On Friday 28 April 2017 at 11:50 am we will fly from Amsterdam Schiphol with Air Malta to the international airport of Malta. After about 3 hours of flying we land around 15:00. After we have picked up our suitcases we already meet our guide Nick. He takes us to the capital of the country, Valletta, where our 3-day flash visit to Malta and Gozo begins.
Valletta
Our first destination is St. John's Co-Cathedral (St. John's Co-Cathedral) in Valletta, which can be called the most important church in Malta. From the outside, this 16th-century church seems fairly simple, but when you walk into the baroque church your thoughts immediately change. The inside of the church is beautifully decorated with paintings and sculptures. At the entrance (which costs €10 for people over 12 years old) you will receive a folder with a map and an audio tour. Because we have a guide with us, we do not use it. The church has eight chapels, which represent the eight beatifications. The most famous work of art in the cathedral is a work by Caravaggio, which is in a no-photography room. The artwork depicts the beheading of John the Baptist (St. John the Baptist).
The decorated interior of the St. John's Co-CathedralThe decorated interior of the St. John's Co-Cathedral
After visiting the church, we take a seat on the terrace of Caffe Cordina, located in a square in Republic Street, Valletta's main shopping street. We decide to have some typical Maltese snacks: Kwarezimal, a kind of spice cake with nuts, and Kannoli, a rolled biscuit filled with ricotta.
Kwarezimal tasting at Caffe CordinaKwarezimal tasting at Caffe Cordina
We walk along St. George's Square and the various nice, narrow streets with colored balconies that Valletta is so famous for. You can find them literally everywhere and it is a beautiful sight! After this we go to the Upper Barrakka Gardens, a high park from which you have a great view over The Three Cities and Malta's Grand Harbour. In the 17th century this place served as a resting place for the knights.
View from the Upper Barrakka Gardens
Salina Bay, Gharghur and Fireworks Festival Marsaxlokk
After a quick visit to the capital Valletta it is time to go to the hotel. We will stay 3 nights at the Salini Resort in Salina Bay, near St. Paul's Bay in the northwest of Malta. It is a large, neat hotel with several swimming pools, restaurants and spacious rooms (possibly with a balcony). We have some time to refresh ourselves.
The infinity pool of Salini Resort
That evening we eat at Cent'Anni: a traditional, cozy restaurant in Gharghur. You have to know about the restaurant if you want to eat here, because it is not really in an easily accessible place. Yet we can say that it is more than worth the search. The food is delicious. The menu is varied from different types of pasta to all kinds of meat and fish and is regularly adapted because they only serve fresh, local seasonal products.
Eating at Cent'Anni
After dinner we go to the fishing village of Marsaxlokk, where the International Fireworks Festival takes place that evening. This festival takes place annually at the end of April in various places in Malta for several days. Sunday we will attend the final show in Valletta. This evening in Marsaxlokk shows were made possible by 'pyrotechnic' organizations from Italy, Croatia and Malta. The fireworks are set off under the accompaniment of music, which creates a very nice effect. With the decor of the traditional Luzzu fishing boats in the water, this is a beautiful sight.
gozo
The next day we are picked up again at 09:00 by the driver. Today the neighboring island of Gozo is on the schedule. Gozo is located northwest of Malta and, together with Comino, belongs to the island group Malta. At 09:45 the ferry departs from Cirkewwa. You only pay for the ferry on the way back, which costs about €4. In 25 minutes you are already on Gozo.
San Blas Bay
Gozo covers a third of the area of the island of Malta, so you can easily discover different places on the island in one day. That is also what we are going to do. Our first destination is San Blas Bay, Ramla Bay's smaller sister. The sand of these beaches is very orange, almost red. That is why the beaches are also called Red Beach. San Blas Bay is very idyllic and unspoilt. To get there you have to walk down a steep bit of the hill, so you have to be willing to pay for it!
San Blas Bay
Calypso Cave
We view Ramla Bay from the Calypso Cave, located on a cliff near Xaghra. Legend has it that it is the cave mentioned in 'The Odyssey' (an ancient Greek poem), where the nymph Calypso held Ulysses as a prisoner of love for 7 years. Calypso promised him that he would be immortal as long as he stayed with Calypso, but Ulysses escaped and went after
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