What I did in Malta!

Not everyone gets to go on a field trip to one of the prettiest Mediterranean Islands (with all costs paid for, other than the cocktails...)!! So I thought I'd share what I got up to in Malta with my Human Geography uni course, partly just to make everyone jealous that we got a nice trip away in the sun for a few days rather than being in lectures!

SLIEMA

We stayed at a hotel in Sliema which was just a ten minute boat ride over the water from the capital of Malta, Valletta. Sliema is on the North-East side of Malta, close to the busy city of St. Juliens, and is only a short 20-25 minute drive from the airport.
 We had some great views of Valletta on the waterfront in Sliema, providing some perfect photo opportunities! So I may or may not have had a photo shoot here with my friends...

Sliema was a great place to stay because it has loads of shops and lots of nice bars, pubs and places to eat. We enjoyed some reallyyy good ice cream in the sun on the sea front too! I had my favourite flavour, strawberry cheesecake which is usually very rare, so I was pretty pleased.

One night whilst we were there, there was a huuuge storm which you may have heard about due to the famous Azure Window arch falling in the sea as a result of the strong winds and waves! And the waves were CRAAAZY! They crashed so high that they soaked the road and everyone walking by! I’ve never seen waves like it… We sat at a bar really close to the waves as we were mesmerised by them, so close that they were crashing onto the tables in front of us!

Info about the Azure Window arch: 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/malta/gozo/articles/maltas-famous-gozo-azure-window-arch-collapses-into-sea/

MALTA ISLAND TOUR

On our first full day in Malta we had a tour around the whole island. We had a really sweet tour guide who seemed to know everything possible about the island!

We headed round the cost road from Sliema, through St Juliens and Buggiba, to the red tower known as St Agatha’s Tower. It was sooo windy up there I nearly got blown away! But it was worth it for the amazing views of Gozo, Comino and the rest of Malta.

St Agatha's Tower website: https://redtowermalta.wordpress.com/

Then we began down the West coast of the island and stopped off at the visitor centre at Il-Majjistral Nature & History Park– described on the website as “Malta’s first natural national park”. It was interesting to see how different species, areas of coastline and historical sites are conserved and protected in Malta. 

Park's website: http://mt.majjistral.org/home

Next we stopped off at Golden Bay beach! This is one of the few beaches in Malta, and one that many people stay at if they come to Malta on holiday, including my parents 30 years ago I found out! The beach was gorgeous and definitely lives up to its name of being ‘golden’.

After having fun and ice cream on the beach, we went to ‘Mdina Glass’, a handmade glass shop. I was so amazed by how striking and colourful all of the items were! We got to watch behind the scenes where the glass blowing took place which was interesting. 

Mdina Glass website: https://www.mdinaglass.com.mt/en/home.htm#.WNVclm_yi01

Our next stop was Mdina, a beautiful medieval city, full of historical architecture and buildings. Scenes from ‘Game of Thrones’ were filmed there, showing just how historic and pretty it is! All of the little streets and picturesque buildings were so nice to walk around. We had lunch at the Fontanella Tea Garden which boasted great views of the island’s countryside and coastline. Mdina is known as the ‘silent city’ due to there being no cars other than some in the centre, which creates a quiet and quaint atmosphere to the streets. The odd horse and cart trots through though if you fancy getting around the little town that way!

Visit Malta info about Mdina: http://www.visitmalta.com/en/mdina-and-rabat

Clapham junction is the next place we visited. It’s one of the world’s greatest mysteries! Made up of grooves in the limestone ground, Clapham junction has many questions behind it: who made the grooves, how did they get there, why are they there?

Info about Clapham Junction: http://www.cartrutsmalta.com/clapham-junction-malta-guide/

 Lastly, we stopped off at Dingli Cliffs, the highest point in Malta, for some great views of the insanely bright blue Mediterranean sea!

Dingli Cliffs info: http://www.malta.com/en/attraction/natural-sites/dingli-cliffs

A DAY IN VALLETTA

We spent a day in the capital of Malta, Valletta, doing our own research projects. Our project investigated ‘Mediterranean Britishness’ whereby we looked at the remaining evidence of the history of the British rule over Malta. It was really interesting seeing red telephone boxes and post boxes just like in England! We saw lots of British features including a statue of Queen Victoria, the English coat of arms, and also witnessed the changing of the guards very similar to at Buckingham Palace!

Valletta was a great city to wander around, with it being easy to get around on foot and see everything in a day. One of the best things we did was visit the Upper Barrakka Gardens to see the saluting battery gun fire! There are some incredible cathedrals, decorated beautifully in different designs and colours which are great to see. The war museum was of interest to some others in our group in their research projects, which proved to be full of interesting facts, stories and historic items that helped them loads. Valletta is a fortress city, containing old city walls, forts and bastions which are all pretty impressive to see.

Valletta is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has now been awarded the prestigious title of European Capital of Culture for 2018, making it a unique and interesting city that I would definitely recommend visiting!

A DAY IN THE THREE CITIES

The infamous three cities is made up of Vittoriosa (Il-Birgu), Senglea (L-Isla) and Cospicua (Bormla), confusingly each having two different names.

We arrived firstly in Birgu which consisted of some bars, restaurants and cafes, and also a lotttt of boats and yachts. Some of the yachts were amazing, especially compared to the little local boats on the other side of the marina, bobbing up and down in their shadows. We came back to Birgu for lunch later on and sat upstairs in a restaurant overlooking the stunning view of the marina.

Our research looked at how different people were using spaces in The Three Cities, whether it was tourists or locals. We also looked at what services were available and who they were aimed at. The area appeared to be very quiet with very few tourists; however we concluded this could have been due to the time of year and that in the summer it would probably pick up! However if you’re looking for a quiet and calm afternoon, this would be the ideal place to come.

The Three Cities consisted of a lot of character and the little back streets were incredibly charming to wander through which I loved! Every time we turned into a street we’d be amazed at how pretty it looked expressing lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahhs’.

I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about what I got up to in Malta, and if you’re looking to go to Malta in the future, I hope this has given you a few suggestions of what to do there!