20. Malta, Part Deux

What to say about Malta? Well, it's very quiet there. Very. That meant forced R&R for me which is a good thing. For the hubster, it meant a little bit of boredom. Mr. Ants-in-his-pants definitely has trouble with couch potatoeing. (Yes, I made that up, but I'm sure it should be a phrase!) It's also peacefully quaint, slightly underdeveloped, and very yellow from the natural limestone quarried and used for all the buildings. It's a blend of shoreline, boating, beaches, agriculture, teeny tiny towns, and a lot of history.

Sailboats off Valletta.

Typical streetscape in Valletta.

Yep, this is what most of Malta looks like!

We loved the stone walls and garden gates.

There are several marinas around the island.

Steppes of farmland leading to the sea.

The lows: Never believe that 5-stars anywhere ever meets your American expectations. There may be situations where you are pleasantly surprised, but in my experience that is not the rule! The Phoenicia is definitely 1940s pretty with cheerful, good service but everything is just a bit tattered around the edges. And because it's old construction, there's little to buffer the city noise even in a sleepy, little country.

Oh, but we did have a beautiful view
from the back gardens of the hotel.

And a big, beautiful fountain out front in the roundabout.

Also, no one had told us that Valletta rolls up their sidewalks at 7 PM. Nor that this Roman Catholic country slows down to a crawl on Sundays. Luckily, we had already purchased our two half-day, open-air bus tours so we had sights to see outside the city!

I'm a sucker for a tour bus!

The highs: The Falconry Centre. We both love birds of prey. Especially the owls--but we really enjoy them all. Even the vultures have a certain charm. I held an owl, and Mike ran across the field with a fake rabbit to help teach a rehabilitating falcon how to hunt for himself in the wild. It was a happy highlight and a hands-on, sweet visit on our last afternoon in Malta.

Henry the barn owl. Light as a feather.

There were vultures, eagles, falcons ...
but owls are definitely our favorite!

Another high was the Lascaris War Rooms. We found it astounding that the refurbishing, running, and upkeep are all strictly dependent on public contributions and volunteers. It was a strange and eerie walk just trying to find this hidden space, but well worth the effort. And the hubster was in his WWII history-buff glory as we went room to room admiring the enormous maps and "futuristic" nature of the setup.

And we now know that the humble outside of St. John's Co-Cathedral hides a gorgeously appointed inside. We also learned that the "Co" in Co-Cathedral has to do with the Bishop having more than one chair in his diocese. Silly church rules or something like that!

All this gold makes me want to melt the church
for money to feed the poor!

The weather can't be beat. Even though it was at or near 80F most days, the Mediterranean breeze kept things cool during the daytime and wrap-worthy in the evening. This meant easy walking to various points of interest, picturesque bus tours, and lovely evenings spent on our balcony with a rotating and varied assortment of champagne, wine, beer, and cheese plates.

The children learn three languages in school: Maltese, English, and Italian. The people were warm and friendly. I wasn't sad at an overabundance of strays, instead I was happy to see just a random handful of marmalade kitties languishing in the sunshine. And the food was above average.

Our takeaway: we should stick with our usual big-city stays. We have never been a beach or resort kind of couple. We need pavement, lots of cafes and restaurant choices, museums, hustle and bustle, skyscrapers even! Having said that, we're delighted that we went. Not many have the geographic ease or WWII interest to be bothered with a little, far-off country like Malta. Now we can cross it off the bucket list! xx