What is worth eating?

- Pastizzi (stuffed pastry, usually with peas or ricotta)

- Qassatat (similar to the above but a traditional dough made of flour, eggs, and butter)

- Ġbejna (sheep or goat cheese with parsley added)

- Stuffat tal-Fenek (rabbit stew)

- Aljotta (fish soup)

- Lampuka (grilled or fried dorado)

- Bragjoli (beef or veal rolls stuffed with minced bacon, hard-boiled eggs, parsley, and garlic)

- seafood (grilled octopus, calamari)

- boiled mussels.

Our recommendations

- Marsaxlokk (walk along the waterfront, market, restaurants)

- Mdina (Roman Villa and city walk)

- boat trip to the Blue Grotto

- trip to Gozo.

Blue Grotto

On the last day of our stay, shortened due to the flight schedule, we spent time in the southern part of the island near the Blue Grotto. In my opinion, it is a more interesting place than the lagoon on the island of Comino.

The southern part of the island consists mostly of inaccessible cliffs several dozen meters high, sparsely covered with vegetation. A bus 201 connects to a small fishing village, which has a loop at the airport.

On-site, we find everything a tourist needs: restaurants, souvenir shops, and even electric carts that take the most tired visitors to the harbor.

A half-hour boat trip through the caves costs 8 Euros and is worth the money. The captain shares interesting facts about the names of the caves we enter during the trip. The water colors change depending on the substrate and lighting. The water is crystal clear, making it difficult to judge the distance to the bottom. In places where it seems we will have ground, it is 5 meters deep.

It is a dream location for rock climbers, divers (with several wreck sites nearby), and snorkeling enthusiasts.

As you can see in the picture on the right, it is not always possible to save historic balconies. Some fall into ruin, possibly due to a lack of an owner for the premises.

And one more very British detail of the architecture. Drainage pipes on the outside of the building are very popular in London neighborhoods with terraced housing from the late 17th century.

Blue Lagoon and Gozo

The famous Blue Lagoon on the island of Comino is a stretch of rocky beach with a sunbed rental service and a row of food trucks. Rainfall in summer is rare in Malta, but the day we visited Comino was rainy. This ruined our swimming plans, but I can't imagine the crowd that would be on the beach in beautiful weather.

Small ferries depart from the town of Ċirkewwa, the journey takes about 20 minutes and costs around a dozen Euros round trip. We can stay on Comino as long as we like and return on the same ferry at any time. We just need to make sure we know when the last ferry departs and when the last bus leaves Ċirkewwa so we can return home without worry.

Since the weather was not favorable, we spent about an hour at the Blue Lagoon and then returned to Malta. We decided to use the remaining time to explore Gozo. We took a car ferry and in the port of Mgarr we opted for a tour of the island on a Hop-On Hop-Off bus. This at least gave us a general view of Gozo in a relatively short time. The ticket price is just under 22 Euros and you can plan your stay at each stop by getting off one bus and getting on another from the same service. Passengers receive headphones that they connect to sockets by their seats. A menu is available in several languages (including Polish).

We stayed longer in the capital of Gozo, Victoria, named in honor of the English queen at the time when Malta was a British colony. The main streets of the city resemble 19th century London in their architecture.

The journey on the upper deck of the bus was again interrupted by the weather, and halfway through the route everyone had to take shelter inside due to the rain.

The historic center is closed to traffic. It's worth exploring without a specific plan. A walk through the narrow and quiet alleys allows you to escape the hustle and bustle of Valletta. On many houses, you will find tiny reliefs and requests to maintain silence and privacy. The population is just under 300 people, so after dark, Mdina is often called the "Silent City." The city's scenery was used in the production of the first season of the series "Game of Thrones." Of course, there are ubiquitous wooden balconies and excellent restaurants serving traditional dishes.

Mdina

Located centrally on the island of Malta, Mdina was the first capital of the sovereign order. The history of the city dates back to the 4th century BC, but as a result of an earthquake at the end of the 17th century, few monuments from the earlier period survived.

One of them is the Villa Romana, dating from around the 1st century BC. The villa is essentially located outside the city walls of Mdina in the neighboring town of Rabat. The ruins were discovered in the 19th century. After renovation, the most valuable fragments were enclosed and made available for visiting. Inside, original mosaics and parts of the walls have been preserved. Admission costs 6 Euros. A combo ticket can also be purchased for 10 Euros, which allows entry to St. Paul's Catacombs and the Natural History Museum.

It is worth seeing the exhibition of animal skeletons found in Malta during excavations at a small museum across from the ticket office. The cave itself is not very interesting, only a few dozen meters long, and there are no impressive stalactites or stalagmites inside.

Valletta

The capital of Malta, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, is called an open-air museum. It contains over 300 monuments, placing it among the most densely populated historic areas in the world.

Construction of the city began in the mid-16th century during the reign of the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller - Jean Parisot de la Valette, from whom the capital's name derives. Situated on a hill between two bays, it served as an excellent defensive point and was eventually surrounded by fortifications. Steep streets descend picturesque to the sea. In the early period, some of them consisted of long-stepped stairs, allowing for horseback riding.

The characteristic wooden balconies have been recognized by the Maltese government as national monuments. In the 1970s, there was a trend to remodel them due to the high cost of wood and necessary maintenance. The government introduced subsidies for balcony owners to preserve their unique structures.

The fort of St. Elmo, visible in the picture on the right, was an important point of resistance during the Great Siege of 1565. Thanks to the heroic defense of the fortress and the arrival of reinforcements from Sicily, the much larger Turkish army was defeated. The fortress walls served as the backdrop for several episodes of the series "Game of Thrones."

We passed by the parish church of Our Lady of Pompeii and the San Lucian fort with the intention of reaching the rock city of Borg in Nadur. However, it turned out that tickets could only be purchased at the entrance to the Ghar Dalam cave. It’s not far, but since visits are only possible until 4:00 PM, we could stay in the cave and postpone our visit to the rock city for the next day.

The entrance to the cave borders old cultivated fields, separated by stone walls. Each field had a watchtower where crops were guarded against thieves at night. The towers also served as temporary prisons if someone was caught attempting to steal.

Marsaxlokk

A very picturesque fishing port with characteristic boats moored to the quay, all painted in the same way. A stroll along the bay offers a chance to shop at dozens of stalls selling souvenirs, artistic handicrafts, homemade preserves, and spices.

Be sure to stop for lunch at one of the restaurants serving seafood. You won't find fresher and better-presented fish anywhere else. Since we were in a group, we took the opportunity to eat a several-kilogram Lampuki fish served in two ways: half grilled and half pan-fried. The meal made us so lazy that our further sightseeing plans fell through.

The history of Malta dates back several thousand years B.C. The megalithic stone temples from 3600 B.C. are the oldest standing structures in Europe (they are older than the pyramids in Egypt). The archipelago has passed through centuries from hand to hand, and this is where the unique Maltese language originates. The distance of the archipelago from the Italian coast is 81 km, and during periods of regression of the Mediterranean Sea throughout the centuries, there were times of connection with the mainland. Since the 16th century, the island has been ruled by the Order of the Knights of St. John, and since 1800 Malta has been a British colony. Independence was achieved in 1974.

Sightseeing plan

Just under 4 days, which we had, is definitely too little to explore Malta. I think a week-long stay would allow for seeing all the most interesting places and leave some time for relaxation. We had our accommodation in Marsaskala near the main bus stop. We managed to see:

- Marsaxlokk

- Ghar Dalam Cave

- Valletta

- Mdina

- Blue Lagoon on Comino Island

- Gozo Island by tour bus

- Blue Grotto.

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What you should know before visiting Malta

The Maltese archipelago consists of three larger islands: Malta, Comino, and Gozo, as well as several uninhabited islets and sea rocks. Over 90% of the country's population lives on the island of Malta (the total number is about 0.5 million citizens). Gozo serves as a food supply base due to its natural water sources, but it does not meet the demand, and most food is imported by sea.

There is a regular ferry service between Malta and Gozo. Interestingly, you pay for the ferry on the return trip to Malta (around 10 EUR). You can only reach Comino by small motorboats. The island is essentially uninhabited and is famous for its blue lagoon with a small beach and bathing area.

Drinking water is a major problem. It is obtained through desalination of seawater, which is then mixed with natural water. The tap water is essentially not suitable for drinking, so you need to buy bottled water in stores.

The second problem is electricity. Over 90% is produced in a power plant fueled by oil. Other sources include solar panels and wind farms. A legacy of British colonization is the use of English electrical sockets, so you should bring adapters. In rented apartments, you may encounter a limit on electricity usage. There is a meter by the fuse box that shows your allocation. If you exceed it, you can buy additional energy by inserting coins into the appropriate slot.

The international airport located a few kilometers from the capital Valletta mainly serves budget airlines and the local carrier Malta Airlines. Since Malta is a member of the European Union, Polish citizens can enter the country with a passport or ID card. A stay of up to 90 days does not require a visa. The official currency is the Euro.

In Malta, we travel using public transport, which is quite well organized. At the airport, we buy a Tallinja Explore Flex card for a specified number of days (a 4-day card costs 15 EUR). We install an app on our phone that, using GPS, will show us the best bus connections to our destination at that moment. Note: Malta has left-hand traffic, so we need to be careful about the directions of bus stops.

The official languages are Maltese and English, which all residents speak quite fluently. Maltese is a mixture of Arabic and European languages (due to the island's history) and is completely incomprehensible to us. The Latin alphabet is used, but it is worth familiarizing yourself with Maltese pronunciation to properly interpret place names and streets. Otherwise, when asking for directions, we may encounter a shrug and a response that such a place does not exist.

- Marsaxlokk is pronounced Marsaszlok

- Quala is pronounced Ala

- Ćirkewwa is pronounced Czirkełła.

MALTA

June 2023

small big country