Malta Experience June 29 - July 6

Arrival
It has been a while since we made a post, but we had limited internet while in Mellieha, Malta.  We traded our week timeshare this year for a week at the Pergola Hotel/Resort in Mellieha.  We had never been to Malta, or anywhere South of Pompeii in Europe.  Denise has been to Africa, but that was a tour with OAT.

We flew to Malta on Air Malta, a very civilized airline - one piece of luggage each for free, a complete meal, and free beer and wine - and it was only a two hour and twenty minute flight!  We  landed at the only international airport on Malta and were escorted to Pergola by taxi.  It was a good start to our week as the driver was very talkative, and knowledgeable about Malta.  It was late afternoon and in the upper 80s, and the taxi had no air conditioning.  As we found out, air conditioning is somewhat of an endangered species anywhere on Malta.  We had air conditioning at our hotel - sort of.  A few shops and some residences and autos have AC, but in general don't count on it.  Days were in the mid 90s with relatively high humidity.  The driver said it hadn't rained since March, and there probably weren't any cloudy days since then either.

The drive was about 45 minutes on roads that reminded us of Costa Rica.  They don't go anywhere directly, freeways are unheard of and they are narrow and sometimes not in very good condition.  The drivers also don't seem to obey any traffic laws, if there are any.  We were glad that we had not intended to rent a car for the week.  Also, as we found out, a bus pass for the week was only 12 Euros (not the 8 Euros the taxi driver said they were), a really good deal.  The buses are almost all air conditioned and the drivers are amazing.  It is enough to make you want to hide your eyes when one huge tandem bus meets another or a large truck on the road in one of the towns and there is barely a couple of inches as they slowly squeeze past.  Never saw an accident other than a fairly serious motorcycle spin out.  Motorcycle riders are another story, not sure why they aren't splattered all over the roads.

Tandem Busses Ocassionaly Meet Here

Typical Traffic in Downtown Mellieha

History
The tiny country of Malta comprises three islands (Malta, Gozo, and Comino) for a total of about 115 square miles and has a population of 415,000.  It is an ancient place with artifacts and temples dating back to about 3500 BC.  It has been occupied by everyone from the Phonecians to the British, but finally became an independent country in 1974 and a member of the EU in 2000. The official language is English, but  Maltese is the language the natives speak and most street and public transportation signs are in Maltese.

The Pergola Hotel and Mellieha
The hotel is located in the town of Mellieha which is at the northern edge of Malta.  Most of Malta is fairly flat separated by ridges running southwest to northeast.  Mellieha is built on Mellieha Ridge overlooking Mellieha Bay, which has the best swimming beach on Malta. The buildings, as in all of Malta, are all made of the local white limestone, which gives a pleasing appearance reminiscent of North Africa cities.

White Limestone Buildings of Mellieha

Looking Down Triq Adenau in Front of Pergola

The hotel had very nice common areas and pools, but the units could use some updating, however ours was clean and very adequate.  The staff was extremely friendly and helpful.

Pool Area from Our Balcony

The view from our small balcony was to the North including Mellieha Bay and Camino and Gozo Islands.  Also prominent was Our Lady of Victory Church and Chapel.

Mellieha Bay and Our Lady of Victory

Balcony View at Night

Our Somewhat Air-Conditioned Apartment

Maltese Food and Drink
Malta is basically a large rock with no source of natural water, except for the 17 or so inches of rain it gets a year.  60% of service water comes from wells and 40% desalinization.  However, they still consider themselves quite agricultural and grow about 20% of their fruits and vegetables.  Seafood is of course a specialty.  Rabbit is also a traditional dish and raised on the islands.

We tried a number of the local dishes:
Hobz - Maltese bread, close to sourdough with a nice chewy crust - Good
Pastizzi - a snack sold all over in little hole-in-the-wall Pastizzerijas.  They are made with flaky pastry and filled with ricotta cheese or mushy peas (our favorite) and sold for 30cents. - Great
Mqaret - pastries filled with chopped spiced dates and deep-fried - Delicious
Honey Rings - cookie dough filled with dried fruit and anise and shaped in a ring - Very Rich

Mushy Pea Pastizzi

One of the many Pastizzerias

Gbejniet - a small hard white cheese made from unpasteurized sheep's or goat's milk, dried in baskets and steeped in olive oil and coated with spices or black pepper - Strong, but tasty
Bragioli - thinly sliced beef wrapped around a stuffing of breadcrumbs, bacon, hard-cooked egg and parsley, then braised in a red wine sauce - Yummy
Fenek - rabbit braised in a sauce - Very Good
Seafood - grouper, octopus, swordfish, and prawns - All Fresh and Good
Kinnie - orange and spice flavored Maltese soft drink - Yuck
Cisk Beer - according to Gary it should be called Shitsk!

Honey Rings and Mqarets

Gbejniet Cheese About 3" across

Valletta
Valletta is the capital of Malta and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it is "one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world".  8000 slaves began the construction in 1556 and Velletta was to be the first planned city in Europe with buildings tall enough to shade the streets and straight streets to allow for cooling breezes to circulate.

We spent some time walking around the city, enjoying the archetecture, and the great views of the harbor and surrounding areas.

The City Gate 

The sign on the door says "For Sale".
You too could own this bombed-out
building from WW II - one of many
in Valletta.

A Typical Street - note the very common
overhanging first-floor balconies

Velletta and the Grand Harbor

We also took a harbor cruise and enjoyed the perspective of seeing Valletta and surrounding cities from the water.

Aboard Cap't Morgan's Harbor Cruise

Velletta from the Grand Harbor

More of Valletta

Traditional Colorful Over-hanging Balconies

Marsaxlokk
Marsaxlokk is a small fishing village on a harbor at the southern tip of Malta.  It is renowned for being a relatively authentic fishing village mostly untouched by the tourism of Valletta or Sliema.  Also, since the shops are closed on Sunday, the fishermen sell their catch at a local fish market, probably the only one on Malta.  They fish all week, keeping the fish alive in tanks on their boats, then clean them for the Sunday's market.  As you would expect the wares looked very fresh and varied.  There was everything from octopus and squid to grouper and rockfish, tuna and many that we didn't recognize.   Other than the fish market and craft market, there wasn't much to see in the town, so we stopped for a beer break.

   

Squid, Shrimp, Rockfish and a Large Swordfish

Malta's Best (and only) Local Beer

We walked along the wharf and enjoyed the activities around us.    We stopped for lunch at one of the local restaurants, Gary had Prawns and Denise had Grouper.  These were both wonderful.

Colorful Fishing Boats

Harbor and Downtown Marsaxlokk

Lunch in a Local Marsaxlokk Restaurant

Pick Your Own Lunch Fish

Detail of Colorful Painted Fishing Boat

On the Wharf at Marsaxlokk

Mdina
Mdina is known as the best preserved walled city on Malta.  Apparently there were no military targets in the town during the second world war.  It is a small village outside of Rabat, and just the right size for walking most of the streets.  It is perched on top of a hill and the views toward Valletta and St Pauls Bay were very pretty.  They say that on a clear day you can see to Sicily, but unfortunately on this day the visibility was clouded with a layer of humidity.

The Walled City of Mdina

Main City Gate

Old Wall and Moat

Typical Street in Mdina

View from the Wall Around Mdina

We had lunch in a courtyard restaurant near the town cathedral.  Gary had a Warm Caesar Salad with Chicken and Denise had a Mediterranean Salad with roasted Eggplant (Ken, eat your heart out), Mozzarella, Tomatoes and Basil.  At this restaurant they had a very nice house wine in 25 dl serving.  That is about 8 oz for 3.7 Euro each.

What a great way to spend a warm afternoon
in the Mediterranean!