Normal blogger would say OMG this post is already sooo long, because of all the photos, let's not make it any longer, but I guess I'm not a normal blogger and I'm not gonna end it here. ;)
I spent a week on Malta (sorry, mostly Gozo, which is not, if you ask a Gozitan, the same) with a friend. She is in love with Gozo and Malta and it was her third time there. She asked me to join her this year, I said yes (wow, so romantic) and we had a BLAST.
I will present you my opinion of the trip and the Maltese islands and show you that a student can actually afford a trip like this (yeah, I'm a student and I have no regular income except for my parent's allowance).
Budget: 400€ = two-way flight with Ryanair from Treviso + 2 nights in a really modern-looking hostel in Msida on Malta + 5 nights in a huge apartment in Marsalforn on Gozo with a view of the sea and the sunset every evening + all the transport (all the bus rides + ferry from Malta to Gozo and back + boat to Comino and back) + bottled water (the water on the islands is not drinkable) + a lot of food (we ate out at least once a day, sometimes two times with a two or three course dinner :D yeah, we went crazy) + some beers and cocktails + some souvenirs.
Malta: We only spent one whole day on Malta and we spent it in Valletta (photos 4 & 5), the capital city. It's not a huge city, but I think it's a city everybody should see at least once. What is to love about Valletta? The architecture. It has been rebuilt recently and it looks magnificent (the locals we talked to don't agree with this). You enter the city center over a huge bridge (it's not good to look down if you are scared of heights) and in front of you is a huge "corridor" with stores and restaurants on the left and the right. I don't think anything I say about it would do it justice, so I think you should just go and see it for yourself.
In the afternoon we went to Marsaxlokk (photo 8), a fishing village, located in the south-eastern part of Malta. There was a small market there and the marina was full of colourful boats with eyes on the front. Really cute and a bit scary at the same time. We went to cool down to iPlace, a restaurant where you get your own iPad with the menu and you can use it also to surf the internet and everything else you can do with an iPad.
Gozo: We went to Gozo the second day. Directly to Marsalforn (photos 25 & 26), where our apartment was located. Our huge apartment (it is probably meant for 10 people or something like that, cause it had 3 rooms) with a view of the sea. The beach was just a 2 minute walk away. When we unpacked we went for a short swim, which was interrupted by a jellyfish that burned a little Canadian girl and of course we quickly went out of the water too.
The next day we went to Ramla Beach (photo 22), an orange-sandy beach and in the afternoon to Xlendi (photos 9, 10, & 11), a really cute town with the surrounding that take your breath away. The town is surrounded with huge cliffs (yeah, they are not only in Ireland) on the right and strange yellow rocks and land on the left (kind of looks like Mars, if it was yellow). Ines thinks this is the best place on the whole island and I have to agree with her. It literally took my breath away. And all the stress. When we sat on the yellow rocks for a bit and listened to the waves ... it the most relaxing thing I can imagine.
The day after we went to Dwejra to see the Azure Window (photos 14 & 15). If Xlendi does not impress you, this certainly will. It's so huge and it makes you feel so small and weak. There were huge waves and you can understand why there are so many signs saying Don't walk pass this sign! Danger!, cause even sitting maybe 1 or 2 meters away from the edge gave me the chills.
On Monday we woke up really early, caught the bus to Mgarr (photo 18) and headed to Comino, the small island between Malta and Gozo, where the Blue Lagoon (photos 17, 19, 20 & 21) is. Even if you think you haven't seen a lot of photos of Malta or Gozo, you have definitely seen a photo of Blue Lagoon at least once in your life. Since we were early and it still wasn't the season, we were almost alone there. But just for two or three hours. At 2PM the place got soooo crowded, we decided to leave. We had some fun on the way back, because of the huge waves. Also, people on the islands, especially on Gozo, are really calm. An example: the guy driving the boat was driving it with his foot on the wheel while he was smoking a cigarette. Damn. What a life.
The last day we went to Xlendi again and since it was cloudy and it rained the night before, the sea was very rough. The waves were huge and we enjoyed the place even more than the first time. At least I did. I relaxed, listened to the sea and some music and prepared myself for the depart the next day.
On Wednesday we packed our bags, headed for the bus and the ferry, made a quick stop in Valletta again and then went to the airport (ajruport) and flew back to Treviso. :(
All in all, the trip (vacation) was great. I have never seen so many people that help tourists, if they look a little bit lost, or people that are so polite and say Hi! to you on the street, even if they haven't seen you before and probably won't ever again (well, if you are not Ines of course :D). Also, I won't forget all the yellow limestone houses with an arabic vibe. I don't think I have ever seen anything like this and I have traveled quite a lot.
Soooooooo, I know I was long, but everything above had to be said. If you are impressed by the photos or the description, book a ticket and just go there. If you don't have a lot of money, trust me, you can go there and enjoy it for half of the money we spent, cause we really ate outside and tried to spend as much money as we had. The plain tickets are really cheap if you book them ahead, and you can find cheap hostels and apartments anywhere. The food is quite the same price as it is in Slovenia, but the quality ... so much better. I ate fish or seafood every day (now you understand why we spent so much :D) and it was amazing.
Oh and if you decide to go, tell me. Even though I don't see myself going there again anytime soon (definitely will do that again sometime, but not that soon), Ines would be more than happy to be your guide on the islands for sure. ;)
