A strange island called Malta...

Malta is this little island located in the Mediterranean off of Sicily. A contradiction of itself, Malta is very behind the times but not. I’m not even sure words can even describe it; it’s a place that one needs to see for oneself, which can be done in just a few short days! My friend Jessica is studying there for the semester, which is what brought me there in the first place. But I’m glad I was able to experience it firsthand, and these are some of the experiences I had…

Day 6 Continued – Tuesday 31 March

After landing in Malta and collecting our bags, we met Jess at the gate. From there, we rushed to make the last bus that would take us to the residency, where we would be spending the next few days. The buses are crazily retro – they were brought to Malta some time ago from England, and the Maltese are very proud of them, which is why the buses are pictured on post cards and key chains and any other souvenir item… Anyway, the bus ride was a bumpy one (which Hannah likes to say would have been more complete had there been cages of chickens on the bus), but one which allowed us to view over 1/3 of the country in just 45 minutes – that is how small Malta is! Once we reached the residency, we checked into our room, which turned out to be a little suite complete with a living room, kitchenette, bedroom, and bathroom. It overlooked the courtyard and pool; that, combined with the colors of the buildings, gave the whole place that amazing island feel! After we settled into our little suite, Jess cooked for us and fed us dinner while we planned the next day’s adventures, then we went to bed.

Day 7 – Wednesday 1 April

After getting ready Wednesday morning, we walked to a local fresh fruit and veggie stand, where we bought our apples for the day. Then we went to Smart, the local big grocery store, for the rest of our food for the day; once our goal of purchasing something of sustenance was reached, Jess headed off to class and Hannah, Laura, and I headed off to a beach, Golden Bay, via the orange and yellow retro Maltese buses. The bus ride itself was a long one, but we enjoyed the scenic route to the bay. Golden Bay itself is gorgeous, but the weather was not too cooperative with our plans; it was windy and cool the entire time. We relaxed on the beach for awhile – reading, eating, and sleeping – until we were too cold to enjoy it. That is what we got for expecting warmer weather on an island in the Mediterranean, and thus not dressing appropriately for cool weather…
After we got back from the beach, we all spent time napping, checking e-mail, or in my case, reading. Once Jess got back from class, we went over to her flat, we did the three M’s: Made Mexican food (tacos, which I hadn’t had since being abroad!), munched, and met some of her flat mates. Her flat mates were wonderfully interesting and fun people from so many different places, such as the U.K., Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and U.S. It was a very entertaining, homey evening spent in a small kitchen with good food and good company!

Day 8 – Thursday 2 April

We started out our day per what has become our routine; woke up, got ready, and went in search of food. We headed right for the fruit and veggie stand for apples, then went to Smart, where we purchased our routine, cheap foods. With our bags loaded with foods and our wallets only somewhat lighter, we headed to Valetta, the capital, with Jess. While there, we wandered around and saw some great views of the country. We spent some time in a garden and then walked up and down some of the streets. There were churches and shrines and statues of biblical figures everywhere – I suppose that’s what happens when over 95 percent of the population is Catholic! Jess had to leave for class then, so Hannah, Laura and I wandered down by the water. On our way to the water, two guys who were giving horse-drawn carriage rides called out to us saying, “Hey pretty ladies, you want a carriage ride?” We chose to nod our heads no and keep walking, paying no attention to them. Hannah was holding her loaf of bread in one hand and her apple in the other, so the guys then called out to us “apple and bread!!!” and laughed. That quickly became our new favorite slogan for our typical daily food allotments – “apple and bread!” or in my case “rice cake and break!” Once we reached the water, we spent a good chunk of time there, eating, taking in the views, and taking more band pictures. It was a wonderful day, sunny and warm, to just relax and meander around a random city. As the day got sunnier and warmed, we decided to go the Mellieha Bay for another go at some beach time. We spent a few hours there, doing the typical beach activities of lounging, talking, napping, reading, and wading. That evening we hopped a bus back to Valetta and then Mdina to meet Jess. Mdina is this old, secluded, walled in city with only about 400 (wealthy) residents, two convents, and a monastery. That is the entire city. It took us only about 30 minutes to walk the entire city, including stopping to enjoy the view of the country and take pictures.
From Mdina, we went back to Jess’ flat, where there was a flat mate dinner happening. The flat mate dinner was so awesome to experience, with fifteen ladies from all over the globe crammed into one very compact kitchen, all cooking and talking and laughing. That environment always makes for a good time…

Day 9 – Friday 3 April

Need I even say we started our day off by going to the fruit stand and Smart? Hannah, Laura, and I went to Marsaxlokk (pronounced Marsh-sla-shlock), which is the fishing village. We spent the morning wandering around there, enjoying the large bay filled with colorful fishing boats and the market along the bay. We then attempted to walk to another bay that was nearby that were supposed to have beaches after asking a local in Marsaxlokk for directions. We were told to just follow the bay for 30, 35 minutes. So we walked along the coast for awhile, following random trails through hills and cliffs. We went slowly, finding random places to take random pictures. As the day progressed, it grew hotter and hotter and we grew more tired and sun burnt, and by the time we arrived to what we think was “Pretty Bay” – which really was not all that pretty- we were ready to head back to Valetta. We got on the first bus we found that would take us to Valetta, collapsed in the seats, and did not move the entire bus ride. When we reached Valetta, we wandered through the streets with only one mission : to find a place that served gelato. We easily found some, indulged ourselves in the scrumptiousness of it, and then went back to the residence. Hannah napped while Laura, Jess, and I made chicken melts. When Hannah woke up, we all sat in Jess’ kitchen eating. Afterwards, we attempted to figure out the game plan for the next day, which would be a travel day. Once the disarray of random bus schedules and travel schedules were sensibly arranged, we tried Malta’s soda, Kinnie, which was plain old nasty… and that is how we spent our last night in Malta.

Day 10 – Saturday 4 April

We went to Smart, loaded up on groceries to last us the next two days, and then headed to the airport on a Maltese bus. A bus that was only supposed to hold 40 people sitting and up to 12 people standing was holding over 60 people, tons of luggage, and a baby buggy. People were all up against each other, and poor Laura who is over 6’3” had people practically sitting on her lap since her legs were in the aisle because they didn’t fit in the seats. To add to the memorable experience, the bus driver was an insane older man who had some anger at other drivers, so there was a lot of honking and Maltese swearing happening during the bus trip. There were also a few times the bus almost got stuck turning a corner on the narrow roads. A bus trip that was only supposed to take 30 minutes turned into a bus trip that took over an hour. Still, we made it to the airport just in time, caught our flight to Rome, and settled in for a six hour layover in Rome on our way to Athens.
The six-hour-layover in Rome was spent wandering the airport, playing around on computers without internet connection, and playing cards. The time passed both quickly and slowly. We then got on our flight to Athens…