Malta. Rabbit in wine, boatman with Brad Pitt and the best 18 euros you could spend

Malta is a small island country in the Mediterranean Sea, with an archipelago of five islands, three of which are inhabited. The two largest islands, Malta and Gozo, are the most visited by tourists. Malta is roughly the size of Riga, so I naively imagined that there would be enough time to visit not only the big island, but also its little sister, Gozo, but when I got there I realized how wrong I had been.

A room without a window

I flew into Malta in the early afternoon. The warm southern sun was shining and my journey had finally begun. It had been so long since I had travelled anywhere alone that I was overwhelmed with uncertainty. About everything. About Covid, about happening to me during the trip. The unexplained stress persisted.

If I travel alone, I usually try to find a hotel in the city center, so that everything is always close at hand, even when wandering around the city late at night. I did that this time too. I stayed in Valletta, the capital of Malta. The hotel was right in the center. I could have been more in the center only if I had stayed in Valletta's St. John's Co-Cathedral, although it was also right next door.

My hotel was small and looked cute in the pictures, but when I entered the room I was surprised by the lack of a window. Ok, there was a window, but it was aimed at the corridor. Well, a microscopic little courtyard corridor, and this window was passed by people going to adjoining rooms. In other words, it was absolutely impossible to keep it open. If I wanted to let fresh air into the room, I had to be ready to say hello to the neighbors at any moment.

The bonus of the hotel was the restaurant. When I finished checking in, I realized that I was absolutely starving. The hotel restaurant had Italian cuisine, so without thinking too much, I had lunch there.

It was worth every cent

While I was feasting on my portion of pasta and enjoying the warm weather, it was getting dark. That was the second thing I hadn't counted on. But I had to take into account that it would be completely dark at 17 o'clock and I would always have to return to my base point, Valletta, by then. Today, too, the first visit to Valletta took place in complete darkness.

But you didn't miss out on anything - the streets were full of people and it was hard to find a table in the pubs and restaurants. Life was buzzing and nobody seemed to care about Covid. Walking through the main streets of Valletta, I decided that the next morning I should get up early so that I could see everything in the daylight.

I walked around the streets of central Valletta in the sunshine. I appreciated again the location of my hotel. The sun was thoroughly warming and I was dressed too warmly.

I first visited the St. John's Co-Cathedral. It is a Roman Catholic church built in the 16th century by order of the Grand Master of the Order of Malta.

Whenever I pay to enter a church, I remember an incident in Siena 10 years ago when my friend's husband was very upset that he had to pay to enter a church, but when he saw the fantastically beautiful interior of Siena Cathedral, he realized that every cent was worth it.

Also, St. St John's Cathedral was very beautiful. Everyone was given an audio guide at the entrance, which told them about the Knights of the Order of Malta and the church they built. I like the possibilities of audio guides. For me, it always brings the simple walls to life, breathing life into them and conjuring up scenes of ancient events in my imagination.

Next, my plans were to visit the Upper Barrakka Gardens and look for a boat ride afterwards. The Upper Barrakka Gardens are a beautiful shaded corner of Valletta with a fantastic view of the whole bay and the towns opposite. The gardens were originally created as a resting place for the nobles of the Order of Malta, but were opened to the public in the 19th century.

A magical boat trip

When I got to the gardens, I found out that there would be gun salutes at twelve o'clock. And my determination to get up in time to see as much as possible was again thwarted as I had to wait another hour. Another hour to wander around the streets of Valletta.

But that's what plans are for, to be broken, the main thing is not to worry about it.

Malta's historic buildings are all made of light cream-colored limestone, against which the many colorful balconies looked particularly bright. I felt like taking a picture of them all.

When I got back to the Barrakka Gardens, I saw that there was already a large crowd gathered there for the cannon salute. There was a line of cannons on the lower terrace, and people were waiting to see what was going to happen! But it was just a "plop". One "plop". There was even a little regret for the time wasted waiting for this "big" event, but what can you do.

Next on my itinerary was a boat trip. I only had a rough idea of where the boats might be, so I headed closer to the water. I must have come to the right place, because as soon as I approached the shore, the boaters were trying to get my attention from the boats floating in the water.

The offer was simple: 16 euros for an hour's cruise, seeing the Three Cities from the water. The Three Cities are the neighboring towns of Cospicua, Senglea and Vittoriosa, across the bay from Valletta. A boat trip to see them from the water is one of the must-see attractions in Malta. The fee seemed too high, but there were no options. While I was struggling with my stinginess, an English gentleman standing on the shore offered me his company, thus splitting the sum in half.

I could no longer refuse and happily climbed into the boat. Our boatman was a great storyteller, and my English gentleman had also lived in Malta in his youth, so the trip turned out to be one mighty interesting excursion, with stories of history, of the present day, of the boatman filming with Brad Pitt (it was true, he also had a whole album of photographs from the set of Troy). The hour flew by. Even more joyful was when, at the end of the trip, the English gentleman paid the full amount the boatman had asked for. All I had to do was to say a sincere thank you to both gentlemen for a wonderful excursion and say goodbye.

Sunset without sunset

The next stop on my itinerary was Mdina. Mdina was the capital of the island until the Middle Ages, when the cavaliers of the Order of Malta made Birgu the administrative center.

Even today, 300 inhabitants live behind the high walls of Mdina. It is like a part of Rabat. Basically, both Rabat and Mdina are one city. Mdina is called the silent city. And I really understand why. It was very quiet there. It even seemed that tourists were talking in half whispers. There is no motorized transport in Mdina, no noisy eateries, just narrow, quiet streets between the white walls of the houses. All this created a magical atmosphere, the white stones seemed to absorb any sound.

It didn't take long to walk around Mdina. Just an hour. Once outside the walls of Mdina, I started to research how to get to Rabat. Much to my surprise, I found it takes two minutes. Well, about the same as crossing the street.

A new plan was born in me: to get to the Dingli cliffs. They are situated near the village of Dingli on the west coast of Malta and are the highest point on the islands - about 253 metres above sea level - so it's a fantastic place to watch the sunsets.

The bus went there once an hour. The bus stop was right next to me, so it wasn't a long wait for the next bus. If everything went as planned, I would get there a little before sunset to walk the trails beforehand.

Ha! The promised bus did not come after 15 or 30 minutes. It didn't come at all.

But I had been sitting at that bus stop for so long that I kept sitting out of stubbornness. If I had already decided to wait for the sunset at Dingli Cliffs, I should at least try to get there. For some strange reason, the next bus did manage to come as planned, and it even looked like I would reach my destination for the last minutes of sunset.

Did I see the sunset? No! I didn't see anything at all, because the sun was setting behind thick clouds! A hike was out of the question. I just hoped that the bus back to Valletta would not take as long as I waited to get here. Because it was bitterly cold. I tried to tell myself that I was a tough girl from the north, I wasn't freezing, but the bus was late again, and I dreamed of the moment when I would get my jacket...

I didn't find a rabbit, but I did find seafood

Back in Valletta, the important thought was: how to get to dinner. I wanted to try that damn rabbit, Malta's national dish. It is rabbit stewed in red wine in a pan with various vegetables. There is one big downside to travelling alone: you can't always get a table in the restaurant of your choice, even if there are tables available. You'll take a whole table on your own, which could seat more people and leave more money.

Times like this always make me very angry. So, as I hopelessly walked around several restaurants, it was beginning to look like I was going to have to go without dinner. But my evening was saved by a very small tavern called Dimitri, where I had very tasty seafood pasta and very friendly service.

With a full stomach, I was in a completely different mood and I could walk around the nocturnal Valletta, where everyone was getting ready for Friday night. I inadvertently ended up at a pub called Babel. It was in a narrow street full of people and had great live music.

I picked up a bottle of cold beer and enjoyed the evening with the sounds of jazz. It was a great day.

Best spent €18

I started the morning again very determined. Given yesterday's experience with buses, I spent a lot of time researching how best to plan the day so that I wouldn't have any unpleasant surprises again.

This time I started the day with a natural attraction, so that it wouldn't be like yesterday again, when I was by the cliffs already in the dark. The first one was a visit to the Blue Grotto. This time, miraculously, the bus arrived almost on time, and after 40 minutes I was able to observe this beautiful natural formation. The blue waters of the Mediterranean glistened in the sunlight and the views were breathtaking.

I spent a good amount of time there, trying to photograph the beauty from all angles. The sun was very hot. It felt like a normal Latvian summer day. I stood and counted the boats that occasionally brought tourists into the grotto. I wanted to enjoy the boat trip too, but I just didn't have enough time. Just like I ran out of time for Gozo, but who knows - maybe this is a chance to come back again.

When I got to the bus stop, I realized that I had to wait at least an hour for the bus to Marsaxlokk. The better option was to go back to Valletta and from there to Marsaxlokk. But neither option appealed to me. Malta is not big. It's about the size of Riga, but if you plan to visit this beautiful island, make sure you rent a car. Getting used to left-hand traffic is much easier than putting up with time lost at bus stops, especially if you're in Malta for such a short time.

But I didn't have many options. I sat on a bench and waited for any bus. I was thoroughly annoyed by the Maltese bus traffic. I guess someone up there listened to me, though, and a taxi pulled up at our stop and offered his services. I looked around, none of the people sitting next to me wanted to get in a taxi, so I took the opportunity without thinking much, and for 18 euros the nice taxi driver promised to take me to Marsaxlokk. I saved at least two hours. And it was two hours of sun, rest and cold beer. The driver was very nice. Along with telling me about life in Malta, he took me straight through some goat paths to a small fishing village. It was the best-spent 18 euros of my life.

Marsaxlokk was a really small fishing village on the south-eastern coast of Malta, with nothing really besides a waterfront pedestrianized area running the length of the bay. Many colorful boats of different sizes bobbed in the bay, delivering fresh fish directly to the cafes on the waterfront after the morning catch. On Sundays there is a very large fish market, but even on the Saturday when I was there, you could get some souvenirs for a bit less money than in the center of Valletta. It was very warm, the sun was shining brightly and I realized that I didn't want to run anywhere else today. I just wanted to enjoy the beautiful day.

On the coast, several workers offered a boat trip on the bay - just what I needed. What could be more beautiful than a boat trip on such a warm and sunny day?

The Maltese swim only if the water is as warm as a bath

This Maltese coast was rocky, with many small coves where big splashes of waves hit the rocks. We were guided all along the coast, at times getting so close to the rocks that it was scary. The waves were hitting the rocks so hard that I thought we were going to capsize. But I suppose that was just to listen to the shrieks of some of the people in the boat.

We also arrived at St. Peter's pool. This is where, as the waves hit the rock, a natural overhang has formed, from which you could elegantly jump into the water like in a pool. Our boatman, however, claimed that only tourists jump off the cliff, because no local would swim in such weather - the water was too cold. I touched the water - it was pleasantly warm. Well, normal Baltic Sea water in the middle of summer. I have certainly swum in colder water, only telling myself that it is July and not so cold. The boatman was horrified about it, though, because he only swims from June to September, when the water is at least 28 degrees - almost like a bath.

After the trip across the bay, my empty stomach reminded me of itself. I realized that I would have to leave Malta without trying their famous rabbit, because after spending the whole day in a fishing village, it would be madness not to try some of the local seafood. Especially when they told me that Marsaxlokk has the best fish restaurants in the whole of Malta.

Here again, I had to accept that travelling alone has its downsides. If I did get a table, I had to turn down the chance to try freshly caught fish, which was served fried whole. I certainly couldn't have finished it alone, but the next great option was to get a whole plate of different sea monsters. Not the worst option. I enjoyed the food and watched the sun go down. I'm glad I chose not to run around today, but to just enjoy the day at a leisurely pace.

Maybe finally learn to love olives?

I returned to Valletta in the dark. Since there was no need to look for a place for dinner, I took my notebook and sat down in a café to write down the day's events over a glass of wine. Nobody was bothered that I was taking up a table all by myself, and I enjoyed the warm evening. I like the southern tradition that when you order wine, they bring you snacks.

The waiter, remembering me from the night before, was ready to bring the best olives, but was very surprised when I refused them and chose beans. The poor man asked me twice if I had mixed anything up. Being in the South and not eating olives is really something the locals do not understand, but I have never learned to enjoy them. Maybe I really should start eating them? But I enjoyed everything else - the warm evening, the delicious wine and the chance to see the world!

I finished the evening listening to great live music, glad I chose to spend this holiday in Malta. I would like to come to Malta in early September, when I can enjoy the warm sun and swim in the sea, and hire a car to drive around all the beautiful parts of the island and of Gozo.

Maybe I will come back again! How great it felt to be travelling somewhere again, to experience new lands, new experiences and to feel a little more free. There is no substitute for that feeling.

*****

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