Malta. Why? Why not?!?

When my host family asked when I was going to leave Austria and what my next destination was, I just shrugged and said, "I don't know yet." And they burst out laughing and shook their heads and gave me that "oh, you" look that they tend to give me a lot. But it was true - after Austria and before Germany, I had about ten days where I had no particular plans, no one to see, nowhere to be...so I went online and looked up last-minute deals.

And I found Malta! And I thought, "Malta! I've never been there! Hell, I've barely even heard of it." And I booked ten days in a hotel in Malta with roundtrip airfare from Munich, including transfers from the airport to the hotel and back [on STA Travel, which by the way I love, because it has a lot of great deals if you're a student and/or under 26 but sometimes even if you're not].

Okay, I'll admit it - I was pretty lame in Malta. I had a lot of work to do [certainly not complaining about that, though - these days, I always welcome work!] and the travel-weariness continued, so I didn't see nearly as much as I could have. But I went on some runs and long walks, so I still got to see a lot of the area right around me [I was based in Sliema], and I went to a CouchSurfing event, which gave me a taste of the nightlife.

Maybe it was partly because I didn't explore as much as I could have, but I could never quite put my finger on Malta - an acrchipelago in the Meditarranean 57 miles south of Sicily that won its independence from the UK in 1974 - and its culture. It's very southern European / Mediterranean in a lot of ways, but there's still something very different about it, perhaps because of the mix of British and northern African influences. And the language! Maltese is actually related to Arabic, with a heavy sprinkling of words from Romance languages and some English. Cool!

Either way, when I wasn't working, I had a great time - the weather was spring-like [I've been really spoiled this winter...], I tried the rabbit and ravioli and local beer and wine, I met some fun people, I ran along the Mediterranean, I learned a little more about a country I had known next to nothing about... I'd definitely like to go back some time when I have more time and energy to explore more.

The only thing I was kind of disappointed about was the lack of bicycling culture there. I saw a couple of people cycling, but that was it. Malta has the fourth highest automobile density in Europe - so things are really made for cars, not bikes. I had hoped to rent a bike and go around the whole island maybe, but the people I asked about the possibility weren't very encouraging. Sad!

And finally: please no Malteser jokes. They get them all the time, and I don't like malted milk balls. Thank you for your consideration.

A sign about a sign.