GF biscuits for me)
• olives
• thin slices of pork belly
• roasted eggplant in tomato sauce
• sea bass
• fish cake,
• mussels in white wine sauce,
• rabbit,
• quail with rucola and strawberry salad
• pork in orange sauce

They also brought a small truffle of ginger chocolate and local limoncello with our bill. After trying so many dishes, I felt that the €27 a person was really a great deal and we also got a half bottle of wine for about €14. A lovely meal that wasn’t super expensive and I loved tasting the delights of Malta!

• Manakis Greek taverna on the water in St. Julian. We had delicious Greek salad and stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer. Jeff had a roasted lamb and I had chicken souvlaki for entrees. Everything was very flavorful.
• We enjoyed trying a few Maltese wines next store to our Air B&B – it seems that red wine is prized here which is a nice break from the white wine-centric Germany!
• For most of our Air B&B stays, we go to a grocery store to buy eggs, water, coffee, bread (I bring a loaf of GF bread), and some vegetables and cheese for snacking. And wine and chocolate of course. I love being able to walk miles and miles during the day and come home and have a glass of wine and a few snacks before heading out for dinner.

Drinks:

• Yard 32 Gin and Tapas Bar: excellent gin selection for g&ts, on the rocks, or other cocktails
• Alchemy: trendy, innovative cocktails (mine had liquid nitrogen), complimentary cucumber water, hummus with veggies and spiced popcorn. Really cool interior and knowledgeable staff though when Jeff asked for something off-menu, the mixologist told him no and that “he believes there is something for everyone on our carefully selected menu” which I thought was hilarious but probably what he was told to do. In the end, Jeff did like his drink. : D

The Sights:

We referenced this blog quite while deciding what to do. I won’t go into all the details of what you can do and see on Malta because to be honest, it’s a little overwhelming and I don’t want to give opinions about something I haven’t experienced. Here are just a few of the highlights we saw in a couple different areas.

Valletta

• Upper and Lower Barraku Gardens
• Triton Fountain
• Views of the 3 cities along the water near Fort St. Elmo; perfect rocks for reading or a short sun doze or picnic

3 Cities (Birgu, Senglea, Cospicua)

• Fort St. Angelo- we toured the enormous fort at the end of the Birgitta peninsula. It’s €8 to get in but worth it for the views. We were also among the only people there.
• Honestly, because we were in the 3 cities area on a Monday during offseason, there wasn’t a ton open or going on so we mostly enjoyed strolling down the side streets and seeing the colorful doors and lush potted plants.

Sliema

• We took the ferry from Valletta (super cheap, like €1.50 each person) and enjoyed walking around the shops and restaurants.
• St. Julian’s – from Sliema, it’s an easy walk over to the next bay, St. Julian’s/Spinola Bay. We only spent one evening there but from what I’ve read, it’s one of the most lively towns with lots of bars and restaurants.

Mdina/Rabat

• We didn’t spend a ton of time here but it is a quiet and beautiful city with really interesting architecture. If you go to the edge of the city wall, you can see for miles! We got a cup of gelato and slowly walked through the town and basked in the sun.
• We visited St. Paul’s church and the massive catacombs underneath. Pretty crazy!
  

  

  

The Blue Grotto

• The boat tours to the Blue Grotto were closed due to the sea conditions (similar to when we were in Capri and tried to go to their Blue Grotto!) but we enjoyed walking down to the docks and then up the steep road to the overlook. I was completely unprepared for how amazing the view would be when I looked over the edge. You really can’t get perspective from a photo of how enormous this sea arch is, even from high above.

General ramblings

Doors

In Northern Virginia, it seems like the neutral and the cookie cutter is prized, so strolling down the side streets of Maltese towns with doors in every color of the rainbow (but lots of blues and greens) was a feast for the eyes! I also loved the brass door knockers on nearly every residence; some shiny and polished, some tarnished, but all unique and charming. My favorites were the sea-life: seahorses, fish, sets of two whales, a pair of shiny starfish. Jeff and I thought about buying one of our own but given that we don’t know what kind of house we will have once we settle, we took down the website of the manufacturer to save for the time in life when we are settled and can luxuriously browse for the perfect brass door knocker. I am partial to a pair of large brass seahorses.

Pick Your Bench

Everywhere we went, regardless of whether there was a beautiful view or not, there were so many benches. Maybe it’s simply to cater to the huge amounts of tourists in the summer months but the romantic side of me felt like they were beckoning you to sit and stay a while and breath in the fresh air and sunshine. No matter where we were or how many people were around, there was always a free bench.

The Maltese language

Having done minimal research on Maltese history culture before our trip, I assumed the Maltese language is most similar to Italian or Sicilian given its close proximity to Sicily. After talking with our host (who is Maltese but lived in London for 30 years and has a delightful accent) and doing some research online, I learned that Maltese is most similar to Arabic, particularly in written form. Here are some fascinating highlights from Wikipedia:

Maltese has evolved independently of Literary Arabic and its varieties into a standardized language over the past 800 years in a gradual process of Latinisation.^[5][6] Maltese is therefore considered an exceptional descendant of Arabic that has no diglossic relationship with Standard Arabic or Classical Arabic,^[7] and is classified separately from the Arabic macrolanguage.^[8] Maltese is also unique among Semitic languages since its morphology has been deeply influenced by Romance languages, namely Italian and Sicilian.^[9]

The original Semitic base (Siculo-Arabic) comprises around one-third of the Maltese vocabulary, especially words that denote basic ideas and the function words,^[10] but about half of the vocabulary is derived from standard Italian and Sicilian;^[11] and English words make up between 6% and 20% of the vocabulary.^[12] A recent study shows that, in terms of basic everyday language, speakers of Maltese are able to understand less than a third of what is said to them in Tunisian Arabic,^[13] which is related to Siculo-Arabic,^[14] whereas speakers of Tunisian are able to understand about 40% of what is said to them in Maltese.^[15] This reported level of asymmetric intelligibility is considerably lower than the mutual intelligibilityfound between Arabic dialects.^[16]

Maltese has always been written in the Latin script, the earliest surviving example dating from the late Middle Ages.^[17] It remains the only standardized Semitic language written in the Latin script.^[18]

Super interesting, right?

Other stuff

• I can see why so many movies have been filmed here. So many textures and the landscape is versatile for different settings and periods in history. This is a fun article about the movies that have been filmed
• I was really impressed by how affordable Malta was and encourage you to visit while it is still this accessible! Our flights and 3 nights lodging were less than $500 and we probably spent less than $1000 totally for a 4-day trip without worrying much about keeping an eye of what we were spending
• Download the Taxify app (basically Uber) to use to get around the island. We debated renting a car (cons were expensive gas, driving on opposite side of road) or using buses (cheap but time-consuming and not always direct) but opted for Taxify and used probably spent less than €100 the whole time to get around the southern half of the island and felt very carefree in terms of parking and not having to worry about navigating. We do like to walk long distances which helped in cutting down transportation as well.
• I was really impressed by the cost of food (especially at nicer restaurants) compared to other seaside places we’ve been like Positano or Capri, where meals can get $$$$ quickly.

In summary, I LOVE Malta and hope to back next winter for a welcome respite from the winter blues but also hopefully go in the summer to enjoy swimming in the Blue Lagoon and other warm weather activities.

Here is a link to all the places we went or had bookmarked: Claire’s Google List of Malta Places

Thanks to Jeff for most of these lovely photos ❤