On a cold January morning at 1am I awoke for my latest, and longest to date, adventure. A quick drive to Manchester airport and a few hours waiting for my flight I was soon in the air hurtling towards a small collection of islands in the middle of the Mediterranean, Malta.
Having never been to Malta I was excited to see what the country had to offer. I had decided to take a trip just after Christmas and booked it rather late to see what deal I could get. This time it was a different trip. I was going for 7 days, almost twice as long as my normal ventures, and I had my own hotel room rather than a youth hostel. After getting rather ill in Portugal I decided it was time to splash out on my own space.
Soon I arrived in Malta and although it wasn’t exactly roasting hot there was a palpable difference between the 0 degrees of Manchester and the 14 of Malta! Immediately I popped over to purchase my Tallinja card that would give me free bus travel throughout the islands for the duration of my stay and for €25 it was a life saver. Hopping on the bus I traveled to Spinola Bay where I jumped off and began the walk to my hotel. I decided to get off the bus earlier as I was unable to check in until 3pm and wanted to stretch my legs and see some of the island.
I set off toward Sliema where I was staying via St Julian’s Bay which is the party center of Malta. Following the promenade that stretches 3.7km along the coast which plenty of places to stop and take in the views of the Med. Soon enough I arrived at the hotel, far too early to check in but was able to leave my bags in search of food. The search didn’t take long as I headed into Ichiban Burger just outside where I was staying. A quick bit of food and another wander later I was able to check into the hotel.
I was lucky enough to have a sea view at the top of the hotel on the 7th floor! A huge treat for someone used to staying in a room of 6+ people with possibly a window out to a dank street. Settling in with no real plans for the day I enjoyed the heat of 16 degrees though the wind was quite high at this point. I enjoyed watching the waves crash onto the shore and looked to see how long the wind would continue for! Luckily it was due to die down in a day or two though two days after I left Malta the islands would be hit by a huge storm flooding many places I visited and destroying parts of the islands.
After admiring the view and planning the rest of my trip I decided to head out to a sports bar in the hope of watching my beloved AFC Bournemouth play Newcastle in the FA Cup. As luck would have it the Surf Side bar was indeed showing the game. Surrounded by sports memorabilia from Mike Tyson signed boxing gloves, to Gianluigi Buffon signed Juventus shirt, I was able to ask for the game to be shown and watched Bournemouth lose on penalties! Lucky me.
Soon the game was finished and I walked back to the hotel determined to not be dejected by the result and soak in what Malta had to offer. Some more planning and I was ready to head to sleep with 6 full days of adventures laying ahead.
Over the next few days I visited cathedrals, churches, multiple cities, countless archaeological sites, catacombs, cave systems, saw canons firing, took a fast ferry to Gozo island, had bus disasters, hiked for miles and even photographed Mount Etna from 200km! All the while learning about the fascinating history of the island nation of Malta from the first settlers to the great Ottoman siege, the importance, and resilience, of the nation during World War 2 and I hope you will join me for those great stories. Until then, keep wandering.
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