Malta: An Island Nation

On our last trip of the year Katie, Lydia, and I went to Malta. It is an island country located between Italy and Tunisia. It has a rich history where different imperial empires have ruled it so the architecture is a unique blend of all of them. Some buildings look like Northern Africa and then right next to that will a red English telephone booth.

We arrived on June 14th in the evening and took a taxi to our Airbnb. The next day, Katie wasn't feeling the best so we found a cute cafe with AC that she stayed in while Lydia and I explored the waterfront. There were some shops that looked cute and then a lot of pop-up stands selling boat tours to tourists. Lydia and I found a great spot and the end of the section we were walking for swimming in the Mediterranean. Now, if you're on an island and it's in the high 80s/low 90s you had better swim and enjoy the crystal clear water. We went to the capital, Valetta, which has some really nice squares and cool lookout points over the water. We swam pretty much everyday and enjoyed every minute of it. The water was so refreshing and cooled you off after being in the hot sun.

We didn't just stay on Malta proper, we also went to the island of Gozo for two days. While there we were able to ride horses and hear of this man's aspirations to open up a bed and breakfast where visitors will be able to have hands-on experience with different farm animals such as cows, horses, goats, etc. It was cool to hear his dream and I hope he is able to accomplish it in the future. For the moment, Gozo is still not as popular with tourists and so it has to be hard for him to accomplish. While on Gozo, we also bought boat tickets to go to the island of Comino. This is the smallest island of the three but it probably has the most pictures online. Comino is where you find the Blue Lagoon. I thought the water in the Mediterranean was clear but it was nothing compared to this. The best comparison I have with the water in the Blue Lagoon is to compare it to what I imagine the Caribbean looks like. It was like a "hidden" paradise. We got there around 10 in the morning and it was the perfect time because we were able to get seats on the small beach area there and have sun umbrellas too. Even an hour later, more tour boats from the main island had come and there was no more room so people were sitting on rocks and things since there weren't any seats. We spent the whole day there and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I think the worst day of our whole trip was when we had to leave. The islands of Malta run on buses, which is fine, but they don't always run at regular intervals and there are so many cars that traffic can get very backed up. On our way back to Vienna, we had to take two buses on Gozo to get to the ferry which would take us back to the big island. Once there, we took another bus which took us directly to the airport. But that being said, it made ~20 stops along the way and took an hour and a half. I guess we can't really complain because we had the opportunity to go somewhere not many, if any, Americans get to go to. It was just so strange to us that on an island, something that should be "tiny" took us ~2.5 hours to get to the airport. In any case, it was our last hoorah before Lydia moves back to the States and it is another country we can all check off our lists. Now for the rest of my crazy June!