My day off in Malta

When you ever have a day off in Malta and would ask locals were to go, and where to go early for the most amazing beach on the islands, I bet the majority would say Comino. Note this day off was ages ago given how far behind I am on the blog.

Erin was finally able to visit me and we took a morning off from the crazy work schedule and on the Saturday morning we got up and had the usual nice breakfast at the Hilton Malta before taking the 45 minute bus to Cirkewwaa and then a 15 minute ferry on United Comino Ferries (no reservation needed) at the port for €10 return. The first ferry out is at 9am and they go until 6pm. We were some of the first people dropped off at the beach and while you think you are in peaceful bliss in the beautiful waters, come noon the place is crawling with day-trippers on organised tours from Villetta.

We have been to some of the best beaches in the mediterranean that include Cala Goloritze in Sardinia, Scopello in Sicily, the beaches of Sifnos and Folegandros, the lava rock beaches of Santorini and even those in Cannes and Cassis. I think only Goloritze near Cala Gonone on the East Coast of Sicily compares in terms of amazing blue azur waters.

We got some great lounge chairs on the rocks at the edge of the water and lounged in the warm, pristine waters that have amazing white sands for about 2.5 hours until the crowds began to offset the beautiful scenery and we decided to walk around the island.

While we were walking around the island away from the crowds, we found some kids cliff jumping so of course I had to have a go at it!! This actually looks at lot like a photo Erin took of me at Cala Goloritze, see link above.

Following Comino we got a local boat driver to take us to Gozo for a look at the island before heading back to St. Julians. I definitely DO NOT advise to try and do both of these sites in one day and I think the Maltese would think you were crazy too. However, being total power tourists, we went for it, taking the boat to the Gozo ferry port and a bus to Victoria, the capital a ways inland for a nice lunch in the main square.

Following lunch we had a little tour of the citadel and around its walls. It is perched on the highest part of the island and has a commanding view with 360 degree walls that have seen many many years.

After the citadel we jumped on another bus to the famous beach in Gozo only to be stumped by the San Lorenzo village festa, which prohibited the bus from heading any further to Dwerja Bay. The bus had to make a percarious U turn at the foot of the village that took about 12 minutes to inch forward and back like the golf cart in the hallway in Austin Powers.

We regretably turned around and grabbed the Ferry back to Malta, catching some last cool water at the Beach in front of the Hilton before having a nice dinner at Zeri's, my go-to restaurant in my time in Malta. For the record, I have now spent 50 nights in Malta since the second week of May.....too many.

Working in Malta

This post has been in draft format for six weeks now, as work has been consuming all my time - I am travelling a lot and even when I travel, don't have the capacity to update the blog. I am forcing this one out now to get back on track!

I recently have been working quite often in Malta, assiting an local EY team on one of our clients. This is what my home away from home has looked like from the inside for the past several months. While it seems glamorous, being away from the wife more painful than anything and having dinners alone gets pretty lonely.

I started working here in May and am now on my fifth trip here. But I am finally getting some company as some of my colleagues are joining now. I have had one weekend day off during my time here and in the day I had off, I got to experience a little taste of Malta by taking a hop on hop off bus.

I primarily stay at the Hilton, which is a great hotel for both business and pleasure and has about 410 rooms, 400 more than the hotels we usually like to stay in. The bay below is St. Julian's, where there are lots of old boats, restaurants and of course, beautiful waters.

The first stop of the hop on hop off bus was Valetta, the capital of the country. With amazing history and architecture, you could easily spend a whole day here wandering the alleys, walking through gardens to arrive at beautiful views of the harbor, and lots and lots of churches (as Malta is one of the most religious countries in the world). Malta has a really varied history and has been occupied by the Arabs, Napolean, Britian, Sicily and even Germany.

Its most famous protectors were the Knights of St. John, who fought for years to keep the Ottoman empire from conquering the city - successfully. Their fortress is across the harbor from Valetta, you can see it in the pic below.

Following Valetta, I took the bus to Mdina and explored around the picturesque medieval capital of Malta. You don't need more than an hour or two wandering around, but there are plenty of lunch spots and you can walk along the walls that used to protect the city.

Following my city tours, which builds up some sweat in the Maltese heat, it was off to the beach. Ghajn Tuffieha and Golden Bay were the beaches I choose, which has crystal clear waters and are off the beaten track, yet accessible by the hop on hop off bus.

The best of the two was Ghajn Tuffieha, as it had a little pizza cafe and is otherwise unspolit by development.

Again, as beautiful as the scenery is, my buddy was missing in the photo below, could've used another towel, some snokerling gear and a little wife!