For the past week or so, Jude and I have foresaken the glorious sunshine in Switzerland for a beach holiday in Gozo. Our flights to Malta landed late in the day and returned early, so our week on Gozo was sandwiched between 2 separate nights on Malta – one in Marsaxlokk (pronounced Marsashlock) and one in the capital, Valletta.
I’m not sure why, but I’d imagined the islands to be green and fertile. It was only when I noticed on the map they were further south than Tunis that I realised the land would be dry and barren. Though somehow they do manage to grow grapes to make some very acceptable local wines. The San Blas beer wasn’t too bad either ! 🙂
Apart from the over-crowded roads on Malta (the highest density of cars per capita in Europe I gather), our lasting impressions will be of the crystal clear blue waters, the quality of the restaurants and the many, huge churches. The biggest, in Xewkija (pronounced Shookeeya) was only built between 1951 and 1970 and has a dome larger than St Paul’s Cathedral in London. It has an internal diameter of 27 metres, a circumference of 85 metres and weighs 45,000 tons. It was so big inside I couldn’t fit it into just one picture. Also, the old church, upon whose site it now stands, was dismantled and rebuilt brick by brick inside the back of the new building.
Valetta was the highlight of Malta, with its grid of narrow streets, its history and many ancient buildings.
Alittlebitoutoffocus 
Lovely!
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Yes it was! The weather wasn’t as good as we’d expected though. The temperatures were ok, never dropping below 20 degrees, even at night, but we had plenty of cloud and the odd spot of rain. It was probably just as well, as we went for several walks and it would have been too hot in bright sunshine. (It’s bright blue skies back here en Suisse though 🙂 ).
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Wow I just found your blog and think it’s great! Looking forward to future posts!!
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Thanks for stopping by and your kind comments. I’m glad you like it. Imminent posts include my dad’s birthday, our Ascona-Locarno marathon weekend and a week in Sicily… with a hike or two thrown in for good measure. Retirement is so hard !! 😉
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Finally, I got some time left to take a look at your images and to read your thoughts. Malta in October is not green at all after the long, dry summer. I would say that the best time to visit this island is now, when spring has arrived after winter and the rainy season. It’s a huge different to visit some of Malta’s Nature parks now. You will find lots of greenery and flowers of different kinds everywhere. Almond trees bloom and so does mimosa very soon.
I really love this post and thank you for sharing your thoughts about this tiny island in the Mediterranean Sea. My home since I left Sweden year 2000 🙂
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Many thanks for your comments Anita. We sort of expected it to be brown and barren. We were looking for some autumn sunshine, so we weren’t disappointed – only when we heard later that the Azure Window had collapsed! We loved Valetta with all it’s criss-crossed streets. I have been invited over by George Cini to present my dad’s book to the FWA (Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna) or Malta Heritage Trust, so I may well arrange that for earlier in the year. Though that won’t be this year as I have the small matter of my daughter’s wedding to attend in April. 🙂
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