Blogs from Malta, Malta, Europe - page 24

Day 9 Malta - Valetta & Mdina Our excursion today took us to look at the ancient (quiet) city of Mdina and then we returned to look around the modern capital of Malta, Valetta. Paid for a sumptuous meal in the "Pinacle Grill" - very nice.... read more

Upon leaving Greece we went to another historical place, the Republic of Malta. It seems that at one time or another every country in Europe had a piece of Malta. The Phoenicians, Romans, Carthaginians, Ottomans, Arabs, Spanish, French and British all ruled this small, strategic outpost in the Mediterranean at some point. It is said that Malta has the oldest freestanding building in the world. It is a megalithic temple in the town of Gozo. The Maltese language is Semitic in origin but greatly influenced by the Romance languages and written in a type of Latin alphabet. Now English is taking over, especially among the younger, computer literate people. In the port of Valleta we tried to negotiate with some taxi drivers for a short tour around this fortressed island. But again being back in the ... read more

It was embarkation day and time to pack up and travel to the port of Pireaus, Greece to board the Voyager. We were so excited to see our favorite ship docked in the harbor and to greet our shipboard family. After 403 days on Regent ships, everything was so familiar. We noticed changes like flat screen TVs in the suites and new furniture on Pool Deck. We know where everything goes in our suite and our old routine immediately comes back to us. It didn’t take long to settle in. We had packed lightly for our 17 day cruise through the Mediterranean and across the Atlantic. Our calendar started filling up with lunch and dinner plans with old and new friends, an anniversary party and a formal dinner for 8 including several friends-one from corporate, the ... read more

For Christmas 2007 we journeyed from Munich to Malta. We flew for pretty cheap on Air Malta as winter is far and away the off-season for tourism in Malta. As our flight touched down at the Malta airport everyone on our plane broke into spontaneous applause. At first this seemed kind of funny to me, but then seemed a bit off-putting. Was there a reason we should be so happy that we landed safely? Maybe they had made some kind of announcement on the flight in Maltese that I didn't understand. Whatever, we were in Malta and it was a comfortable 75 degrees outside and sunny. We were happy to be someplace new. We changed money at the airport when we found that on January 1st Malta would be transitioning from their own currency to the ... read more

Well my friends it's officially been a year now that i've been on the road again!! It's only fitting that i find myself back to where i was just a year ago...in London....but before coming back here i spent three wonderful weeks in the gem of the Mediterranean sea, the island of Malta!!!! Thanks to Simon's invitation to visit his island i found myself taken in by his familly and experience the true Maltese life!! Most people would think that three weeks in one place is a long time but when you're visiting a country comprised of three tiny islands packed with history, splattered with sandy clear blue beaches and populated with some of the most welcoming and friendly people i've have the pleasure to meet in Europe three weeks was not long enough! I don't ... read more