My husband and her husband had a fairly long New Year holidays, which brought us only one thought - what should we do at home? And as soon as we got completely inexpensive tickets to Malta at quite suitable dates for us, we no longer thinking them. The little island is absolutely charming, about which there is almost no information about, but we still had one and a half months ahead for fees. So we decided to go.
We had a rather late arrival in Malta - at 23:30, and the last bus from the airport is 15:00. The hotel in principle offered us a transfer for 25 euros, but we counted that it was expensive for 10 km of way. Therefore, they did not order and decided, in the case of which we take a taxi. We flew by the airline Ryanair, and we were handing out the magazines in which we discovered a transfer from and to the airport. It was very convenient, because we were able to buy a transfer ticket directly in the plane and it was much cheaper.
The hotel was booked in advance on Bucking. It is modest, but it is perfectly located for trips around the island. Everything is nearby - bus stops and steam on Valletta. Yes, such a look from the balcony, which could be forgiven all the shortcomings of this hotel. It was seen to the Basilica of the Carmel Mother of God, which is the hallmark of Malta, almost like on the palm directly from our balcony.
In the morning, as soon as we had breakfast, they immediately rushed to meet with Valletta. It's great that the berth was near, bought tickets and sat on the ferry. From the ferry, Fort Manoel was visible, which melded in the Game of Thrones. Yes, we are very lucky with the weather - the sky is blue, the sea, the bright sun! Beautiful. Valletta is a fortress city, it has a wall power laid out of golden limestone, guard towers, stone bastions, defensive moat and so on. The narrow streets of the city are perpendicular to each other, and with any of them almost always seen the sea. And we have noticed the corners of many buildings decorations from saints sculptures. And what are the intricate balconies and New Year's decorations everywhere! So the city in the evening turns simply into the fabulous, by the way Valletta is the smallest capital in Europe.
Saint John's Cathedral, which is the main temple of the Order of Hospitallers. Outside it is very modest, but inside stunningly luxurious. When you go there, the splendor of the Baroque era is simply somehow collapsed on you - each curl is thought out here and are located in that place where you need. Luxurious marble floor with a beautiful mosaic, marble tombstones and the Knight of the Maltese Order is buried under each of them. On the stove necessarily the coat of arms and a description of his life and its awards, and thus about 380 graves of the knights. With the Cathedral there are 8 richly decorated chapels, because in everyday life of the Order of Hospitallers there were 8 languages.
After that, we still walked a little bit around the city and went to the bus station to go to Mdin. It is small, cozy, golden with narrow curved streets, between the bizarre lanterns with yellow walls there is a blue sky, you can see heavy doors with beautiful handles, for which you want to hold. This ancient capital Malta has been fulfilled for over 4,000 years, and it is located on the top of a high hill in almost the center of the island. From the shore, the distance to Mdina is somewhat kilometers, so it was built in such a way that you could exclude anyone with a sudden attack from the sea.
On all sides, the city is surrounded by an impregnable wall, the main gates are one of the main attractions of the city. By the way, they also flashed in the game of thrones. Maltese themselves consider MDina the city of silence, because it is a pedestrian zone. It is very quiet here, and we gladly walked around the narrow streets, visited the viewing platforms of the Bastion Square and snacks, and also drank coffee in one of the cafes.
After Mdina, we went to the discount, walked on it, bought some sweets and then went to the nearest bus stop to get to Dingley and see there at sunset. However, the bus failed us, because he was late for almost an hour, and we no longer fled, no matter how hard they tried, but the sun was already hidden. So we did not have time to meet the sunset. Dingle's cliffs are almost with rolling cliffs with a height of about 250 m, and from their heights are opened truly awesome views. This is a great place to walk here or just sit on a bench. Then there was a return to our hotel.
On the second day, we first sat down on the ferry again and went to Valletta, to finally have time to watch the shot of the gun in the Barack gardens. Log in there, by the way, was free and this time we had accurately managed to shit. Only one shot is heard, however, they always charge two guns just in case, well, you never know which sudden happens.
Next, we sat on the bus and went to the town of Marsaiskala. It is very small and quiet, located on the shore of a narrow and long bay, all its infrastructure is practically located along the Promenade. The town in general did not really consider it, because our goal was salt baths, and we immediately went along the embankment at once. We came across holidaymakers in swimsuits, but we did not notice swimming.
After 20 minutes, we reached the cape zone, on which the first group of salt baths is located. Our desire was everything to lose and swim, because it was very hot. Salt baths are such wetted recesses right in coastal rocks, and sea water gets there during the storm. Then, when she evaporates in the sun, salt remains in the deepening. Something similar is on the island of Thassos in Greece, but there is a bath from white marble, and here they are golden yellow. But we went around and looked like bare feet straight on dark smooth rocks - it was so cool! We went back to the bus stop barefoot. After 20 minutes, we were already Marsachlock.
They walked a little bit along the embankment and the widow fell in love with bright painted boats with high terrests - this is a Maltese brand. They resemble the Venetian gondolas. And here they are often used as an introductory taxi. Then they snapped and passed along the embankment, they went through the center and returned back to Valletta. She was amazingly amazing in the evening - a lot of people were walking along the central street, shone lights and played music.
In the morning we stood up, feeling that this is our last day in Malta. First of all, we decided to have breakfast somewhere with a beautiful view that we actually managed. Then we went towards the shopping center to buy local cheese, well, and on the way jumped to the Bridge of Love. In general, so day or rather, we walked around the city, and then we already had a return to the airport.
Since we did not bought a ticket for a return shuttle, then the distance of about 10 km drove while standing in a battle bus is about a whole hour. He came to all stops and all possible places. At the airport, the time was perfectly at our departure - drank the local wine in the cafe and went on the aircraft. So a small island left in our soul a huge desire to return here back. Maybe someday we will be able to implement it.