You wouldn't expect it: Malta is perfect for a city trip
In three hours you will be on Maltese soil. They have the euro. Valletta is bursting with boutique hotels and you can go from terrace to restaurant and on to nice bars. In October and November, you enjoy a pleasant temperature of around 25 degrees, but December also feels warm. With 18 degrees, the island is not inferior to a destination like Valencia and Malaga, so we are dubbing the Mediterranean island just below Sicily as the winter destination of 2019 and 2020. You still have some time to book.
Once a journalist wrote that the true Maltese sounds a bit Arabic, has the gestures and expressions of an Italian, and is even more British than the British. I have been in Malta for half a day now and I dare to say that he is right.
For when you think: yes, but Malta is an island of nature and culture: you are partly right. But Malta is also very urban, with a Valletta where something happens at any moment of the day and a Mdina that leaves you speechless when you visit it at the end of the day.
We sat down at Bacchus, drank Maltese wine, tasted the goat cheese from here, had a pasta with calamari so fresh, and when it was time to go, the lights went out. Literally, we had to illuminate the silent city with our phones. On our way to our transport, we encountered two Maltese men, who were walking back and forth across the town square with a lot of gestures and noise, one of them was still rattling something in Maltese to our guide Mariella. Of course, we understood not a word. It turned out to be the mayor of Mdina, who, in a black T-shirt and jeans, was personally searching for why that darn power had gone out late at night. I don't know when you last saw Halsema wandering around the canal to see which electricity box was causing that issue, but I believe that day is yet to come.
Malta feels Mediterranean, but at the same time also efficient and tidy, a trait that seems to stem from the era when the islands were a colony of England. When you just arrive at the baggage claim, your suitcase is already on its second round. Everyone understands and speaks English, but in the meantime, the Maltese looks just as delighted as we do at how beautifully a medieval city turns orange at sunset.
By the way, did you know that the city of Valletta was the backdrop for Game of Thrones, Troy, The Da Vinci Code, Gladiator, and many other Hollywood-esque productions? That says something about the beauty of the island. If you book a ticket now (in winter, Air Malta flies back and forth to Amsterdam every day), I will provide you with tips this week on where to sleep, eat, and what to do in Malta. Seems like a good deal.
