This last weekend Georgina and I went to Malta. We had a great time! We were hoping for the weather to be a bit warmer (I'm talking lay out in the sun weather), but it turned out to be in the lower 60's for most of the time we were there. At least it was sunny! :-D. This photo to your left is a picture outside of our first hotel room.
We left early on Wednesday morning and took the train to Rome, and then a bus from the Rome train station to the airport. I have never flown out of the Rome airport, so that was interesting. The airport is huge! We took Malta Air, which was definitely a step up from Ryan Air (the budget air fare line). I love getting food on airplanes- I know it seems weird but airline companies such as Ryan Air make you pay extra. (Picture: Isn't the coast line of Malta)
Once we got into Malta, we bought tickets to and from the airport from Maltatransfers.com. The idea sounded great, but we ended up having to wait for like 45 minutes until the van came to pick us up. The van was completely packed with other travelers and each one of us had different hotels to go to, so we got a pretty long tour of the island during our ride. The traffic was pretty rough on Wednesday for whatever reason, so it took like an hour to get to our hotel. (Picture: A view of the sea at a restaurant)
The hotel situation ended up being a disaster. We thought that we had booked the room for two people on Expedia, but it turns out Georgina and I only booked it for one person with two twin beds requested. Who would book a room with two twin beds requested if only one person was planning on staying in the room? Makes no sense to us, but the workers at the hotel wanted us to pay a huge fee for me to stay in the room as well. Long story short, we argued with the managers and this other rude guy for like half an hour. We even called a so called Expedia "representative" to help us change our package. We wanted to see how much money we could get back so that we could stay somewhere else for the duration of our visit. We decided to suck it up and pay the extra fee to stay at the hotel for that night and then we booked elsewhere for the other two nights.
After we dropped our stuff off in the ghetto hotel room, we walked over to "Amigos," which is what we thought was a Mexican restaurant. We were both craving Mexican food, so we got some Nachos with the works. We noticed on the menus that there was Italian food and stuff on there too, and we asked one of the guys that worked there and he said that this was a "mixed" restaurant. I guess that means that they have all different cultures? I even saw sweet and sour tacos... Chinese food mixed with Mexican? Interesting. Anyways, we also ordered what we thought were Margheritas, but as it turns out they didn't have those on the menu and they brought us a Margherita Pizza instead. We were so surprised when they brought out the Pizza... we originally thought he just brought it out to us because we are cute, but apparently we paid for it instead of the drinks. Good times!
Once we had our snack, we wandered around for a bit and found a little Chinese Massage place that also did manicures, pedicures, waxing, etc. We were in need of some pampering, so I got a pedicure, and Georgina go a back massage. Later that evening we went back to Amigos because they had free WiFi and we liked the food from before. We ended up straightening out the rest of the situation with Expedia. I think the lady that we talked to on the phone at the hotel was a scam, because the other lady we called on Expedia the second time around said that there was nothing in her system about refunding our stay at the other hotel. Oh man, the stresses of traveling... I cannot WAIT to be home. The rest of that evening we pretty much just chilled in Amigos (had some amazing garlic bread... talk about random huh?) and relaxed.
A few random thoughts on Malta; I was very surprised that the people drove on the opposite side of the road, like they do in England! Also, everyone there spoke English. All the signs were even in English. I think most people also speak Maltese. In addition, the plug was different too; it was on the British one. Strange, huh?
One of my highlights of the trip was going on an all day cruise to various coastal lines in Malta. We were originally going to see areas like the Dingli Cliffs (which I heard are amazing!) but due to strong winds, we had to stick to the other side of the Island. It was very beautiful though! We paid a little bit extra to see the coral reefs, but it was well worth it. We saw real live coral in caves! A guy on a speedboat took us to the caves so we were literally right there! The speed boat driver was a bit crazy though... he got Georgina and I soaked with his turns!
On our last full day in Malta, we got up early and took the bus to Valletta, where we saw a famous church that Georgina's dad recommended. It was very pretty inside; lots of gold interior work. We also got some souvenirs here because this city is a main tourist attraction on the Island. After our little journey to Valletta, we had our stress buster massages and aromatherapy facials (exactly what I needed!).
The last two nights of our visit we stayed at a very nice hotel called Le Meridian. This is where we were got our facials and massages. I ended up forking over a lot of money, but it was well worth it. I have been so stressed out lately, so it was a nice break from everything going on. I loved being at a hotel that actually had customer service... not to mention a pool, sauna, and hot tub! We even splurged and got room service a couple times. It was nice to have a bit of luxury compared to the hostels and what not that we are normally in.
Well that pretty much concludes my thoughts on Malta. It was a gorgeous, charming place, and I would love to go back!
I bought this little, skinny bear many years ago during my younger years on a visit to Victoria, Canada with my family. I remember walking into a gift shop at the glamorous Empress Hotel and there on display was a collection of small, delicate bears on a table emeshed with other various creatures. My mom was eagerly awaiting for consent for departure when I excitedly told her, "Mom, this bear is talking to me... I must have it! Look how sad he looks?" This was a common phrase for this day in time; animals and other similiar items used to "talk" to me subconsciously as if they were begging for a home and good caretaker. My mom tried to shrug this idea out of my mind because not only was he $17.00 (yes, I remember the price), but he was plain, and far from the most cute and cuddly bear around. I explained that this was exactly why he needed a home... no one wants him and he needs to be loved and nutured. My mom paused for a moment and then smiled in approval and proceeded to the check out to purchase my new best friend. 
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