Malta & Gozo Island

September 28 – October 9, 2025

Sunday, September 28

We’re headed to Malta for our 25th wedding anniversary!

Our flight to Toronto was scheduled to depart Charlottetown at 12:30 in the afternoon and we had Macy drop us off at 11:15 am for our flight. While we were in line for check in we got notification on our Air Canada app that our flight was delayed until 4pm. Panic! We are now going to miss both our connecting flights to Malta! When we approached the ticket agent (there was only one ticket agent working for the entire flight in Charlottetown!) she was able to rebook both our flights but we were no longer sitting together which sucks.

So we got ourselves checked in and checked our luggage and decided to call Macy and have her come back to take us home for the afternoon.

We returned to the airport at 3:30, got through security and received another notification that the flight was delayed another hour. Luckily this new delay doesn’t affect our connection in Toronto.

When we boarded our flight (which we splurged and bought business class since we are celebrating our 25th anniversary) we’re told that they are not able to serve the business class menu food service because the food was not able to be kept chilled because of the mechanical issues that caused the delays. So all they could offer were pretzels and almonds. Bummer but not the end of the world.

But things were looking up when we landed in Toronto and we figured out that we had access to the Air Canada Signature Lounge! We’d never been to the AC Signature lounge before so we were pretty pumped about it! If you haven’t been, it’s a sit down, full service 3 course meal and the food was delicious! I had champagne (of course!) and the ricotta ravioli for my first course and Stephen ordered the soup. For my main I had the grilled beef tenderloin and Stephen had the Ontario Pickerel. Both were delicious. For dessert I ordered the chocolate cake and Stephen had ice cream and berries.

We had just enough time to enjoy our meal and then head down to our gate for our flight to Frankfurt. When we boarded our flight Stephen asked the guy in the pod next to mine if he minded switching with him, and luckily he didn’t mind, so we were side by side after all!

I’m not sure what I was thinking but I ordered the fish curry for my inflight meal, (not great) and put on Hocus Pocus 2 while I ate. Then it was time for some shut eye, and let me tell you, it was so nice to have a lay flat seat! I just curled up like a sleepy kitten and slept until breakfast service.

Monday, September 29

After about 5 hours of shut eye we landed in Frankfurt. I was not expecting such a large terminal and didn’t know we would need 3 different shuttles just to finally reach our next gate for our flight to Malta! We had just over 2 hours to connect and we barely had enough time!

Our connection from Frankfurt to Malta was with Lufthansa, and Stephen sat in Row 1 and I was in row 7. They handed out “Oktoberfest menus” and my expectations were a bit too high. The meal was pretty awful but the views of the Alps made up for the disappointing meal!

We landed in Malta just after 4pm, and our luggage was already spinning on the luggage belt by the time we arrived so we grabbed our bags and ordered an uber and it was pretty easy getting from the airport to the hotel!

My first impressions of Malta were mostly surprise over how developed the Island seemed. I was expecting more open spaces but it looks like continuous development and not a lot of green space or farm land from what we could see.

The Maltese joke that their national symbol is the crane, but not the bird kind, they mean the construction kind. And it’s because nearly everywhere you turn you can see a construction cranes dotted along the landscape.

Our hotel is beautiful, we’re staying at 23 Boutique Hotel. It’s a small independent hotel in Floriana. The lobby is tastefully decorated and the rooms are really nice. The staff are very friendly and helpful.

After checking in and a quick shower we head out to our dinner reservation at the Hayworth. We decided to walk, since we’ve been pretty sedentary for the last 24 hours. The weather was beautiful and the walk was lovely.

The Hayworth was pretty decent. I’ll say it attracts an older crowd, we were the youngest there by a few decades lol. Another thing I would mention is the table seating is a little different. The tables are pulled up directly against the windows which overlook the water, which is nice. But there is one chair facing the window and the second chair is facing the next table. Which would be fine but the people dining next to us had the same set up and the second person was facing me. And because the tables are small and spaced close together, it kind of felt like we were dining together because every time we looked up we’re looking at each other. So that was kind of weird. I think the views here would beautiful for lunch or at sunset.

The food was pretty good. The calamari was absolutely delicious – in fact I think it might be some of the best calamari we’ve ever tasted. Super tender and perfectly coated. So delicious! The arancini was not my fav, the mushroom and truffle cream pappardelle was pretty good and the chicken risotto was ok.

On our walk back to the hotel we stumbled across the Vilhena Band Club bar. The music was playing outside and people were up dancing and having a great time. So we decided to pop in for a quick drink and take in some of the dancing but we could barely keep our eyes open so we called it a night after one drink and headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep

Tuesday, September 30

We had a great sleep and felt rested and energized for our first full day in Malta. Stephen made us some in room coffee and we sipped it out on the balcony as we watched the sun come up.

After showering and getting ready for our day, we took some OOTD pics on the rooftop lounge at our hotel (because outfit pics are always cuter at the beginning of the day!)

Then we went to the little Sicilian cafe (Cafe Gurreri) across the street and around the corner from the hotel for a cappuccino and pastries for breakfast. And when I say little cafe that’s exactly what I mean. The inside is TINY. There is a counter to place your order and 1 small table inside. And then there are about 4 tables along the street if you are lucky enough to get one. The pastries that we ordered were flakey, buttery and filled with some sort of meat and cheese and they were divine! And our cappuccinos were everything you could have hoped for! Hahaha Meaning a good kick of caffeine to get you going for the day!

From breakfast we walked into Valletta (about a 15 minute walk from our hotel to the Valletta city gate) and our plans for today are to explore Valletta.

We headed to the Upper Barrakka Gardens first, which is one of Valletta’s most iconic piazzas. The gardens have a beautiful fountain and offer a breathtaking view of the Grand Harbour and Vittoriosa’s Grand Harbour Marina.

On the terrace below the Upper Barrakka Gardens, if you peer over the railings, you will see the Saluting Battery (which is a line up of cannons which are fired off every day at noon and 4pm). We didn’t time our visit for the cannon firing but we didn’t mind.

From there we just started to wander the streets, taking in all the beautiful Maltese balconies.

During our wandering we just happened to spot a Canadian flag and Stephen wanted to check out why it was there. Turns out it was the Canadian Consulate. And of course, Stephen being Stephen, he marches inside to say hello. I am too much of an introvert for that so I stayed out on the street while Stephen introduced himself, showed off his Roots Canada ball cap, and asked if the Canadian Ambassador was in today! She was currently in a meeting and unfortunately Stephen couldn’t meet with her, but such is life.

Our walk then took us down towards the waterfront and to Fort St Elmo and the National War Museum. We agreed before our trip that we would limit our “war theme” activities to this one site. (There are a lot of war history/ attractions in Malta) The fortress where the museum is now located was built in the 1500’s. Malta has a very long history of wars and the museum covers the Maltese military history from ancient times up to the 20th century with a particular emphasis on WWI and WWII. If you are a history buff and love military history, you’ll probably love this museum. I can only take so much on war history, I find it profoundly sad and depressing that we as a species are doing the same damn shit and killing each other since the beginning of time. Don’t get me wrong, I think war museums are important, and we should all educate ourselves on the past but hopefully someday we get to a point where we never have to add more wars to these museums and we can find a way to live in peace with one another.

After leaving the war museum, we walked through Victoria Gate, named after Queen Victoria and built in 1884 and stopped for more pictures of the beautiful Maltese balconies.

We had lunch at Elephant Shoe, which is near the Upper Barrakka Gardens. It was highly recommended to us, but if I’m being honest my thoughts are: service was good, location was nice, food was just ok.

After lunch we went to see St John’s Co Cathedral. The line was pretty long, it took about 20 minutes to get inside. (TIP: pre-book your time the day before online and you can skip the line!) I have been to a lot of churches in my life and this was the first one that actually implemented the no bare shoulders rule. Every person who was wearing any type of a sundress, or tank top had to wear a cover up shawl. No exceptions. But don’t worry if you don’t have something to cover up your scandalous shoulders, they will give you a disposable shawl to wear while you’re in the church.

Once inside, the Cathedral is absolutely breathtaking. Built by the Order of the Knights of St John, completed in 1577 and dedicated to St John the Baptist. You would never expect from the outside the splendors that lie within.

The area that I found most fascinating was the oratory and museum that contains Caravaggio’s Beheading Of John The Baptist. There is a room beyond this where you can see Caravaggio’s portrait of an aged St Jerome. There is also a short film you can watch called Meet Caravaggio which is a short bio and pretty interesting.

After our day exploring the city of Valetta, we walked back to our hotel in Floriana and had pre-dinner drinks at the hotel’s rooftop bar.

Dinner tonight was at Legliglin, a beloved Maltese family run (and Michelin star) restaurant that showcases Maltese cuisine and wine through a 7 course tasting menu. The food was delicious, as was the wine. The service was top notch. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed ourselves very much.

Our first course was a local cheese with a fig compote, maltese sausage, a gnocchi type of dish and a tuna crudite. Paired with a Vermentino from Gozo

Second Course was a fish soup paired with a Chardonnay from Gozo.

Third Course was grilled tuna, couscous and fish cakes paired with a rose.

Fourth Course was strawberry and arugula salad and duck paired with Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot blend.

Fifth Course was a rabbit ragu pasta paired with a red wine

Sixth Course was a maltese meat stew and roasted potatoes, paired with another red wine

And the seventh and final course was dessert which you could choose from 4 options. Stephen had the bread pudding and I got the créme brûlée which was paired with Moscato of Malta

Wednesday, October 1

This morning we headed to our new favourite breakfast spot, Cafe Gurreri. It’s a fun feeling when you’re a tourist and you have a favourite “coffee spot”, it feels kind of cozy. Before we left the hotel this morning Ryan at the front desk called out to us to say that we should find somewhere for shelter by 2pm today because the forecast was calling for rain. Apparently in October/November in Malta, when it rains, it can rain a lot all at once. Good to know…

After breakfast we headed to the Valletta waterfront (Lascaris Wharf Terminal) to get on the traditional dghasjsa tal-pass which takes you across the Grand Harbour to Birgu (Vittoriosa) one of the historic Three Cities.

GOOD TO KNOW:

These traditional boats are low to the water vessels and beautifully painted, similar to a gondola but instead of a paddle/oar it has a small motor on the stern. The boat takes up to 6 people and the ride takes less than 10 minutes and is 3 euros per person. There is also an option to do a 30 minute harbour cruise for 10 euros a person.

At the wharf you just get in line and wait your turn for the boat. We boarded our vessel with a young couple from Australia and another young couple from Germany. The crossing was fun but pretty quick. I would definitely say since you’re so low to the water, you might not want to cross on windy days or when the seas are rough or you might get wet from the waves splashing against the low hull.

The boat dropped us off on the marina side of Birgu, which is basically the equivalent to Disney World for Stephen! I mean, some of the boats docked here are crazy mega yachts!!! Even I was impressed!

After strolling around the marina and getting our fill of boat gawking, we walked along a trail that took us along the exterior wall of the Fort St Angelo fortress where we explored the rocky beach that looks over to the Valletta side.

Then we headed for the interior of Birgu for some more exploring. We would have gone to the Malta Maritime Museum but it was closed for renovations. Our first stop was at St. Lawrence’s Church, and then made our way to Victory Square.

We also saw the Inquisitor’s Palace -A medieval palace with prison cells, tribunal rooms, and even a torture chamber, and served as the headquarters for the Inquisition in Malta for over 200 years. Yikes, if those walls could talk!

But the real highlight for us was the residential streets of Birgu, because they are absolutely stunning! And it’s so quiet and peaceful! We hardly saw another person. We had such a wonderful morning, quietly strolling the beautiful streets. It felt like one of those magical travel moments when you know what you are currently experiencing is extra special and you try to just soak it all up because you don’t want to forget the feeling.

After taking about a million photos of beautiful Birgu, it was time for lunch. We settled on a spot back at the marina called Garam Tikka Masala, which had lots of outdoor seating that overlooked the marina. We ordered the Chicken Lovers Platter for 2, which had 2 pieces each of chicken tikka, Malia tikka, Haryali Tikka, Pahadi Tikka, and chicken wings with some naan bread. We were not disappointed, it was delicious!

But halfway through our meal, the sky turned dark and the temperature dropped and we decided to pay for our bill and call an uber before the storm hit. We were literally just opening the uber car door when the skies opened up and the rain started to pour down. The timing could not have been better! The drive from Birgu back to our hotel in Floriana was just a little over 15 minutes. And the whole drive the uber driver’s phone kept dinging. We finally asked what all the dinging was, and he said that it was drive requests coming in. He said that when it rains the demand for rideshares go crazy (and so do the prices!) So note to future travelers, if you don’t want to get stuck in a rain storm, err on the side of caution and try to call a rideshare before the rain starts!

We decided to take advantage of the rain and take a little afternoon siesta. I know I’m on vacation when I’m taking afternoon naps! (I’m so not a napper!)

For dinner tonight we went to a local Floriana gem called Balzunetta Restaurant. If you are staying in Floriana or Valletta, this place is an absolute must! In fact we loved it so much, we ended up eating here 3 times!!! That literally never happens when we’re travelling.

Balzunetta is such a cool, locally loved spot. It started as Floriana’s Bocci Club, they have actual bocci courts, and a large area for outdoor eating (complete with string lights, which I love a good outdoor string light situation) and a smaller but cozy indoor area too for when it’s a little too cold to be outside. This place has a great vibe, it has a good mix of locals and tourists. We met the owners, and their young son. l really love supporting small locally owned businesses that you can tell they put their heart and soul into. You can just tell that Balzunetta has become part of the heart of Floriana.

For our meal tonight we ordered 2 pizzas to share and paired it with a delicious bottle of Italian Primitivo.

Smokey Pizza: Mozzarella fior di latte, smoked provola cheese, bacon and aromatic roasted potatoes.

Maltese Pizza: Tomato sauce, mozzarella fior di latte, Maltese sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, gbejna cheese, capers.

I loved the Maltese pizza, but wasn’t the biggest fan of the Smokey. I found it too cheesy, but if you love a very cheesy pizza it might be for you!

Thursday, October 2

We’re headed to the island of Gozo today! We decided to call an uber to take us down to the ferry port. It’s definitely within walking distance but with all our luggage we figured it would be easiest to drive. We arrived at the terminal about 20 minutes before the departure we wanted to take. We’re taking the Gozo fast ferry (it’s located at the same spot as the dghasjsa tal-pass that we took to Birgu yesterday) and we wanted to get the 10:45 crossing. We were told as long as you get there early you don’t have to purchase a ticket online.

Today was a very windy day. The seas were looking rough and there were white caps in the harbour. We were even wondering if the ferries would be running today which was why we didn’t purchase our tickets online ahead of time. (this is foreshadowing…lol)

The ferry arrived on time and boarding was pretty uneventful. As soon as you get on the boat there is an area to store your luggage and then you can sit wherever you want. Because it took us a few minutes to get all our luggage settled, the seat selection wasn’t great. But instead of sitting together for the crossing we both prioritized the best possible seats for not getting sea sick.

Here are my best tips to avoid seasickness on rough crossings:

Sit in the stern on the boat. AKA sit at the back of the boat. There is less up and down motion at the stern. The worst place in rough seas is the bow of the boat because of the up and down motion.
Sit by a window seat so you can keep your eyes on the horizon
DO NOT attempt to look at your phone or read a book.
Although this one isn’t a tip to avoid seasickness, it’s just common sense…but there wasn’t much of that on the ferry that morning…STAY SEATED!!! Unless it’s an absolute emergency, stay seated! We saw so many elderly people trying to walk around and they were falling into people, couldn’t keep their balance etc. Unless you have good sea legs, keep seated. Please!!

During our very rough crossing which took 45 minutes, I counted 18 people in my area who threw up. I’m not even kidding. The crew were literally running around with buckets and mops. Thankfully with all our years of rough crossings while sailing and knowing to keep my eyes on the horizon, we didn’t get seasick!

We arrived at 11:30 and grabbed an Uber from the seaport of Mgarr to our hotel in Victoria. The drive is about 6km and I can already tell I’m really going to like Gozo. It’s less developed than the main island and has a more laid back vibe.

We check into our hotel, we’re staying at the Duke Boutique Hotel which is on the main street in Victoria. Our room wasn’t ready yet, but we were able to store our bags and head out for lunch. On the recommendation of the front desk staff we went to Roza which is a traditional Maltese restaurant in St George’s Square. The interior of the restaurant is beautiful, but it was a sunny day and we wanted to be outside and take in some people watching, so we decided to sit outside.

I decided to treat myself to a Prickly Pear spritz! LOVE!!

We ordered the goat cheese bruschetta, so delicious!

I ordered the Mediterranean Chicken Salad, which had boneless chicken thigh, greens, cherry tomatoes, and seasonal fruits topped with parmesan cheese and lemon vinaigrette. Loved!

After lunch we headed back to the hotel to see if our room was ready, which it was, so we took our bags up and settled in. Our room was beautiful and spacious, with a huge deck and a hot tub! And double sinks in the bathroom! But why do so many places in Europe have such strange set ups for showers?! Every dang time we showered here it was like the great flood and we had to use every towel to mop up all the water on the floor. WHYYY?????

After we unpacked we headed out to explore the walled citadel. Il-Kastell. It’s free to enter and you can walk all the way along the citadel walls to see panoramic views of Gozo. There are churches, museums, and an old prison within the citadel but we chose to walk the walls and read the interpretive signs. The most interesting thing we discovered was that hundreds of years ago, to protect the people of Gozo from raiding Turks, it became customary for the islanders to stay within the walls overnight.

After visiting the citadel we treated ourselves to a pistachio and dark chocolate gelato from Vanilla.

And then we explored the old town of Il-Borgo, which is a beautiful maze of narrow, meandering streets and alley ways.

We found the cutest little wine shop too!

As the afternoon sun began to lower in the sky, we decided to head back to the hotel and pop the sparkling wine gifted to us for our anniversary and have a quick soak in the hot tub before dinner.

Tonight we dined at Maldonado Bistro. This would be my number 1 pick for restaurants in Gozo (maybe in all of Malta). The setting is intimate, cozy and uniquely Maltese. The service was excellent. And I think I might have had the best pasta stuffed with rabbit I will ever taste in my life. I did not want to like rabbit, I swear!!! ….but omg these pasta was so good!

The other dish that we ordered was squid…it wasn’t my fav. The rabbit pasta definitely was the winner for the night.

Our walk back to the hotel was enchanting, the lights strung across the streets, the church bell tower lit up. It was a picture perfect post dinner walk.

Friday Oct 3

It’s my BIRTHDAY!!! Woohoo! The big 49! My last year in my 40’s!

Ok so my big master plan all along was to charter a boat and spend my birthday at the Blue Lagoon. Mother Nature apparently had other plans. The weather was not cooperating and the wind and wave conditions today had all the charter companies shut down for the day.

So new plan…we decided to rent a buggy and explore the island. We didn’t do a whole lot of research on it since we had to pivot less then 24 hours from our original plan. In our heads we thought there would be a trail system that these buggies and ATVs can drive on, we’d see lots of hard to reach places that you couldn’t access by car…but nope, none of that. When we checked into the ATV rental place we found out that these buggies are driven on the same roads as all the cars. And they drive on the left hand side, the opposite that we drive on. Oh, and they only go up to 40km/hr. So we’re driving with all the regular traffic, on the same roads but with a speed of 40 km/hr, and on the opposite side that we’re used to. Sounds good?!

OK so we head out, white knuckled, trying to do the opposite of all our instincts. Driving on the opposite side that you’re used to is a mind F@*K! And we can’t keep up with the flow of traffic!!! Funnnnn

Stephen hilariously later compared it to driving around the island for the entire day on a drive on lawn mower. Pretty accurate description.

Another part that made it not so fun was that I was navigating and didn’t have my prescription sunglasses so that threw in a whole other level of craziness. And to add some more stress on top of my anxiety, for whatever reason google maps kept trying to take us through every round about on the right side of the road like in North America, so that was really screwing up my navigation. And then google would also try to take us down “roads” like this…over back yard pools!

All jokes aside, it wasn’t all terrible. We did see some cool stuff.

We started our buggy tour leaving Victoria and headed counter clockwise so our first coastal views were of Comino Island and the Blue Lagoon

Then we headed to San Filep Beach

Then next up is Ramla Beach!

Ramla is one of the prettiest sand beaches on Gozo. The sand is a pretty shade of golden red and there is a decent amount of beach space. It’s fairly undeveloped here still. There is a restaurant on site and a few truck vendors on the roadway but that’s it. We probably would have stayed here longer except the wind was blowing so hard that the sand was flying everywhere and it just wasn’t comfortable to stay.

We carried on our way and eventually stopped for lunch at Il-Kartell Restaurant in Marsalforn. Marsalforn is a cute little resort area with waterfront cafes and restaurants. It has a touristy/seaside vibe, but not in a bad way. It’s got condo development along the waterfront but not in an overly developed kind of way if that makes sense.

We were seated outside and our table was so close to the sea we could literally see schools of fish swimming around, which was pretty cool! Stephen ordered the Aljotta – a traditional fish soup which came with some garlic bread. I ordered the Garganelli al filetto which is a pasta with beef fillet strips, sundried tomatoes, arugula, cherry tomatoes and parmesan flakes. Delicious!

After lunch we continued on to Xwieni Bay’s Saltpans. This was such a cool place. I’ve never seen anything like it before. These giant checkerboard squares carved out of the flat limestone rocks that span across 3 km of the coastline right to the edge of the sea. The salt pans are over 350 years old and a Gozitan traditional way of sea salt production. The sea water that gathers in these reservoirs evaporates and the salt crystals that are left are then gathered and dried.

From the saltpans we kept heading west, driving past the Basilica of Ta Pinu, which looked really beautiful. Then past Gharb which is home to the Ta’Dbiegi Crafts Village. With our final destination the Inland Sea.

The Inland Sea is definitely one of those places where you have to see it in person to really get how cool it is. Pictures don’t really do it justice. The Inland Sea is a lagoon that is surrounded by cliffs and connected to the sea by a narrow tunnel through the cliffs. The surrounding cliffs are about 80 meters long. The tunnel is big enough for small boats to pass through apparently, but you can’t see through the tunnel when standing on the shore.

By now our allotted time with our buggy is coming to an end and it’s time to call it a day for our lawnmower/sightseeing buggy. Thankfully we were still in one piece after today!!!

It was so nice getting back to our hotel, having a soak in the hot tub and getting cleaned up from the dirt on the buggy today.

Tonight we are heading out to dinner at Neolitik Kitchen. I found this in the Lonely Planet guidebook and it had me at “local Maltese dishes with a Middle Eastern slant”. The food was actually really good, but my biggest hang up was the atmosphere. The lights were so bright, and I think after the over stimulation of the day, I just really needed a better vibe. You know, like some dim lights, some candles, nice soft music, cushy chairs. The vibe wasn’t vibing for me but the food was good!

For our starters we ordered the Local Dates Roulade – Gozitan Dates stuffed with Maltese sausage, gorgonzola, honey and homemade spek. I couldn’t love a date more!!!! So good! And the Smoked Beetroot & Pumpkin salad, which was good and checked the veggie craving box for me.

For our mains we shared the homemade spaghetti carbonara and the duck breast. Both dishes were very tasty.

Saturday, October 4

I am PUMPED!!! The weather is way better today, and it’s perfect to head to Camino Island and see the Blue Lagoon!! We found a boat company that rents out boats without the need of a skipper. Stephen and I both have our Canadian Pleasure Craft Operator cards and Stephen has an International Skippers Licence, but you didn’t even need any qualifications to rent here.

Side note: Xlendi (pronounced Shlen-dee) is a beautiful resort town. It’s a small, picturesque seaside village, only 3km from Victoria) It’s nestled in a narrow bay, surrounded by steep cliffs and rolling hills. It was once a quiet fishing village and is now a popular swimming, snorkeling and boating spot. The waterfront is lined with restaurants and cafes and there are small scale resort developments, but it still has its charm.

We have a quick briefing where they show us some points of interest on a map that we can take with us for the day and a quick run down on the boat we’re taking out and then we’re on our way! The boat is perfect for the two of us and they also gave us a cooler with some ice to use. We had purchased food and drinks at the grocery store at our hotel in the morning before we left so the cooler will come in handy.

As we leave Xlendi Bay you can see the historic Xlendi Tower, built by the Knights of St. John which once guarded the entrance to the bay.

Then as we exit the bay and turn left, the views of the Ta’Cenc and Sanap Cliffs are breathtaking. These dramatic and majestic limestone cliffs are up to 130 meters high!!! We felt so small as we motored along, marvelling at this amazing stretch of coastline.

And there were lots of little caves to check out too

The first inlet we pulled in to explore was Mgarr ix Xini (pronounced Em-jar-ish-sheenee), which we immediately fell in love with. It felt like we were entering a mediterranean fjord with its narrow bay tucked between steep limestone cliffs. The water is calm and crystal clear and it felt like a place where we could happily spend a lot of time relaxing. At the mouth of the inlet there was a rowdy game of water polo which was fun to watch but we decided to move along towards our main destination goal: the Blue Lagoon. Fun fact: this inlet was the film location for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolee’s film By The Sea

Zipping along, we didn’t make any more stops until we made it to the Blue Lagoon. We were warned to steer widely from the fast ferries because they throw a large wake. And as we made our way across Mgarr harbour we passed the regular car ferry and the fast ferry. And it was definitely true, the regular ferry had little to no wake but the fast ferry has a large, long wake. So if you’re chartering a self drive boat, keep that in mind.

As we approached Comino Island, we could see that Blue Lagoon already looked very busy. Multiple large ferry boats and plenty of smaller boats anchored near the roped off swim area. But let’s not focus on the crowds, let’s focus on why we came here in the first place. Oh but that crystal clear turquoise water!!! IT IS GORGEOUS!!!

As we entered the sheltered inlet of Blue Lagoon, to the left is where the large ferry boats park and passengers can disembark, and there is a strip of kiosks where you can buy cocktails, snacks etc. We actually didn’t bother checking out any of the kiosks because we packed our own snacks and drinks. And then just beyond this is where the roped off swim area is. So people can swim without the fear of being run over by boats.

So not going to lie, we’re not big on crowds. So this area of the lagoon, although beautiful, wasn’t where we wanted to stay because it just felt a little too crowded. However we could see that there were only a few boats on the other side of the roped off area, so we decided to head over there instead. It was easy to go around Cominotto island and access the lagoon from the back side, which literally had maybe 3 boats anchored there. And it was beautiful, sheltered and way more peaceful and quiet. We dropped anchor and as soon as we were sure our anchor was secure we were diving off the side of the boat into that glorious crystal blue water! The water temp was perfect! For early October, the water here is warmer than the Northumberland Straight at its warmest. We had so much fun swimming around. Now we were swimming in an area that wasn’t roped off so we did have to be aware of any boat traffic and make sure we weren’t in harm’s way.

After our swim, we laid out on the bow of the boat to dry off and then decided it was time to have some lunch. We grabbed our sandwiches from the cooler and I decided it was a perfect time for a spritz. Honestly, spritzes and boats on a sunny day are a match made in heaven!

After a little post lunch snooze, we decided to keep exploring Comino, however our boat’s motor didn’t agree. After multiple attempts we had to call into the charter company and they had to come with a new boat. Which wasn’t a big deal, we just relaxed as we waited for the replacement boat, which probably took less than an hour to arrive.

Once our new boat arrived and we transferred our belongings we were on our way again. We decided to explore in the direction of counter clockwise, so we headed south towards St Mary’s tower and all along the coast line, stopping to check out caves along the way. Comino is a pretty small island, just 2.5km by 1.5km. There are walking trails but we felt like we were getting short on time so we stuck with exploring by sea.

Our circumnavigation of Comino now completed, we decided to head back towards Gozo and found a secluded and well protected strip of rock beach just east of Hondoq ir-Rummien. So we dropped anchor and spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and sunning ourselves.

By 3pm we decided we should probably start heading back to Xlendi as our boat had to be back by 4pm. We popped back into Mgarr ix-Xini for another brief look see. I love it there! But our time was ticking away so we couldn’t stay. As we left the shelter of Mgarr ix-Xini, we realized the wind had picked up quite a bit, so our cruise back into Xlendi had some pretty big waves. Truth be told, I was pretty freaking happy to get into the shelter of Xlendi Bay.

All in all, this day was THE BEST day of our trip. We loved exploring by boat, we loved that there was a self drive option available, the weather was perfect (except for the wind picking up at the end) and the water temps were amazing. It was a 5 star day!

Tonight for dinner we are just crossing the street from our hotel to Casa Vostra. The open style kitchen, complete with a giant wood fired pizza oven, is what greets us at the entrance. It’s bustling with the Saturday night crowd, and we can tell in the first 15 seconds that this place is awesome.

I ordered a basil gin smash and it was delicious, however it still comes in 2nd place to our basil gin smashes in Lisbon.

For starters we ordered Polpette di Parmigiana: deep fried aubergine fritters served with parmesan cheese and tomato jam. WOW! 5 stars!

The pizzas we ordered we La Campana: buffalo mozzarella, tomato sauce, basil and EVOO

And the 4 Formaggi: Mozzarella, provolone, gorgonzola, crispy parmesan, but we also added some slow roasted pork belly. WOW! 5 stars to both!

Sunday, October 5

This is our last morning in Gozo and we’re feeling kind of sad to leave. I wish we had at least one more full day here. My advice for next time would be to stay at least 4 nights in Gozo.

We had coffee in the hot tub and listened to the music down below on the streets. I think there was a festival or a run or something. And then the next thing we know there were fireworks going off! In the morning! I heard that the Maltese love fireworks and it seems to be true, day or night!

We went down to the breakfast room this morning and I was surprised by the staff coming out and singing Happy Birthday to me with a lovely (and delicious) birthday cake. This was my first time having Birthday cake for breakfast, and I’m a big fan. I totally want to start this as a new tradition!

After breakfast we packed up and got an Uber to take us to Mgarr for the ferry crossing. The weather was great, and the ferry crossing was totally uneventful this time. We arrived back in Valletta by noontime. Grabbed another uber to take us back to 23 Boutique Hotel where we’re staying for the rest of our vacation.

Our room was ready at check in. This time we’re staying in a loft style, and it was nice to have some extra space compared to our last room (which was lovely but just smaller).

Then we quickly got changed and hopped into another Uber to take us to the Royal Malta Golf Club.

The Royal Malta Golf Club is located just outside of Floriana and within the Marsa Sports Club complex. So along with the golf course there is: tennis courts, cricket pitches, squash courts, swimming pool and polo club.

When arriving by car the entire complex is within a gated area so you must check through the gate personnel first. Once past the gate, there is a long, tree lined drive that leads directly to the complex. From there, pathways lead you to the golf course. It was really nice to be surrounded by lush greenery.

We are only golfing 9 holes today and started off on a putting green for some practice before teeing off. Hole 1 is directly in front of the clubhouse. For all to see. I have never golfed so terribly as I did on this hole 1!!! My nerves got the best of me! Luckily we were golfing alone and not put into a foursome, which I was worried about.

The fairways are green and well irrigated, I found the grass plush and once your ball landed it stayed where it was. There was no ball rolling, which I rely on lol. So suffice to say (I wasn’t keeping score and I never do) I was hitting that ball a lot over the course of the afternoon. Like it was a workout hahaha!

The course was straight and flat, not many water features or trees (other than palm trees) so I didn’t lose any balls. I was really worried I wouldn’t be good enough to golf outside of PEI, but I didn’t need to worry about that. The group behind us was a family of 4 and they were never waiting for us to finish our hole which also takes the pressure off.

After our nine holes, we were pretty parched so we headed to the club to have a drink and enjoy the views.

We didn’t have plans for dinner tonight, and after a long day coming from Gozo and golfing in the heat of the afternoon, we didn’t feel like walking into Valletta so we decided to head back to Balzunetta for dinner. The walk was beautiful too ( and there were more fireworks tonight on our walk to dinner!)

Tonight we ordered to share:

Rabbit in Sauce – tender rabbit, slow cooked for 4 hours in a rich, savory sauce with onion, garlic, wine and carrots. Served with a generous side of creamy mashed potatoes. The menu describes it as the perfect comfort dish, and I couldn’t agree more! It was delicious!

Al Crudo Pizza – mozzarella fior di latte, parma ham, arugula, cherry tomatoes and grana shaving. Also delicious but the rabbit dish was the winner of the night.

Monday, October 6

This morning we are heading to Hgar Qim (pronounced Hah-jar-eem) and Mnajdra (Im-nay-dra) which is located on the south coast. We Ubered from our hotel in Floriana which is about 13 km and just over a 20 minute drive. Hagar Qim and Mnajdra are two of Malta’s most important and impressive prehistoric temples and are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. They are among the oldest free standing stone structures in the world!! Dating back to around 3600-2500 BC. Which makes them older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids in Egypt!

We are dropped off at the front of the Visitor Information Center which is a modern building and I highly recommend starting your tour here as there is so much information about the temples. We started the tour with a short 3D video which explains how the temples were built and used. Then after exiting the theater you enter the exhibit part where you’ll find archaeological discoveries, reconstructions of rituals and interactive screens that help you visualize life in Malta 5,000 years ago.

Once we finished the exhibits in the Visitor Information Center we exited to the outside and followed a pathway to a ticket booth for our entrance to the temple. Before leaving the information center you can pick up headphones so you can listen to pre recorded guided tours of the temples. Stephen loves to listen to the guided tours, I find them frustrating so he gives me the highlights as he’s listening. The site also has lots of interpretive signage to read, which is my preferred method of learning.

The first temple is Hagar Qim which means “standing stones” in Maltese and stands proudly on the coastal hilltop under a large white protective canopy. The canopy protects the stones from damage by the sun, wind and rain. This temple is built from massive limestone blocks, some weighing 20 tonnes!

The temple’s entrance aligns with the summer solstice sunrise. It was built so that the summer solstice sunbeam would pass through and illuminate a particular slab inside the temple! It totally amazes me how these temples could be built so long ago and with so much attention to detail, like how the first rays of the summer solstice sun would shine through the entry point of the temple. Like mind blowing. And 20 tonne stones?! How did they move them?!

A little further down hill, and closer to the cliff edge, is the Mnajdra temple. It’s also covered by a large white canopy to protect it from the elements. This temple is also better preserved because the rocks that were used here are a harder type of limestone.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed walking around these temples, it felt really peaceful and we ended up spending a large part of the morning here.

Our next stop was the Blue Grotto, and we decided to walk instead of getting another Uber. It’s a mostly downhill walk, which begins with a nice wide sidewalk but ends in a sketchy amount of shoulder to walk along. It took us about 20 minutes. We definitely would have done a Blue Grotto boat tour, but it was really windy again today and there were no boats heading out. So we just admired the views from the cliffside view point.

We walked down to the nearby village of Wied iz-Zurrieq (which is the town that is the boat departure location for the Blue Grotto) to find some lunch. There are a few seaside restaurants to choose from and we ended up choosing the Alka Cafe. We sat at the outdoor terrace which had a nice view of the sea.

Our server was amazing, and he was the proud father of the owner of the cafe.

We tried our first Kinnie, which I actually really enjoyed! If you like Aperol Spritz, it has a similar taste.

Stephen ordered the catch of the day, which came with a salad and a side of fries and I had the chicken couscous salad.

After our lunch we walked down to the harbour and found a really beautiful and sheltered swim area.

Then we Ubered to Marsaxlokk, an ancient fishing village which has become the home to a weekly fish and souvenir market. The seafront is lined with stall after stall of vendors, which definitely takes away from the natural beauty of the harbour. However, the brightly painted traditional boats (called luzzu) in the harbour were fun to look at and take some photos. We debated about getting on one of the tour boats to take us to St Peter’s Pool, but they seemed pretty crowded and decided to walk to St Peter’s Pool instead.

The walk was doable BUT it was a pretty steep incline for most of the way, and considering we were in flip flops…not the best of ideas.

But it was definitely worth the sweaty uphill walk! Oh my goodness St Peter’s Pool is fantastic! We found a small stretch of flat rock to lay our towels out on. We had too many personal items for me to feel comfortable to leave unattended while we both swam, so I told Stephen to go first while I watched our stuff and then I’d go in while he watched.

The water was lovely! The temperature of the water was perfect, refreshing but not freezing. It was a little tricky scrambling back up the rocks getting out. Somewhat embarrassing but who cares! It was so fun!

We spent the rest of the afternoon taking turns swimming and laying on the rocks and feeling the sun’s warmth on our skin.

We also had the chance to meet the famous local pup Tina who swims and catches fish here daily. She’s a hit with the tourists!

As the sun starts to lower in the sky we know it’s time to pack up and head back to the hotel. And it seems like we’re not the only ones thinking this. Almost everyone had the same idea so even though there is a bit of a hike to get back up to the main road where we can meet our uber driver, Stephen orders one as we are leaving and it’s still about a 20 minute wait.

Once we’re back in our room and cleaned up from our big day of exploring, we walk into Valletta for dinner at the King’s Own Band Club Bar. Which spoiler alert is not a musical venue (like I assumed lol)

We ordered the calamari fritti for a starter and a small spaghetti carbonara and a small spaghetti caccio & pepe. All the dishes were really good but after our large day we were pretty tired so we basically ate, paid the bill and walked back to the hotel because sleep was calling for us!

Tuesday, October 7

Today Stephen had it in his head that we should try the public transport to get to Mdina this morning. So we walked to the nearest bus stop and after a pretty long wait for the right bus to arrive (way past the scheduled time) we finally got on the bus and it was PACKED. We’re shoved in like sardines and the bus is jerking to a stop on every block. It’s hot and stuffy and I’m feeling nauseous and thankfully Stephen quickly changes his mind and he was like lets get off now! You don’t have to ask me twice. This also happens to be the day we discover that after price comparing Uber to Bolt, Bolt is way cheaper than Uber and we should have been using Bolt all along. Lesson learned. The Bolt is ordered and we’re on our way to Mdina!

Our driver drops us off as close to the Mdina Gate as possible. Because of our messing around with various modes of transportation this morning, we’re arriving later than I had hoped and the crowds have descended upon the city already.

A little bit about Mdina – it’s a walled medieval city perched on a hilltop in central Malta. Often called “The Silent City”, it’s one of Malta’s most beautiful and well preserved cities. In order to enter the city, you must cross the stone bridge to enter through the magnificent Mdina Gate. The Mdina Gate is famous for its ornate style and grandeur. I have to admit I was very excited to see it, however I was a little disappointed that it was so busy. But it’s a popular destination for a reason.

Mdina is beautiful, built with golden coloured stones, there is a warmth and elegance to the city that envelopes you like a hug. Cars are restricted within the walled city but you do need to keep an eye out for all the horse drawn carriage tour guides. Which does enhance the feeling of stepping back in time!

The streets are narrow and twisty that will suddenly open onto sunny courtyards. The architecture is stunning and there is no shortage of churches to explore.

For lunch we attempted to get a table at Fontanella Tea Gardens, which is a social media darling, but there was a long line and once we got into the interior where we were taken to a secondary line, it felt like herding cattle. It definitely was not the vibe we wanted at all. So we left and found an outdoor table at the Trattoria AD 1530 at The Xara Palace. This was more my kind of place, peaceful and elegant with a fantastic menu.

I had a prickly pear spritz, which I adored! And the smoked duck breast salad with a thai vegetable stir fry, wakame, crispy onions and a soy, sesame and coriander dressing. My whole meal was delicious

Stephen ordered the Citta Vecchia pizza – olive oil, mozzarella, garlic, herbs, sliced tomatoes, olives, capers, anchovies, caramelised onions, gbejna and sesame seeds. Kind of sounded weird to me but I can’t say how it tasted because I wasn’t interested in trying it. hahaha

After lunch we explored the city a little more and then stopped to get some gelato at Fior di Latte. Pistachio of course! And it was the best gelato of the trip!

We then exited the city gate and walked the old moat which has been recently transformed into a beautiful grassy public garden. It’s so quiet and calm, we really enjoyed the stroll.

From Mdina we walked to Rabat, they’re basically side by side cities so it wasn’t a far walk. We headed directly to Is-Serkin Crystal Palace. In my research this was THE place to try Pastizzi. Established in 1945, Crystal palace specializes in the traditional Maltese pastries called pastizzi. It’s a warm flakey, buttery pastry stuffed with your choice of chicken, ricotta or peas. They are seriously delicious and only cost 0.50 euros! My favorite was the chicken. We sat outside across the street on a bench beside a fruit vendor (who was a total character!) and people watched while we snacked on our pastizzi. It was perfect. A wonderful way to spend the afternoon. Slow travel at its finest for us.

For dinner tonight we thought we’d shake it up a bit and walked back to Valletta to eat at Drunken Dumpling. A tiny little spot that was recommended by a local foodie. We were lucky to grab the last table available. We shared an order of dumplings and Stephen got chicken Chao Mian and I got Beef Zhajiang Mian. Everything was delicious.

Wednesday, October 8

Today is our last full day in Malta! The time flew by! We were hoping to check out the beaches in the northern end of Malta today but the wind was blowing pretty hard again today and we decided it just wouldn’t be worth the effort. So we decided to just have a slow day, walk into Valetta and see where the day takes us.

Lots of random walking down beautiful streets

A not so successful random try at another pastizzi. Apparently they are not all made equally.

We were in line to visit the Grand Master’s palace but we were told the President of Malta was there and most of the rooms would be closed to the public so we didn’t think it would be with the cost of entrance.

For lunch we went to Is-Suq-Tal_Belt (Valletta Food Market). I’m not usually the biggest fan of markets because I find them too crowded and overwhelming and it usually stresses me out. But this market was none of that. It was quiet and not crazy busy but had lots of interesting food options. We went with Turkish doners and fries. So yummy!

After lunch we happened to find the Lower Barrakka Gardens and sat on a bench and people watched for a good chunk of the afternoon. It was lovely to just sit. Not read. Not planning anything. Not on our phones. Just sitting and watching our surroundings.

And then Stephen discovered that we were right next to a street bar, so we moved from our park bench to a seat along the fort wall overlooking the Grand Harbour. Stephen had a beer and I had an Aperol Spritz while we enjoyed the last of the afternoon Maltese sunshine.

As the sun started to set, we paid our bill and started the walk back to our hotel in Floriana. Tonight is a packing up night and we decided to order in using the Wolt app. We ordered some pizza from our favourite local restaurant Balzunetta. It was a lovely, low key way to end a very relaxed and stress free day.

Thursday, October 9

We got up early and Bolted to the airport with relative ease. I was a bit concerned about the traffic in the morning because traffic can be heavy here. But it was smooth sailing and we were all checked in with the airline before 7am. We had access to the airport lounge which was a nice way to spend the morning. We had some breakfast and there was an outdoor terrace too so we could enjoy the last few minutes of the morning sunshine before our flight.

We flew from Malta to Zurich. I thought we’d have lots of time for our connecting flight but by the time we got through customs etc and we reached our gate the flight was already boarding. And the good news (besides not missing our flight) was that we got upgraded to business class!