A Week in Malta

by David Whiting

[Note: This article is one of the older ones in the Travel SIG archive - 18 years now, but we haven't had many contributions on Malta].

Tuesday - after departing from warm and sunny London, we arrived at dusk - cold, wet, windy! Our self-catering apartment in St Julians, about 20 minutes drive from the airport, was well furnished, but there was no food or drink; fortunately, we had brought some with us - the shops were already shut.

Wednesday - weather was still cold, wet and windy. Still, we were determined to make the most of it. We caught a bus into Valletta, the capital of the island. Many of the local buses are really ancient, up to 60 years old, and we saw several broken-down buses during our stay - although all the buses we took arrived safely! Fares are cheap, but there are no doors, just gaps. Our buses took us along the coast road and waves were crashing over the rocks and beaches. So, occasionally, those sitting opposite the doorways received a soaking!

Valletta is the most heavily fortified town in Europe, with many forts and walls along its coast - it is the largest natural harbour in the Mediterranean. It was made the capital of Malta in 1565 and most of its streets are built on a grid system, although several are very steep. We visited St John's Co-Cathedral (which shares cathedral status with the main church in Mdina, former capital of Malta). It was built in 1577. Its plain exterior hides a richly decorated interior - every square centimetre of the walls, floor and ceiling is decorated with high reliefs, carvings etc. and tombstones on the floor bear knights' coats of arms and trophies. The cathedral museum contains magnificent 17th century tapestries, vestments and hymnbooks. Then we visited the 18-19th century baroque St Paul's Shipwrecked Church, dedicated to the saint who was shipwrecked off the island in AD60. Its decorations are almost as fine as those of St John's Church.

In the early afternoon, it stopped raining and the sun was visible for a while. We went into the former Knights' Hospital, dating from 1575, when it was especially well equipped and could accommodate up to 2,000 patients; it now contains the Malta Experience, a film theatre which shows the history of the island since its first settlement in Neolithic times. Each person uses headphones and uses a dial to select the required language. After the film, it was cold, wet and windy again, so we took the next bus back to our apartment.

Thursday - warm and sunny - as we had expected in the first place! We caught a bus to Valletta, where we were fortunate to see Malta's mounted police - all seven of them -awaiting the arrival of the Canadian ambassador for an official visit. Then we took another bus to Mdina - which had been the capital due to its central location. It is also the highest point of the island, 700 metres above sea level. The name Mdina means "the city" and it was named by the Saracens in the 9th century. The Mdina Experience is a museum with numerous rooms through which you walk to observe life and customs in the island's and city's history.

We also went for a ride in a Karozzin, a horse-drawn carriage. We were taken first to the neighbouring town of Rabat to see St Paul's 16th century church, St Paul's Grotto, where the saint sheltered for three months after his shipwreck, and the town's catacombs. We visited a museum on the site of a Roman villa, containing fine mosaics and other Roman antiquities. Then we were taken back to Mdina to visit the Co-Cathedral, built between 1697-1702. Together with its Cathedral Museum, it was very similar to the Co-Cathedral in Valletta. From its ancient city walls, there are magnificent panoramic views over most of the island. Before we left the city, we stopped at the Mdina Dungeons, a museum of torture and imprisonment from old times - extremely gory in places.

Friday - We took the season's first excursion to Sicily - a long day, beginning at 5.00am and ending at around 1.00am the following morning. We travelled there by catamaran from Valletta to Pozzalo, a journey of a little more than two hours. Local coaches took us into Pozzalo town for breakfast then through the attractive Sicilian countryside, past fruit trees (oranges, lemons, carobs, olives, almonds). The main purpose of the excursion was to visit Mount Etna, Europe's highest active volcano at 3,340 metres - we ascended to 2,000 metres. Snow had fallen earlier that week and was still deep in places yet, in other places, the lava was still warm from the last eruption a few year ago. We could see some houses which had been almost totally buried by lava and others which had survived by a miracle.

Saturday - we hired a car and drove along the coast westwards to travel on the midday ferry to Gozo, the second largest of the five Maltese islands. All roads lead to and from the island's capital, Victoria, and nowhere on the island is more than about ten minutes' drive from it. We first visited the Citadel, the old fortified centre of Victoria, which still contains some ruins abandoned since it was destroyed by the Turks in the 16th century. The cathedral, built between 1697-1711, is less decorated than those on the main island. Victoria has magnificent panoramic views over the island.

Leaving Victoria, we went in search of a sandy beach. First we tried Xlendi, but the beach is only a tiny strip of sand, so we crossed the island and soaked up some sun at Ramla Bay, where there were just a few other people. Three or four were swimming in the sea, but it was almost too cold for us to paddle in! We drove back by way of the Neolithic Ggantija Temples, circular temples with walls made of huge blocks of stone almost intact, dating from around 2,800BC.The people of Malta are quite friendly, but the Gozitans are so hospitable that, if they are expecting guests but have to go out, they leave their keys in the doors! Maltese petrol stations close at 6.OOpm on Saturdays and remain closed all day on Sundays, so we made sure we had enough fuel for Sunday before we left Gozo.

Sunday - we drove east to Marsaxlokk, Malta's largest fishing village. Napoleon's troops landed here in 1798. It has a large colourful market, selling mainly fresh fish and vegetables. The market is only really for Maltese people, but it's very picturesque. Leaving Marsaxlokk, we followed the coast south and west to Wied Iz-Zurrieq to visit the famous Blue Grotto by boat. There are short trips along the coast, in and out of several caves, giving wonderful views of the cliffs. The main cave is called the Blue Grotto because of the way underwater rocks catch the sunlight. Visit the caves in the morning when the sunlight enters them directly.

Near the Blue Grotto is the Hagar Qim Neolithic site, larger than that on Gozo. The temples are much more extensive and it is possible to imagine life in pagan times 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. We returned via Mosta, famous for its huge unsupported dome of St Mary's church, built 1833-1860. It is not as highly decorated as the other large churches we visited, but the size of its dome and proportions were most impressive. A German bomb dropped through the roof in 1942, but it failed to explode; some people call it typically German (or, strictly speaking, Italian, as that was where it was manufactured); others call it a miracle.

Monday - we returned our hire car and went on an excursion called Above and Below. In the morning we boarded a boat at Sliema and cruised around the various harbours and creeks of Valletta. We could see many of the capital's forts and docks during this 90 minute cruise, with a commentary on the places of special interest. After lunch (a big dinner in a smart hotel, although we weren't very hungry!), we boarded a second boat. This one had glass sides below sea level to view the underwater sights off the coast. There is little to see - just a few plants, some rather small fish and some sand.

Tuesday - we caught a local bus to Golden Bay on the west bay of Malta, where we had booked a short horse-riding session along the coast, away from the roads (and potholes!), among the farms and tracks. There were some lovely views along the cliffs and over the sandy bays we passed. The one thing we did not enjoy seeing was the large number of tiny cages used by local people to trap little birds - we felt they were cruel and unnecessary. On reflection, our week in Malta was very enjoyable - not too hectic. You can do things at your own pace - relax and do nothing, or see the sights during the day and go to clubs or casinos at night.

First published in VISA issue 26 (autumn 1997).