Written July 1st 2019
Both my mom and dad were able to make the trip to Portugal this year! And it was an especially special trip this year because it was just after my dad's retirement from work! As the timing of their trip also coincided with a bunch of public holidays in Portugal it was the perfect time for us to tag along and do a side trip in Europe.
I had seen some beautiful pictures from my Greek high school friend, and decided to look more into what Malta had to offer and it seemed to be the perfect place and time of year to visit for a week.
We arrived on Good Friday and had an Airbnb apartment reserved in the Sister City of Senglea. Joel had heard from co workers that it was a little hard to drive in Malta and hard to find parking, but it seemed much more convenient to not have to rely on buses and have our own freedom renting a car. We were very happy with that choice and Joel had no problems driving. I figured because after driving in Italy, he would do fine with the task. Luckily the car was small because those roads were crazy small at times with historical stone buildings coming out into the streets at times, but he loves driving and we had no trouble finding parking either.
Our Airbnb in Senglea was so cute. I don't remember the exact age of the building but walls were the original ones. Some parts of the inside had been remodeled. There were so many cute and or quirky touches to the place. The lady next door was the one to take care of the place and she shouted out the window of our alley once in a while to make sure things were okay. After wandering around Senglea a bit to try to find a cafe for some breakfast, we headed off. The night before we tried to find somewhere to pick up some groceries but as I suspected everything was closed by the time we got our rental car.
We visited the Maxslox Fish Market which was in a beautiful bay full of colorful boats and most of the pop up shops were selling touristy things, but we had an delicious lunch on the water and enjoyed walking through the village.
After lunch we made our way to the Mdina. We walked around the old town walls, visited a torture museum, and enjoyed the beautiful view of the island from the top of the hill.
Next we headed of to Dingli Cliffs, where I was a little disappointed because there wasn't an exact cliff, directly in the view. We did our first geocache of the trip here and enjoyed walking along the top of the hills. There was supposed to be a way you could hike down but we never did find an entry. Many places seemed to be a private driveway. This was our first taste of the crazy Malta wind! Or maybe it was just a special Easter week wind. Because it lasted our whole trip and it made that 18/70 degrees feel a little bit chilly. As you will see in almost all of the photos I have my bright windbreaker jacket on and often times the hood over top of my hat to keep it from flying away!
Then we headed back to the other side of the island to see St. Peter's Bay which was an amazing super turquoise color water and huge rocks where the waves were hitting. On google we saw that during other times when the tide and water wasn't so high, it is a popular swimming hole. You would have died trying to swim while we were there. For dinner we wandered around our airbnb to find a place. We had some delicious food, I think most everyone ordered pizza and pasta.
Day Two was Easter Sunday. We read there were some great Easter Celebrations where our airbnb was. So we headed out to see the Easter Parade where a Jesus statue came marching out of the church carried by about 8 guys. Then everyone followed them around the peninsula and back to the church. They walked really really slowly and a band played and people threw confetti and sometimes shredded papers out their windows onto us. We joined in the parade of course! Along the way, some of the people got a little side tracked and stopped off at their football (soccer) bars to get drinks and enjoy them on the street. There was a massive cake brought out for everyone to share. Many people were wearing the very finest Sunday best and super high heels in the parade, some parts with cobble stone. Others were dressed as though they were ready to hit the club. Kids received a single LARGE Kinder Chocolate Egg.
After enjoying the Easter Celebrations, we explored the Sister Cities, Senglea, and the Fort on the next peninsula. It had incredible views across the bay to Venetta. We did some geocaches along the way and enjoyed some ice cream and checked out the incredible yachts docked along the peninsula.
That night we cooked some pasta for dinner in our airbnb. It turned out pretty good considering the few supplies we had! But my mom can always make magic in the kitchen with whatever she has. I hope I can be like her one day.
The next day we explored the capital of Venetta. We arrived just in time to see Europe's oldest (but still firing) cannons! It was impressive but I was totally caught off guard because there is no countdown or anything. They do prepare the cannons and announce what they are doing but after that it is just waiting until the moment. Luckily I happened to be recording a video at the perfect moment. You hear my scream after as I was caught off guard.
The next day we packed up our airbnb in Senglea and headed off for the island of Gozo! Personally I enjoyed Gozo more than the main island of Malta. It had less people and the nature... Oh my goodness! Getting our car onto the ferry took quite awhile... I think we were parked more than an hour before it was our turn! It takes about 20 minutes and you only pay on your way back! We were so confused if we somehow got in line without a ticket or missed a sign. Anyways we arrived, found a place to have lunch in Xlendi Bay, which was incredible and near our next airbnb. After we settled in we explored a little bit around the area. Joel and I had to take a dip in the Mediterranean. It was my first ever dip (full dip) there. I can't count putting my toes in Italy. Then we stocked up on groceries at Lidl. Then headed back to enjoy sunset Happy Hour on the rooftop of the apartment.
The following day we were all over the island!We started off at the Citadel. Cittadella is believed to have been the acropolis of the Punic-Roman city of Gaulos or Glauconis Civitas. It overlooks the island and city of Victoria. We bought a pass to visit several of the museums inside the city wall. After that we headed to Ramla Bay, which is a red sand beach! The water color was also very turquoise green color.
Then google driving directions took us on a wild path to arrive to this little local winery. Google maps (and user reviews) told me it was a winery anyways. The part we saw was more of a shop but it had lots of home made delicacies, some fun birds like peacocks and ducks, and then one CHARACTER! The lady was very forward and just tired of the day. When we first walked in, it was around 430 and she almost turned us away because they were "closing". We asked her what time she closed and she said 5, we were like, oh that is plenty of time! haha. Then she was helping another group and this customer had too many questions for this woman's patience. Then the other group left and we finally had a chance to try the samples and were wandering... when my mom asked if the pear jam was prickly pear. Her now famous response was "A pear is a pear. A prickly pear is a prickly pear." We laughed over and over and still do about this. I think my mom bought some Carob liquor, Joel bought some limoncello, and maybe we got something else as well?
After the memorable "winery" stop, we headed to the other side of the island.
The next day was one that might have sold me on visiting Malta, I saw lots of pictures of the amazing Blue Lagoon! We woke up a little bit earlier than usual, and headed back to the ferry port. Going to Cominho was a bit rough, Joel and I were in the back of the boat but had to move forward cause we were getting soaked with water. We we arrived we slowly explored our way along the little island. The scenery is amazing. And of course, we had to do a geocache along the way. We had packed picnic lunches from home and enjoyed them with a stunning view. On the way back to Gozo, we got to tour the sea caves from below. It was truly remarkable, the color of the water! If only it was a few degrees warmer to more comfortably take a dip... :O We have heard from friends that it is completely full during the summer and there is NO shade. So you absolutely fry! The weather was just the right amount of breeze to keep us cool.
When we arrived back we checked out the little salt flats and the walk near our airbnb.
Malta was the perfect place to visit for a week to relax and unwind. There were many things to see and do. Plus beautiful nature and creative and innovative architecture. While it is possible to explore the island with their bus system (or so we heard), we just wanted to have the comfort and freedom with a car. With 4 of us, it made sense cost wise. I would say pricing was similar to here in Portugal. Accommodation cost was usually around 15 euros/night (per person) in the airbnbs. Cost of attractions were also reasonable. April was a nice month to go, besides the super wind, the weather was nice. Though we couldn't enjoy swimming. I might suggest going in September, when locals say the crowds are small(ish) in comparison to summer and the water temp is a bit higher. Locals were very friendly and I don't think we ever asked anyone a question who didn't speak English. I would definitely recommend the island to friends :)
Here is the video to go with the trip.
While we were in Malta, we received the very saddening news that my great Uncle Greg passed away in a horrific car accident in Durango, Colorado. It is so hard to imagine that our next visit to Durango won't include a stop at the Strater Hotel to watch him perform and sing his wonderful songs. We are so lucky that he graced us with his music. Not only his music, but his true love of life. He did what he loved and did his own thing, not ever caring what other people thought. I will forever remember skiing with him when I was young. His death is such a reminder that life is so short, enjoy the ride. Definitely check out his amazing voice on spotify. RIP Greg Ryder.
Much love from Portugal and another update from our USA trip... coming soon... I hope :P
Both my mom and dad were able to make the trip to Portugal this year! And it was an especially special trip this year because it was just after my dad's retirement from work! As the timing of their trip also coincided with a bunch of public holidays in Portugal it was the perfect time for us to tag along and do a side trip in Europe.
I had seen some beautiful pictures from my Greek high school friend, and decided to look more into what Malta had to offer and it seemed to be the perfect place and time of year to visit for a week.
We arrived on Good Friday and had an Airbnb apartment reserved in the Sister City of Senglea. Joel had heard from co workers that it was a little hard to drive in Malta and hard to find parking, but it seemed much more convenient to not have to rely on buses and have our own freedom renting a car. We were very happy with that choice and Joel had no problems driving. I figured because after driving in Italy, he would do fine with the task. Luckily the car was small because those roads were crazy small at times with historical stone buildings coming out into the streets at times, but he loves driving and we had no trouble finding parking either.
Our Airbnb in Senglea was so cute. I don't remember the exact age of the building but walls were the original ones. Some parts of the inside had been remodeled. There were so many cute and or quirky touches to the place. The lady next door was the one to take care of the place and she shouted out the window of our alley once in a while to make sure things were okay. After wandering around Senglea a bit to try to find a cafe for some breakfast, we headed off. The night before we tried to find somewhere to pick up some groceries but as I suspected everything was closed by the time we got our rental car.
We visited the Maxslox Fish Market which was in a beautiful bay full of colorful boats and most of the pop up shops were selling touristy things, but we had an delicious lunch on the water and enjoyed walking through the village.
After lunch we made our way to the Mdina. We walked around the old town walls, visited a torture museum, and enjoyed the beautiful view of the island from the top of the hill.
Day Two was Easter Sunday. We read there were some great Easter Celebrations where our airbnb was. So we headed out to see the Easter Parade where a Jesus statue came marching out of the church carried by about 8 guys. Then everyone followed them around the peninsula and back to the church. They walked really really slowly and a band played and people threw confetti and sometimes shredded papers out their windows onto us. We joined in the parade of course! Along the way, some of the people got a little side tracked and stopped off at their football (soccer) bars to get drinks and enjoy them on the street. There was a massive cake brought out for everyone to share. Many people were wearing the very finest Sunday best and super high heels in the parade, some parts with cobble stone. Others were dressed as though they were ready to hit the club. Kids received a single LARGE Kinder Chocolate Egg.
After enjoying the Easter Celebrations, we explored the Sister Cities, Senglea, and the Fort on the next peninsula. It had incredible views across the bay to Venetta. We did some geocaches along the way and enjoyed some ice cream and checked out the incredible yachts docked along the peninsula.
Written July 10th, 2019
On the way back, Joel and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do a very highly rated geocache. This one was inside of a tunnel, I have no idea what the tunnel is used for? Maybe for rain flow? Anyways, you had to walk through in the dark and count the man holes. Once you reached seven of them, you had to walk seven meters and you should find it.. We were looking everywhere and realized maybe we missed one of the man holes and sure enough, it was right there! The walk to get there was so pretty and scenic. Check out these stairs, and then the beautiful hill FULL of wildflowers!
That night we cooked some pasta for dinner in our airbnb. It turned out pretty good considering the few supplies we had! But my mom can always make magic in the kitchen with whatever she has. I hope I can be like her one day.
The next day we explored the capital of Venetta. We arrived just in time to see Europe's oldest (but still firing) cannons! It was impressive but I was totally caught off guard because there is no countdown or anything. They do prepare the cannons and announce what they are doing but after that it is just waiting until the moment. Luckily I happened to be recording a video at the perfect moment. You hear my scream after as I was caught off guard.
The next day we packed up our airbnb in Senglea and headed off for the island of Gozo! Personally I enjoyed Gozo more than the main island of Malta. It had less people and the nature... Oh my goodness! Getting our car onto the ferry took quite awhile... I think we were parked more than an hour before it was our turn! It takes about 20 minutes and you only pay on your way back! We were so confused if we somehow got in line without a ticket or missed a sign. Anyways we arrived, found a place to have lunch in Xlendi Bay, which was incredible and near our next airbnb. After we settled in we explored a little bit around the area. Joel and I had to take a dip in the Mediterranean. It was my first ever dip (full dip) there. I can't count putting my toes in Italy. Then we stocked up on groceries at Lidl. Then headed back to enjoy sunset Happy Hour on the rooftop of the apartment.
After the beach we headed up to Tal Mixta Cave.
When we arrived back we checked out the little salt flats and the walk near our airbnb.
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Here is the video to go with the trip.
While we were in Malta, we received the very saddening news that my great Uncle Greg passed away in a horrific car accident in Durango, Colorado. It is so hard to imagine that our next visit to Durango won't include a stop at the Strater Hotel to watch him perform and sing his wonderful songs. We are so lucky that he graced us with his music. Not only his music, but his true love of life. He did what he loved and did his own thing, not ever caring what other people thought. I will forever remember skiing with him when I was young. His death is such a reminder that life is so short, enjoy the ride. Definitely check out his amazing voice on spotify. RIP Greg Ryder.
Much love from Portugal and another update from our USA trip... coming soon... I hope :P
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