It took about two hours and we flew over Sicily and the other two islands of the Malta archipelago, Gozo and Comino. Upon landing, we were greeted quickly by our cab service arranged by our hotel, the Courtyard Marriott in Sliema, I had originally booked a family suite at the Mercure in St. Julian’s, but when Justin had to switch his plans, I downgraded to a normal guest room for two. My dear friends Mikey and William also didn’t love the overdeveloped St. Julian’s neighborhood when they came last year, so I opted for this brand new hotel in Sliema.
In 20 minutes, we were at our hotel but as our room wasn’t ready, we walked down to Food for Fit by the ferry landing as I had told the hotel clerk we were interested in salads. We took in the hustle and bustle of Sliema’s boardwalk and our first taste of Malta - definitely Italian-like with speedy drivers, but like the British driving on the lefthand side. There were many bars and restaurants also catering to the British and other tourists.
Malta is about 122 square miles, the tenth smallest country in the world, and the official languages are Maltese and English, but many understand Italian. It had been ruled or influenced throughout centuries by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Sicilians, the French, and British just to name a few!
After lunch and settling in our room (it definitely has a new hotel smell), we ventured out by ordering an Uber to Mdina, the “Silent City” and old capital. It’s fortified and sits on top a hill as you can see from my snap on the highway:
Several scenes were shot here on the popular TV series, “Game of Thrones” as it was the basis for the capital on the show - here’s the Mdina Gate leading us into “King’s Landing”!
The crowds had mostly left for the day and there were many people like us trying to capture the quiet and solemnity of the winding alleys. The city is pretty car-less and very clean!
I also deliberately meandered us to Mesquita Square pictured below, as it’s the location of Littlefinger’s brothel and several other important scenes on the show:
We also made our way to a lookout where you can see all of Malta:
I had Mama Kim stand in front for a photo as I got a kick out of this sign / door as my first knowledge of Malta was when I watched Humphrey Bogart in the famous classic film, “The Maltese Falcon” which is about a prized statuette in a crime drama. However, I have now learned real Maltese falcons were tributary gifts given to Malta’s colonizers annually:
Our plan for today which I proposed and only researched this afternoon, was to attend 6 pm mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral. I figured it was Sunday in this very Roman Catholic country and the Cathedral was constructed, supposedly, on top of where the Roman governor met St. Paul the Apostle after he was shipwrecked on Malta. The Cathedral below:
The mass was short but in Maltese, an Arabic language but interestingly written with a Latin alphabet. The lady doing the first reading handed us an English pamphlet during the rosary as she correctly surmised we wouldn’t understand Maltese.
After walking around the church, we headed to Trattoria AD 1530 which was in Xara Palace where I had a reservation. We were served by a lovely waiter from Nepal who loves Korean dramas. As usual, we proclaimed we weren’t hungry, but thoroughly ate every bite of the linguini with vongole clams and fish stock and a pizza called Bella Malta which was topped with Maltese sausage, 'Ġbejna' - a local sheep milk cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, caramelized onions, and fennel seeds. It was so flavorful - sweet and savory! I also wanted to try the local beer called Cisk and soda called Kinnie which is made from bitter oranges. A collage below:
Here’s a photo of an alley as it got darker and near our restaurant as we got up to leave - it was very peaceful and calm:
To digest a little, we walked into the surrounding town called Rabat which seemed fun with busy restaurants. Mama Kim ordered a mango gelato which is tradition for her on vacations and enjoyed it while waiting for our Uber which eventually brought us back to our hotel.
What a great first day in Malta!
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