missing malta

I don’t normally like to commit to things too far ahead of time. recently though I learned how exciting it can be to have something to look forward to. since sara doesn’t normally have the holidays, we decided to celebrate and spend 8 days in malta, a small island off of sicily. I went into our new favorite store, oysho, about 100 times beforehand trying on every bathing suit and coming out with an awesome beach towel/blanket thing that are super popular in europe. 

we stayed in a hotel with tall ceilings and white beamed rafters and our own great outdoor porch, where we enjoyed grocery store dinners and morning workouts. we also were spoiled and got fresh towels and our beds made everyday. we were on a rocky beach so we could walk straight out our door to go lay out. it was amazing!  

neither one of us did a ton of research to prepare ourselves for the trip and only opened our 2003 guidebook on the plane (well sara did as I slept through turbulence that was so bad people were puking). 

I think getting there made me realize just how dry and dessert like some of the islands are in the medeterranean and though parts of it were gorgeous, I was always hoping it’d have a bit more vegetation than it actually did. the architecture of the area had a slight feel of san francisco with the streets of colorful breakfast nooks that jutted out from the buildings. 

we spent a great deal of time on the rocky beach in front of our place, also taking day trips across the island to the sandy beaches, that while gorgeous were a bit crowded for the long-beach-emptiness I’ve grown up preferring. 

I was on a strict diet pertaining mostly of large personal pizzas and gelato and also enjoyed the little bit of mediterranean food we could get our hands on. 

we went on a sailboat cruise as a part of my birthday celebration which was incredible. the day was absolutely perfect and it was so fun to be out on the water. we stopped on a small island, comino, and got to hike and explore and go snorkeling in the blue lagoon. though the water was so freezing it hurt it felt so amazing to be in the water. I’ve missed little things like swimming so much since being abroad. but being able to swim in crystal blue water makes up for it in it’s own special way. 

as far as public transportation is concerned, malta needs to get with the program. we were constantly waiting for buses, and sometimes after an hour they’d be too full and keep going without us. which I guess was why we mistakenly thought the better thing to do on gozo was walk to the citadel in the center of the island. so sara and I clearly shouldn’t have been so dismissive of all the taxi drivers and people suggesting buses when we first got off the ferry. oh well!

the most typical thing was on our second day when we decided to go to the market that we’d heard great things about. thinking it must be the crafts village on our map, we got dropped off literally in the middle of cacti fields and the places where all the goods were apparently sold looked locked up tight with barrels of hay practically rolling through them. we sat on the curb forever waiting for another bus, having the x3 bus pass us at least 15 times making faces like what in the world are you two weirdos doing out here? it worked out well to go to rabat and mdina (the old capital of malta, that is a medievil walled town) from there and turned into a great afternoon. 

embarrassingly we were in bed by 9:30 most nights and sometimes got a good 12 hours. and then there was a day when I took mucinex, that was apparently drowsy, because as I woke up on the beach I had to apologize to sara for only being awake for about 5 minutes of the entire day. but that is what vacations are about and so we soaked up a great mix of reading, hiking, beach time and rest. 

all in all it was wonderful! though I probably wouldn’t advise spending that long only on malta. sicily is so close you should definitely go there. but it was perfect and exactly what we were looking for and I’m so thankful I got to go!