As usual, I am behind in sharing posts about my travel. 🙄 I think about writing and talk about writing way more than I do the actual writing. I want to change that in this new year. Now that I am back in balance with sleeping and exercise (see previous post about What I Value), maybe I can advance to increasing the time I spend writing, reading, and studying Turkish (as mentioned in my word selection for 2026, I am at work on this). But back to the topic I want to share about in this post–my week spent in Malta last July with my best friend Kyla.
As you may recall, half the fun for me in any travel endeavor is the planning of the itinerary. Here is an overview of what Kyla and I did/saw/experienced. We stayed in an airBnB just outside of the walled city of Valletta in an area known as Floriana. It was perfect. It was central, easy to catch a bus to anywhere, and not too far from grocery stores and restaurants.
Kyla and I usually try to select a destination that is NEW for both of us and Malta was definitely qualified. I also wanted to visit this island nation because one of my dear friends living in Dalyan, Doreen, is Maltese. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her brothers and friend Connie here in Türkiye when they visited, and decided it was time to visit their homeland.
In summary I can say we had a wonderful experience–the people were friendly, and most everyone spoke English which made communication and navigation easy. The food was delicious–no matter where or what kind we had. The architecture is stunning. The history overwhelming.
Let’s talk first in greater detail about the food. Allow me to “narrate” the picture below by rows, beginning with the top row, L to R: Burger and beer enjoyed after our first day’s free walking tour in the walled city of Valletta; the middle picture was a deliscious tomato gazpacho that kicked off our seven course meal at Legligin–a Michelin guide recommended restaurant; the last picture in the top row is of the two desserts (cheesecake and a chocolate souffle) we shared at Legligin.
The second row shows the seafood entree at Legligin which shared local fish, a small cabbage salad, and grilled octopus. But the highlight at this restaurant was definitely the national dish–slow-cooked rabbit served in a savory and mouth-watering sauce with mashed potatos. Kyla declared she would not eat rabbit. However, after watching my reaction to tasting it, she rightfully changed her mind and tried a bite. She had to admit it was very tender and flavorful. Obviously I am not showing all of the courses here–but I assure you each one was wonderful. My advice is to GO HUNGRY, and save space as each course is fairly good-sized, and you don’t want to miss out on any of it! (Reservation is required to ensure your spot.)
In the third row (really by itself) is the pizza we enjoyed at a gem of a restaurant we discovered not far from our airBNB, Balzunetta Restaurant. It offered a stunning funky little gravel outdoor garden space–where we shared a bottle of wine and a pizza while listening to the BBC Ultimate 80s concert warm-up across the street at the Granaries (stay tuned for more on this). The pizza was STUNNING! We meant to return and try another pizza or other dishes–but sadly we ran out of time.
In the final row you have two italian dishes with pork from San Paula Naufrago (since 1947). I had the carbonara and Kyla had a pasta with the local smoked Maltese sausage (which is something I brought home with me and still salivate thinking about!!).
And in the final image on the right we have one picture of the incredible SPREAD provided by friends Peter and Margaret (Peter is Doreen’s brother) who hosted us for “some Maltese bites” and drinks in their home on our final day in country. It was a wonderful afternoon spent with a lovely family. And Peter kindly shared his homemade limoncello with us!!
Now let’s move on to some of the sites we toured or visited. As you can see in the itinerary, we traveled a good bit of the island, from our home in Floriana, to the walled city of Valletta, into the middle of the island where you could walk the streets of the “silent city” of Mdina. Peter and Margaret hosted us one morning on the “other side” of the harbor and walked us around part of the three fortified cities, and then we traveled by car along the southern coast of the island through the fishing village of Marsascala, we paused for lunch in Marsaxlokk, and then ended in Birzebbuga (where is where Peter lives). We made a day trip to the northern island of Gozo as well.
We found the people we encountered in restaurants, shops, and sites across the island to be kind and friendly. Bus drivers were helpful, as were other passengers along the way. Our airBnB host assisted us with advice about local spots and where to find groceries. Best of all was being able to spend time with Doreen, Peter and Margaret, and to meet some of their other family members. Doreen’s dear friend, Connie, whom I had met with a few times previously when she visited Doreen and Huby in Dalyan, was a wealth of information and recommendations–from what time restaurants close in Valletta to how to get a discount on ferry tickets. And she hooked us up with a very special event which you will read about next.
Only by chance did we end up being in Malta at the time that it hosted the BBC Concert Ultimate 80s. Thanks to Connie who secured extra tickets in time–we enjoyed a lovely, sultry, and sweaty night in the open air venue known as the Granaries listening to skilled vocalists sing songs from our childhood and youth. What fun we had singing along and swaying or dancing to the tunes together and pausing for a cold drink together afterwards.
If I had to comment on what I did not like or did not enjoy about Malta–there are two things. First was the heat of summer! This could easily be avoided by visiting at any other time. I can enjoy or survie every other climate. But NOT tropical. And while I know that Malta is in the middle of the Mediterrean Sea, it felt tropical and not like the Mediterrean climate I am accustomed to living in Ä°zmir. I have friends in southeast Asia who are always inviting me to visit. I would love to see THEM, but I am so very physically uncomfortable in a tropical climate–steamy and humid and hot. Yuck! My time spent in Costa Rica taught me this. Nope, I have no interest in traveling to tropical destinations.
Secondly, we never found a good swimming/beach option. I learned on the last evening when we were gathered with Doreen, Peter, Margaret and others that Maltese generally swim “off the rocks.” If I had known that I would have done it. Instead we visited two sand “beaches”–Balluta Bay in Sliema and Pretty Bay in Birzebugga. Both were small and packed with people. Pretty Bay was especially crowded with familes and friends packed in like sardines. We confess that is partly because we arrived late–but the result would have been the same even if we had found a front row seat.
Considering that Kyla and I’s last travel adventure together included the horrible experience of being drugged and robbed in Colombia, it was a wonderful relief to visit a place that felt incredibly safe. We enjoyed quality girlfriend time spent together exploring a new place. After our week in Malta, Kyla returned to Tükiye with me and we split the days of her remaining holiday between Ä°zmir (her first time) and Dalyan (where she had spent two weeks with me in the summer of 2022).Â
Not so long ago Kyla sent me a random message that said: “Friendship is so weird. You pick out a random human you’ve never met and you’re like, “This one, i wanna go on adventures with this one”.
That is absolutely what happened for us. We met by chance in Sarajevo August of 2019 and what can I say, we clicked, and have since cultivated a real and true friendship. She’s one of the wonderful soul sisters I am blessed to have in my heart and in my life. Here is collage that captures some of the great moments shared and memories made together in Malta!! 💛
I will close this post by sharing about a little tradition I have. When spending time in a new destination I do my best to *try* (don’t always succeed) to get up and observe the sunrise on the final morning. In Malta I did this for the last two mornings and I confess that was due in great part to the superb location of our airBnB which put us right next to the wall that looked out over the water and faced the sunrise. Kyla is not so much a morning person, whereas I am. That’s the beauty of traveling with someone you know well and respect. You find a way to honor what the other enjoys. I did not disturb her when leaving to sit on the wall and watch this glorious sun rise over the silence of the early morning.
I sincerely wish there were direct flights from Ä°zmir to Valletta–I would definitely go for a long weekend. And on my return–my suitcase would have a number of packages of that deliscious spicy smoked Maltese sausage!
P.S. A huge THANK YOU to my darling Fatih for staying at my place and looking after Ziggy & Jinx for the week I was away–you know how much they LOVE you!!???!!!!