"You can take a photo!" - Spring Break in Malta

Originally posted on my Tumblr travel blog, A Roman Spring with IES, in 2008.

You all may have noticed that for the first time, the title of my post has been in English. That’s because, for the first time since I left the States, I went to a country where the primary language is English! That’s right! I am talking about the wonderful little country called Malta.

Malta is a small country, consisting of three small islands, located just south of Sicily. The largest island is tiny, measuring about 14 miles across in the widest part. I started my trip to Malta on Tuesday morning. I took the express train from Termini train station to the airport and found my ticket counter. Now, I thought I had allocated myself plenty of time to jump on the plane. Well, this was not true. When I got my ticket, the man told me that there was a long wait through security (the security procedures are the same as the United States’) and the gate was very far away. Basically, he told me that I needed to run.

And I ran. Well, I went very fast, when I could. I did make the flight though and landed in Malta just an hour after leaving Rome. My first impression of Malta was not a good one. When I stepped off the plane, I thought I had stepped into a wind tunnel. I literally had to hold on to the railing to keep from blowing away! (an exaggeration but it certainly felt like it)

Now, I should explain that I was traveling alone at this point. My plan was to meet up with my friend Sarah and her roommates when I got to Malta. They had traveled in Greece before coming to Malta, so I was to meet them at the hotel because their flight had come in at 6am! So, I got through customs and searched for an information booth. The info lady told me I could take buses to my hotel, and since it was really cheap, I thought this was the best way to go.

The first bus was no problem. I got on and traveled to the bus station in Valletta. I want to take a second to say that the buses are very different in Malta when compared to Rome’s. There are no doors, all buses are yellow and orange, and they all look like they are from the 1950s. But they get you from point A to point B, so I guess I shouldn’t make fun. Anyway, the second bus was a bit more confusing. There is no way to tell what city you are in or when to get off, so I asked the bus driver to tell me when to get off. I was really scared that he was going to forget and I would be forced to get off at the other end of the island, but luckily, this wasn’t the case.

He let me out in Saint Paul’s Bay, the city (really they are more like villages or towns) where my hotel was. But then I had to figure out where my hotel was, apparently they don’t really do addresses there, because I didn’t have one for the hotel. So I wondered around for awhile and just when I was going to ask for directions, I stumbled upon it!

The rest of the day was a lazy one. We went out to grab a bite to eat and buy groceries. That night, we cooked a “family” meal and played charades. It was quite enjoyable and fun to get to know my travel-mates better.

The following day, we went exploring in the bay area surrounding our hotel. It wasn’t the best day, a bit windy, but we had lunch down by the sea and stumbled upon the “downtown” part of the city. I say downtown because it seemed to be the center of town where most of the shops and restaurants were not closed. Most places were closed because it wasn’t tourist season.

That night we went to a small restaurant “downtown” called The Saint. The name reminded me of a movie Phil was obsessed with when he was younger. I was adventurous and ordered the island’s specialty, the rabbit. It was alright but very bony and not much meat. I don’t think I would order it again if I had the chance.

On Thursday, we had a late brunch and signed up for a day-trip to Gozo. Gozo is a small island just north of Malta’s main island. We played cards all afternoon and then hopped on a bus to the hopping city of St. Julian’s. It was extremely cold and windy when we got there and we just wanted to find a nice restaurant without having to walk to far. We lucked out and asked a local, who pointed out a restaurant just down the block. We were happy with anything, but it turns out that this restaurant was one of the best on the island. The chef had won a number of awards and after tasting the food, I can see why. The atmosphere was small and plain, but the food looked and tasted amazing. I ordered Salmon and had a chocolate dessert to top it off. It was definitely the culinary highlight of my trip.

After dinner, we went to an Irish Pub and hung out with the English bartender named Rachel. She was a riot and I think she really enjoyed our company. She was really interested in the American shots we were trying to describe to her. She ended up giving us her email address so that we could send her a couple that she could “impress the American Navy boys” with.

We left early the next morning for a ferry to Gozo. The ferry was very short, I think I could have swam the distance if I needed to, and we were picked up by our tourguide Charlie on the otherside. Charlie, whether he knew it or not, was probably the main entertainment of our day-trip. He said some very funny things in English, obviously not his first language. In fact, the quote from the title of this post comes from Charlie. He kept telling us that we were going to stop so that we could take a photo. Anyways, we stopped at some very interesting places during our tour.

We first stopped at a catholic cathedral pretty much placed out in the middle of nowhere. The scenery was very pretty and so was the church, but I couldn’t help but think that the building was a bit out of place. Next, we went to the infamous Azure Window. Basically, this natural wonder was carved out of the side of a cliff by the sea, making a window. It was really cool to see, especially the day we went because the sea was angry and kept making huge waves through the window. Next, we went to the “oldest freestanding structure in the world”, or so we were told. To me, it looked like a pile of rocks. Now, I am over-exaggerating a bit. It did look like some kind of building structure, but it just does not compare to something like the Colosseum in Rome. Overall, the tour was fun and the company was enjoyable. We met a British couple on our tour and the husband kept cracking these really dry jokes. It kinda reminded me of what Dad calls a sense of humor. Haha, love you Dad.

Saturday was our one and only really great sunny day in Malta. To celebrate, we laid out on the terrace atop the hotel and walk around the city shops. That night we went out to a karaoke bar and later went dancing in some clubs. I even got to swing dance a bit with Sarah and box waltz with Whitney!

Sunday was our day to return to Rome. We left the hotel around 10am and caught the two buses back to the airport. I really enjoyed my time in Malta. It was a very nice break from the busy streets of Rome. Also, it was nice to go speak English as a first language again. I told this to my Italian teacher, she didn’t like it very much :-0

The buildings and culture in Malta were also very interesting. It has been colonized by several cultures; including the Italians from Sicily, the English, and the Middle East. Maltese the language is something similar to Arabic. The buildings look more like Mediterranean style architecture than buildings in Rome. The food also had a lot of sea food, besides the Italian’s pasta, and the English’s diet. I am really enjoying experiencing the different cultural aspects of another country; picking out similarities and differences. I am finding that although there may be a lot of differences, there always seems to be so many more similarities. Perhaps that is what makes us all human beings. We strive for the same things in life, interact in similar ways, etc.

Well, this has been a very long post. I miss everyone back and home and hope all is well. Thanks so much to those of you that have sent me emails. I have been writing back when time permits, but it seems that I have even less time nowadays. Also, I want to thank my immediate family for the special Easter package, it was very special and contained a lot of useful things (my friends are really enjoying Uno). Additionally to Grandma and Grandpa Titcombe for pictures and scripture. Lastly, to the McRuer’s from Canada for the book and card. I really appreciate all the support and love from home.