Diving into Malta: Labor Day Weekend
- Bryan & Katie
- Sep 8, 2024
- 12 min read
It feels like we just got home from our Greek, Turkish, and Cyprus cruise, and that's because we did! Less than two weeks after that amazing trip, Bryan had a long weekend off for Labor Day, which meant we had to take another trip! We aren't wasting free time off work sitting at home!
It's not often that we split the blog writing, but this time around we figured it was time to write together. Italics will be me, while regular font will be Bryan's voice. I'm sure you will be able to tell the differences in a lack of exclamation points once it's Bryan's turn!
Friday, August 30
So Friday morning we headed to Sevilla Airport for our direct flight to Malta. Malta is a tiny island nation in the Mediterranean Sea. Sandwiched between Sicily and the coast of Northern Africa, Malta has influences from both continents and is famous for their beaches and stunning waters.
Malta International Airport
Upon landing at the airport, we caught a Bolt to our hotel on the farther side of the island!
Su Swagat
We quickly dropped our bags at the Primera Hotel before heading out to find some food! A quick Google search brought up several Indian restaurants in our area and there's no way we were missing out on that!
Together we split two different curries, lemon rice and garlic-cheese naans. It was a big lunch and was sure to fill us up for our afternoon adventure ahead!
Sirens Quay
At 4 pm, we made the 20-minute walk to Sirens Quay, where we boarded our catamaran for the evening! As we left the city and began our journey around the main island of Malta, Bryan commented: "It's crazy we woke up at home and are now about to watch the sunset in Malta."
Living in Europe is wild. Country-hopping is pretty easy and experiences like this are not taken for granted!
Popeye Village
The first stop of our Malta tour was at the 1980s filming location of Popeye starring Robin Williams. We didn't have time on this trip to visit the Popeye Village on foot, but the full film set still stands today and has been turned into a mini theme park. The best part looks to be the water sports they have for visitors!
L-Iskoll ta' Taħt il-Mazz
Now it was time to get in the water! Our first swim spot was L-Iskoll ta' Taħt il-Mazz, a stunning cliffside with calm waters for snorkeling! Bryan and I planned ahead and brought our scuba masks so we were able to swim around and have a clear view of all the jellyfish swimming around us!
That's right, Malta is home to the Fried Egg Jellyfish! This yellow and brown jelly migrates to Malta's warm waters in the summer for reproduction. Lucky for us, it has a mild sting that isn't noticeable to humans, so we were safe to dive in and get up close and personal with these guys! The GoPro came in handy with close-up pics and videos of these guys!
Clearly, we had a good time swimming around with our little yellow-brown friends!
Blue Lagoon Comino
Our second swim spot of the day was the world-famous Blue Lagoon! With giant rocks blocking it from the oceanfront, this bay is surprisingly turquoise. As our boat pulled in, I would have sworn someone dyed the water this unique color!
The beautiful waters have led to a massive rise in tourism. The Blue Lagoon has tons of food trucks parked along the cliffside selling pineapples for all the social media stars to pose with and snap photos. Bryan and I were put off by the crowds, so we headed back to the boat and spent the time in the water swimming in those pretty waters!
As the sun went down, we boarded the boat and enjoyed a dinner watching the sunset. This is what we live for: stunning views, good food, and being together in a new place!
Saturday, August 31
Our Saturday morning started early with an 8:30 am meetup at the dive shop for a day of diving!
Corsair Diving
After completing some paperwork, learning a little about our dive site, and then meeting our German dive guide, Tein, we got in the van and headed to our dive site for the day at Anchor Bay!
Anchor Bay
Anchor Bay is located right next to the Popeye Village, which we sailed by yesterday! Named after the sunken anchor, Anchor Bay is a popular dive site with its lively reef and underwater caves.
That's right! When I reached out to Corsair Dive Company, I mentioned that we were open to any type of diving and they asked about caving. We haven't ever done a cave dive, so we were willing to try something new, even if it put us outside of our comfort zone!!!
Our first tank dive took us to Scorpion Cave, where we used torches (underwater, heavy-duty flashlights) to light our way into the dark cavern! With plenty of space to move around, Bryan and I were still nervous to be diving into an underwater cave. Eventually, we were able to surface inside the main cave and take a look around! Seeing that both of us were comfortable in the main cavern, Tein led us deeper into the cave to the much smaller and shallower inner room! Here we noticed names and dates carved into the limestone showing other divers who have visited since the 80s! Pretty cool!
Our second tank dive stayed pretty shallow, reaching a depth of only 32 feet. This was by far our shallowest dive to date, but it allowed us a bottom time of 56 minutes! For fifty-six minutes we dove all over Anchors Bay, seeing colorful fish, crabs, and fireworms.
Fireworms were a new creature to us; on our first dive we saw one inside the cave and I just thought it was a cool underwater centipede. Good thing I knew not to touch anything unfamiliar underwater because these fireworms have bristles that, when flared up in defense, insert into human skin and deliver a neurotoxin that feels like fire spreading under the skin! Thanks Tein for the warning!
I have to say: today was an amazing dive day. While the waters weren't as clear as yesterday, Bryan and I completed our first shore dives (meaning the dive starts from land instead of a boat) and our first cave dive! Lots of firsts and two more dives to add to our dive logs!
San Paolo Naufrago
Katie decided I could take over writing now that the topic was a little less exciting. It is hard to beat the amazing time we had diving, but I'll give it a try.
After finishing up our dive and grabbing a quick shower, we were off to Valetta, the capital of Malta, for dinner and a walking tour! Malta isn't known for any specific style of cuisine, but they are close to Sicily, so we knew the Italian food would be good! Katie and I enjoyed a pizza and a few drinks at San Paolo Naufrago before running to meet our walking tour guide!
Manouche Craft Bakery Valletta
Katie and I were absolutely exhausted, nearly falling asleep at the dinner table, so we made a pit stop at a small bakery for some espresso and a pastry!
Agenda Bookshop
As we were walking to our meeting point, we found Agenda Bookshop. Katie and I were looking for a Maltese copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, but when we asked the clerk at the store, we were informed that there was no such thing. Apparently, the Maltese language is dying and very few books get published in this language. Katie and I did want to get something in Maltese, especially if the language is going to die during our lifetime, so we grabbed a children's book titled Min Jien (Who am I). The first page shows a little girl visiting the dentist, so Katie was immediately convinced this was the book we needed for our collection.
Knisja Santa Katerina tal-Italja
As we began our tour, our guide, Tracy, gave us a brief history of Valetta & Malta. The island has a long history of changing control between the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, and Byzantines until the mid-800s when it came under Arab control.
In the later 1000s, the island came under Norman control (think William of Normandy, the same people that took control of the British Isles in 1066). The island changed hands for a few hundred years, but in 1530, Charles V of Spain gave the island to the Knights of St. John to act as its caretaker.
You may remember from our cruise blogs, that the Knights of Saint John are the same order that settled and built the medieval town of Rhodes in the 1300s. Here in Valletta, the Order of the Knights moved the capital city from Mdina, which we'll visit later in the trip, to Valetta! Malta became an independent nation in 1963, earning its independence from the United Kingdom.
We also learned that Valetta lies on a peninsula that is 1 km long and 500 meters wide, with a small population of around 5,000 people.
St. George’s Square: Misraħ San Ġorġ
Our first significant stop of the tour was St. George's Square, where King George VI presented the people of Malta with the George Cross for their heroic defense of the island during WWII. The George Cross can be found on the top left corner of the red and white Maltese flag!
Lower Barrakka
Near the end of our tour, after exploring the many hilly streets of the city, we visited Lower Barrakka, a park overlooking the Grand Harbor to the southeast of the city. Near the mouth of the harbor lies Fort Ricasoli, which was used to film scenes from Season 1 of Game of Thrones!
Sunday, September 1
The next morning, Katie and I grabbed a quick breakfast at a McCafe (yes, it was actually called a McCafe, I didn't just say that to make McDonald's sound fancy). It also was the only place open at 8am for a quick bite. At 8:45, a driver picked us up for our day tour of Gozo Island, the northernmost island of the Maltese archipelago.
Marfa Jetty & Gozo Ferry Terminal
Around 9:15, we boarded our boat to make the 20-minute journey to Gozo!
Rotunda St. John Baptist Church: Basilika St. Johannes der Täufer
Around 9:40, we got onto our six-man TukTuk with a couple from Brooklyn, a woman from Hong Kong, and a gentleman from South Africa, who currently lives in London! Our TukTuk was a global group for sure!
Our first stop of the tour was the Rotunda of St. John Baptist Church, which we learned is the fourth largest free-standing dome in Europe. Katie and I have visited the largest and second largest in Europe, which are St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican and St. Paul's Cathedral in London, respectively.
Calypso Cave: Ceva de Calypsou
Our next stop on the tour was Calypso Cave, where we got beautiful views of the Mediterranean Sea from this clifftop. In Homer's Odyssey, Calypso is a nymph who lives in a cave on the island of Ogygia and detains Odysseus for seven years against his will. It's widely believed that Ogygia island is modern-day Gozo and that the famed home of Calypso is just below the cliff where Katie and I grabbed pictures.
Gozo Salt Pans
Next, we visited the Gozo Salt Pans, a 3 km stretch of coast where we got to walk next to the 350-year-old rock-cut salt pans. These shallow pools are filled with salt water, where the hot southern Mediterranean sun will eventually evaporate the water, leaving behind natural flaky sea salt.
While these were my first salt pans, Katie liked to remind me that she visited Spanish salt pans before I arrived in Spain a year ago. I'm just saying: I think one salt pan visit in my life is enough. Katie said she would agree with that statement! At least these were on the coast and had a pretty ocean view!
Bażilika Tal-Madonna Ta' Pinu Mill Gharb
The last stop before lunch was Bażilika Tal-Madonna Ta' Pinu Mill Gharb, which is famous for having hosted Pope Francis back in April 2022. According to our tour guide, the roads in this area were in disrepair, but in preparation for his visit, they paved all of the surrounding roads for him and his entourage.
Lion's Den Restaurant
For lunch, we enjoyed a Maltese meal and a local rosé. Like I said earlier, Malta is very close to Sicily, so has adopted a lot of its cuisine from the Italians. For our starter, we enjoyed olives, assorted cheeses, and sliced meats and for the main, we had a baked pasta dish.
Citadella de Victoria
Following lunch, we checked out the Citadella de Victoria, a large fortification built in 1622. It briefly saw action in 1798 when Napoleon and the French invaded Malta en route to Egypt, but the Maltese were swiftly defeated. Although not an actual site of Game of Thrones filming, Katie and I felt like we were walking around Kings Landing!
Ġgantija Temples: It-Tempji tal-Ġgantija
Now, although not originally included in our scheduled tour, the rest of the group was really interested in visiting Ggantija Temples. Katie and I had absolutely no clue what that was, but we were willing to go with the flow and tagged along.
This megalithic (meaning large stones were used to construct a prehistoric structure) temple was built in 3600 BC, around 1,000 years before the Great Pyramids of Giza were constructed and roughly 500 years older than Stonehenge. It is also believed to be the second-oldest religious temple in the world! According to local folklore, the temple was built by giants; the name Ggantija means "place of giants" in Maltese.
The coolest part of the exhibits were the skulls! It was fun getting to check out the jaws and see these people's teeth! I was pointing out periodontal disease and dental abscesses to Katie!
Yes, my eyes glazed over as Bryan talked about these sculls in real life. Probably like you, yourself, are also bored by Bryan's dental nerd writing. But we digress.
After spending a little bit of time in the air-conditioned exhibits, we made our way out to the temple. It was honestly more impressive than the pictures make it seem. These dilapidated structures have been destroyed by earthquakes and nearly 6000 years of hot, humid air. It was really cool that we were able to walk into the temple and marvel at the giant rocks that were used to construct these buildings. It's unbelievable that mankind was able to build something like this during this time, even if they were "giant!"
This experience probably would have been less fun, had we not been with our specific tour group. The New Yorker and South African were both going on about how this place was definitely built by aliens, while the lady from Hong Kong and us laughed alongside them! Sometimes a tour is naturally amazing, and sometimes it's the people you are randomly paired up with that make the trip worthwhile!
Xewkija Windmill
After the temple, we did a quick drive-by of the Xewkija Windmill before stopping at a nice spot overlooking the Blue Lagoon! What a nice way to finish off a solid tour.
Pizza WORKSHOP by Figaro
Once we arrived back in St. Paul's Bay, we dropped our bags at our hotel room and set out to find a Starbucks; Katie and I found a Malta travel tumbler to add to our collection! After our purchase, we were craving pizza again, so we made our way to Pizza Workshop By Figaro where we enjoyed a pizza and pesto gnocchi to share. Of course, I saw the cannoli in the window, so I had to get one for dessert!
Monday, September 2
Victoria Gastropub
Today is Katie and I's last day in Malta, with our flight scheduled for 2:30 pm! We started our morning with breakfast at Victoria Gastropub where we shared an English breakfast and a brisket ciabotta.
Mdina Gate
Following breakfast, we grabbed our bags from the hotel and took a Bolt to Rabat, home of Mdina, the former capital of Malta. Katie and I stopped for a quick photo at Mdina Gate, another Game of Thrones filming site from Season 1 of the show!
St Paul’s Catacombs
After the quick photo stop, we made a 15-minute walk to St. Paul's Catacombs, a large network of underground tombs dating back to the Punic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. It is the earliest and largest archeological piece of evidence of Christianity in Malta.
This large cavernous network of tombs and temples takes up approximately 21,000 sq ft. Katie and I checked out all of the tight halls and tombs, enjoying a little bit of time out of the sun, even if the humidity underground was significantly higher!
St Dominic's Priory
There was another Game of Thrones filming location in Rabat: St. Dominic's Priory. The scene where Cersei Lannister tells Ned Stark, "when you play the game of thrones, you either win or you die," was filmed in the courtyard of this church. When we got to the door, we discovered there was a €5 entry fee, so instead we just snapped a picture from outside the door and pretended we got to go inside. Dang it Europe! One popular show uses your church courtyard for a filming location and you decide to charge an entry fee!? No thanks.
Malta International Airport
After a 30-minute Bolt ride, we made it to the airport around 12:00 pm. This airport was tiny, and packed with people! We couldn't get into the lounge at first because it was too busy, and there was nowhere to sit in the terminal, so we chose to sit on the ground outside the lounge until we were allowed entry.
Eventually, we did enjoy some time in the lounge and then caught our flight out of Malta. Katie snapped these pictures as we left the island- you can even see the Blue Lagoon's drastic water from up high!
Our flight left at 2:30 pm and landed in Barcelona at 5:00 pm. Luckily there was room in the Barceolona lounge, so we passed our long layover in comfy chairs and with snacks. Thank you AmEx for our Priority Lounge access!
Our connecting flight to Sevilla was delayed until 11:30 pm, so we didn't make it back home until nearly 2:30 am!
It was an exhausting next day at work for both Katie and I. Sometimes I wonder if we're getting too old to be sleeping on airport benches and getting less than seven hours of sleep, but I don't think I'd change anything if it allows us to go on these awesome adventures! Thanks for tagging along!
Evviva!
Katie & Bryan
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