Summer of Discovery - Malta (14-26 August 2024)

A few delays getting here we finally arrived just before midnight on the 14^th, and if the time of night wasn’t bad enough a grumpy taxi driver dropped us off some 400m away from our accommodation.  After a stiff walk, two flights of steps and a serious hill, then finally 81 steps up to our new abode, we were pleasantly surprised to find a chilled bottle of chardonnay in the fridge (and a bonus 2,000 steps already in the bank).

Malta is an amazing place, made up of islands, filled with picturesque views everywhere and beautiful buildings, surrounded by the crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean.  There is so much to see and do here, so here are a few of our highlights.

Waterfront:  find a rock anywhere and chill out with the locals over a few beers.  The rocks even have step ladders attached to get in and out of the deep water, and with temps in the mid 30’s every man and his dog is up for swimming.  We even fondly named one of them 'our rock'.

Red Tower:  At the top of the island of Malta is ‘Torre L-Ahmad’ and some lovely but very busy beaches (the sand kind).  It was a steep short walk up to the red painted 1648 Saint Agatha’s Tower, which was tough in the heat, then another 41 steps to the tower roof.  Amazing views of the bays below us as well as Comino and Gozo in the distance.

 

Lesley’s Birthday Dinner:  Celebrated with a wonderful dinner at One80, a Michelan star restaurant.  The restaurant and experience delivered against expectation and an unexpected birthday present after a young couple paid for our two glasses of dessert wine (24€).  An extremely generous action and topped off the birthday perfectively.  

Mdina:  We arrived at the 1720 main gate (a Game of Thrones filming location) to this beautiful old city dating back to Antiquity (now predominantly 17th and 18th century).  We visited the 1702 Saint Paul’s Cathedral (originally founded in the 12^th century but rebuilt after an earthquake), and the 1742 Seminary (housing the museum), where Budget got in on the act and posed with the oldest bell in Malta (1370).  Whilst still in the museum we saw the original early 15th century Alter from the Cathedral and back outside the 1675 Carmelite Priory.

You can get lost in this fully walled city and we followed the cute streets to the medieval Greek gate (renovated in 1724), before popping outside for some exterior wall photos, which really don’t do it justice.  One more look at the 1720 Palazzo de Piro (Mdina Museum) building and the 1661 Saint Agatha’s Chapel before venturing back to the bus stop.

Marsaxlokk:  The small fishing village and Sunday morning fish market (out and on the bus by 6.30am).  The village was cute, with traditional brightly coloured small fishing boats (luzzu) filling the harbour, and the bigger commercial fishing fleet tied up at the far end.  Fish and fruit stalls in full swing and you can literally buy anything here.  The market is overlooked by the 1890 Parish church Madonna ta Pompei (our lady of Pompei), with mass going on inside and a statue of the virgin standing in a boat on its roof top, very fitting.

Valletta:  This city is something else, just walking around absorbing it is what it’s all about.  On our wander the impressive 1959 Triton fountain, the ruins of the 1866 Pjazza Teatru Rjal (Royal Opera House), which is now an open air theatre, the 1576 St Catherine of Alexandria Church (with a new 18^th century façade), and the 1566 Church of our lady of Victory, the first building of any kind to be built in the new city of Valletta.  A little further on was the 1574 Auberge De Castille - originally the Inn of the Knights of the order of St John of Jerusalem, it is currently the Prime Ministers office.   

From there we entered the Upper Barrakka Gardens and stood atop the Saluting Battery getting great views of Vittoriosa, Senglea and Cospicua across the harbour, known as the Three Cities of Malta.  Still not done, and yes walking our legs off, was a wander down the old streets to the 1885 Victoria Gate (named in honour of Queen Victoria) and here opting to take the lift back up to St John’s Co-Cathedral (built 1572-1577).   

Over to the other side of the island, with views across to Gzira where the 1734 Fort Manoel is situated, we stopped to see the 1839 St Paul’s Pro-Cathedral, then climbed the hill arriving at the Sanctuary Basilica of Our Lady of Mt Carmel, constructed between 1958 and 1981 on the site of a late 16th century church, which was destroyed during WWII. 

 

After lunch (yes still same day), we decided to tackle Fort St Elmo, which dates back to the early 16th century (initially built 1552-1570).  It was the location of the great Ottoman siege of Malta in 1556, defended by the Knights Hospitaller of the order of St John and now includes a war museum. 

Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Archaeological Park:  The temples of Hagar Qim and Mnajdra are two of seven Megalithic Temples across Malta and Gozo.  They are architectural masterpieces, given the limited resources available to their builders and are prehistoric monumental buildings constructed during the 4th millennium BC (3600BC).  They are amongst the earliest free-standing stone buildings in the world.  Abandoned in 2500BC the temples were forgotten, buried and lost for over 4,000 years.  History suggests residents were aware of them in 1647 however the first excavations took place between 1839 and 1885, followed by major excavations between 1901 and 1910.

We have seen plenty of old rocks before, but these at 5600 years old are easily amongst the oldest.  It’s incredible to imagine how they created, moved and placed in position such large pieces of rock, the largest here estimated at 20 tonne and the tallest 5.2m.  Quite an amazing site that is hard to capture in photos but well worth the visit.

 

Blue Grotto:  After the temples and ready for a swim, we made the most of the chance to swim in this beautifully clear turquoise water and stayed for a couple of hours.  There were lots of Fregatina’s, 8 seater small boats doing tours in and out the cove, which made the site very picturesque.

 

Three Cities:  A short ferry (10 mins) to Cospicua with Vittoriosa and Senglea on our sides as we ventured into the harbour inlet across from Valletta.  Again instantly impressed with the buildings and streets.  We passed the impressive 1681 Saint Lawerence Church and in the streets we found the locals setting up for a feast (one of many related to religious dates).  The route was lined with pillars, statues and banners, a huge amount of work to set up and take down again, but looked amazing.

 

We found the old gates - the 1722 Advanced Gate, 1724 middle gate and finally the 1727 Gate of Provence before arriving at the Castle Bastion looking towards Kalkara (far sea side of the three cities).  This area was stormed in 1565 by the Ottomans in the Great Siege of Malta.  Further on the views back to Valletta were quite something.   

 

The jewel in Vittoriosa is the 16th century Fort St Angelo.  The fort was built on the site of the 13th century Castrum Maris (castle by the sea) and has played a very important part for Malta for centuries.  From here we also got to see the midday gun salute from Valletta.  A lot of sites in here and we spent some time looking around.  For example, the Chapel of the Nativity of the Virgin (in known existence since 1274 but likely far older than this), the 16th century Magistral Palace, grafted onto the 12th or 13th century Medieval Castellans house (the middle section of the enlarged Magistral Palace).  Inside the courtyard of the palace we saw the 1531 Nymphaeum ‘niche and fountain’, purposely set in an area that is away from the sun, cool and refreshing.  Leaving here we head to the end of the bastions, for more amazing views, and visited the mid 15th century Chapel of St Anne.

Looking seaward towards Kalkara is another fort, the 1629 Fort Ricassoli, and looking back to Senglea we see the 1580 Basilica of our Lady of Victories.  There are forts and watch towers everywhere in Malta, highlighting its strategic significance in the Mediterranean.

Gozo 

Exhausted (in a good way) but energised by Malta we headed to it’s second island, Gozo for the remainder of our time.  It’s smaller and famous for its waters and picturesque views (surprise!). 

After the ferry, buses are the primary method of moving around (as in Malta itself) and super easy to navigate.  The centre of Gozo is Victoria, but we are staying on the west coast, in Xlendi.

Lunch stop

Our apartment

 

Cittadella:  We did however venture into Victoria to visit the Cittadella, also known as Castello (Maltese: Il-Kastell).  Like most places here, there has been something established since 1500BC (that they have proof of), but what we see today is predominantly 15th, 16th and 17th century.  The Cittadella has commanding views over the town, Il-Rabat, below it and really is a must see when visiting Gozo.  Of note was the 16th century Gran Castello (Governor) house, which is in remarkable condition considering its age and size.  There are multiple rooms everywhere and there was even a grain room, multiple wells and a toilet, all amazing for this era.

Etching on the prison wall
 

Visitor centre ceiling (part of the Cittadella)

In the Archaeological Museum the vast array of items is impressive.  Especially for us the 1st-2nd century BC Roman Amphorae (wine vases), found in shipwrecks in the Xlendi Bay entrance.  The views from the Cittadella were also fantastic.

 

Our time here was really to relax, but we did a bit of walking the hills that surround Xlendi Bay.  One of note was up the steep steps (76) and down again to check out the sea cave, then up to the top 95m above sea level to get great views.  Pressing on to 130m we could clearly see the Cittadella and Rotunda of St.John the Baptist (with the third largest unsupported dome in the world).

 

We tried to live like a local, making the most of our deck and view to watch the goings on.  The water here again is crystal clear and there’s a bit of rock jumping and diving to be done, as well as sun worshipping if you can stand the heat. 

Ted’s Boat Trip:  After noticing the boat parked up in the bay we confirmed a trip around Gozo and over to Comino to visit the Blue Lagoon.  We had a fantastic day; the weather was calm and sunny, the waters crystal clear and some incredible colours of blue, and the cliffs were something else (at it's highest point 132m).  Of course there were cute little towns, Ramla beach (red sand) and the Blue Lagoon (although way too crowded).  We stopped and swam 5 times, including up a river mouth and through a sea cave (in one end and out the other), guided by Ted's helper.  We arrived back ~6 hours later, quite exhausted.

The weather here has been great and just what we hoped for.  Warm water and sunshine, and the water has been sensationally clear, so many shades of blue and just beautiful.  There were multiple evenings with drinks at sunset point and at ‘our’ rock, and even an evening of typical British fish and chips (with mushy peas!).  On our last night the trip was topped off by a couple of wines on our deck, whilst enjoying the great live band playing at the Bay, made even more special by the hill tops and pathways being lit up with kerosine torches.  Gorgeous and a wonderful send of.  

If Malta hasn’t hit your bucket list yet, now is the time to add it in.

Things we will remember about Malta:

The dry
The heat
The old 
The Bastion walls
Castles
Churches
The history
The Mediterranean Sea
The many shades of Blue
The clarity of the water 
Boats and more boats
Valletta balconies