Christmas in... Malta?

Jan 03, 2023

Yep. A busy busy end of 2022 for me—grading papers and lesson planning combined with finishing my masters degree (finally!) in education—meant that Cathy and I hadn’t really discussed any travel plans, beyond vague notions of a backpacking/walking trip somewhere in the Mediterranean: Sardinia? Minorca? Corsica? We never got around to deciding. But since we’re returning to the U.S. in February, we figured we could spend Christmas somewhere in or around Europe. And at the last minute, Cathy discovered a cheap hotel stay + airfare + rental car that was pretty affordable. To Malta, a country of which I was only peripherally aware.

It turns out that Malta is the southernmost country in Europe, just over 1,000 miles south(ish) of Wrocław—that’s about like traveling from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, to Salt Lake City, Utah. Knowing little more than that, we went to the airport the evening before our early-morning flight, and “slept” on some benches until our gate opened. A flight to Munich for a brief layover and breakfast, and then a 3-hour flight to Malta. And there we were! (A bit tricky wearing winter clothes for Poland’s 50-degrees-north-latitude weather while packing for Malta’s mid-60s F temps, but we managed it).

Here’s a closer look at Malta’s 3 main islands—our hotel was on the north side of the main island, in the small(ish) town of Mellieha:

The main island is 17 miles long and 9 miles wide. With 409,000 people, it’s one of the most densely populated areas in Europe. It seems to be either open countryside and small fields terraced into the hillsides—stone walls everywhere—or cities that are a bit of a blur of narrow (narrow!) streets and roads, and buildings dating back to the 16th century and beyond, many of them amazingly intact. Maltese (sounding similar to Arabic, testament to the island’s Saracen occupation in the 11th century) is the official language, but everyone seems to speak (and drive) British, too.

A bit of a photo essay might be the best way to show some of the highlights of our Malta Christmas. The amazing citadel on the island of Gozo—great views of the surrounding countryside:

A huge fortress (note the tiny Cathy for scale at the base of the wall), still largely intact in 1565-ish condition:

With a proper walled city inside, complete with rooftop-terrace restaurant where we enjoyed a Maltese lunch of olives, onions, sundried tomatoes, and cheese. Lots of narrow streets to wander:

It’s not all cities, of course. We spent some time wandering the cliffy shorelines—Fungus Rock on the island of Gozo was a particular favorite:

Along with seemingly every other stretch of shore, the hills above Fungus Rock featured a 16th century fort:

Lovely coral rock, slicingly sharp:

Which made it nicely grippy for the feets as well:

You can’t ignore the obvious roadside tourist draws like the Blue Grotto:

And the Blue Lagoon, just a short ferry ride to the small island of Comino:

Where, if the cold(ish) water hadn’t been enough to dissuade me from swimming, these guys would have:

The even more amazing walled city of Mdina in the center of the main island:

In the winter off-season, it mostly lives up to its name as the “silent city” of Malta:

Did I mention the narrow streets?

The Citadel had its own ornate Baroque-style church, featuring a lavishly decorated interior that included the actual dead body of a saint in its own special altar:

After spending a day in the Citadel on Gozo, we found time for more walking along the coast of the main island:

A bus trip to the big city of Valleta—taking the bus allowed us to leave the rental car at home and avoid the hassles of:

Driving on one-lane roads hosting 2 lanes of traffic between stone walls on both sides.
Driving British-style (on the left) while shifting the manual transmission left-handed, on steep hills and narrow narrow roads (I did manage to smash the passenger-side mirror into a wall when driving the narrow hilly streets leading to the Citadel, but an earlier renter had already pre-smashed that mirror for us, so we weren’t charged extra).

Cathy, stuck in the no-control passenger/navigator role, did not appreciate Maltese driving! I kind of liked it—it’s the most gripping 30 mph driving (pretty much the max speed limit almost everywhere) that you’ll ever do.

So, Valleta—a very watery city featuring its own Grand Harbor and the neighboring Three Cities surrounding other sides of the harbor:

Our hotel had nice breakfasts included. At the nearby waterfront, we made a new friend that we named Calypso:

If you don’t spend some time hanging out with the locals, you’re not doing it right! (We actually got some lap time with Calypso on 2 different days—she seemed to like hanging around at the town waterfront).

Other locals seemed to be more practically minded than strictly friendly:

A quick tour of Hagar Qim (HAJ-ur EEM) and Mnajdra (NYE-dra)—Neolithic monuments dating to around 3,500 BCE, and carefully aligned to the solstices and equinoxes, or the stars (no one is sure why)—filled out our last morning before returning to the airport for a direct flight back to Wrocław (3-ish hours).

And, since this post has gone on way too long already, I’ll end with one final photo from our Christmas Day brunch—a surprising lavish gourmet restaurant with a sports-bar ambience from the outside, and the unlikely name of “Munchies”—well worth a meal if you’re ever in Mellieha: ravioli stuffed with grouper, stuffed and fried pork belly, and an appetizer of lamb terrine (lamb with pomegranate dressing):