I was standing at the baggage carousel on the evening of the fifth of January, at Cairo International Airport, waiting for my suitcase to come around so that I could snag it and drag it off the conveyer belt, when I introduced myself to a youngish American couple who were standing nearby. The two had just arrived in Egypt’s capital on a flight from Rome and were, like me, waiting to get their luggage. Early on in our conversation, I told them I’d just completed an eight-day trip to Malta. The woman, a blond originally from Maine, replied, “Oh, Malta is my favorite place!” The husband, a native of the Show-Me State, smiled and nodded his head, indicating to me that he agreed with his wife’s assessment.
So I wasn’t alone. I had met at least two other Americans who’d been to the tiny country in the Mediterranean and who had had a similarly positive travel experience.
It’s funny, though, that during my entire eight days in Malta, spent mostly in Valletta, the capital city and UNESCO World Heritage site, I hadn’t met a single American tourist. I saw visitors from Russia, England, Italy, Germany, Spain, Japan, and Australia but no one from the States. I discussed this fact one afternoon with a man named Joseph Busuttil, owner of a shop that sells Maltese crafts and folk art items that’s located on Merchants Street, in the Maltese capital. We both agreed that it seems few Americans visit Malta anymore and were puzzled by this. During the course of our conversation, he wanted to let me know that Malta is a very open and safe country and that Americans would feel very welcomed if they began showing up in large numbers as they had in the past. I’ve included a photo of the friendly Mr. Busuttil immediately below. I bought a beautiful piece of handmade Maltese lace at his place that I plan to frame and hang on my wall.
I wanted to purchase some lace because it’s lovely and because Malta is known for lace. It’s also known for glass. There are several companies that produce hand-blown glass, but for my money, Mdina Glass, a world-renowned “factory” that is headquartered in the magnificent town of Mdina, does the best work. I wanted to buy a piece but was terrified that it might get damaged on the trip back to Cairo and knew that I’d be heartbroken if it did. In lieu of taking something home, I snapped several pictures of the day I spent in Mdina.
The weather was absolutely horrendous the day I was in Mdina, but it stopped raining for a few minutes, the sun popped out, and I went nuts with my Olympus. I’ve included a couple of those pictures below.
One of the wonderful things about Malta is that is it tiny and can be easily gotten around by a bus system that runs hither and yon across the main island. To give you an idea of the smallness of the place, I took a bus from Valletta, on the northern coast, to the towns of Rabat and Mdina, which can be found very near the southern coastline, and the entire trip, including time involved in stopping and starting to pick up and drop off passengers, took a little more than twenty minutes! Some of the buses are antiques and have been beautifully restored. You’ll notice in the photo below, that the steering wheel is located on the right-hand side of the vehicle. What you can’t see in the photo is that all autos drive on the left-hand side of the street. Having grown up in America, it took me awhile to get used to this.
Similarly, Valletta is a very small city that it just breathtakingly gorgeous. Its streets are narrow and winding and often steep and cobblestoned. It’s filled with lovely churches and grand palaces and quaint restaurants and old fortifications and spectacular views of the Mediterranean. Because it’s such a small metropolis, there’s the temptation to rush and “do it” quickly. I would advise against this. Every square inch of the place is worth noting. Often the facades of the buildings are decorated with all sorts of lovely embellishments that can be missed if one is moving quickly and not paying attention. For example, just below I’ve included a photo of a wonderful decoration that adorned the exterior wall of an ordinary building on one of the backstreets.
There’s so much more I could say, but I probably should be winding this up. I could go on and on about the food (I ate traditional Maltese rabbit twice!) and all sorts of other stuff. Instead, I’ll include an additional four random shots of Valletta.
I absolutely can’t leave you without mentioning the five-star Grand Hotel Excelsior, the place where I stayed. I’ve included a link to the hotel’s website. Watch the video on this page for a real treat!
