MALTA
Get it on, bang a gong
It started with a couple of tickets to Glitch festival and turned into 10 incredible days exploring such a magnificent island as Malta. Given my Tunisian and Mediterranean heritage this is always a place that has intrigued me…
First off was Valetta where we stayed in the beautiful Embassy Hotel and explored the smallest capital city in Europe (1SQKM). Incredibly tasty meals Gaela’s Kitchen for lunch and then the out-of-this-world 59 Republic. The next day we took it easy by the pool, then it was beach and some great snorkel time over at the Blue Grotto and Għar Lapsi - topping off with an incredible meal at Palazzo Preca and drink at the lively Babel Bistro. The next day we visited St Peter’s Pool and then a scenic walk to Marsaxlokk. We came back and roamed the 3 cities and ate at Terrone in Birgu. On the final day in Valetta, we managed to get to the Tarxien and Hypogeum Temples to see some pretty old megaliths dating back 5-6000 years. The time had come - RAVE O’CLOCK! We rocked up in Buġibba and then rolled straight into 2 nights of solid party time and shape cutting, losing kilos of sweat in the process but soothed our earbuds and souls with some banging Techno. So many great acts like Job Jobse, Dax J, Palms Trax, Amelie Lens, Nina Kraviz, Ellen Allien, Chaos in the CBD but the cherry on top was Skatebård closing Glitch, so gezellig!! We also had some great sushi at UMI and met this very cool little skeleton called Bony who did an excellent rendition of T.Rex’s “Get It On” for us, which became our holiday anthem (check him out on the video beside this text along with the official aftermovie of Glitch).
After all of the shenanigans, it was off to catch the ferry to the island of Gozo for detox - maxin’ relaxin’ ain’t too taxin’. First we dropped off our bag in our beautiful boutique hotel Villa dei Venti. Follwing the tip from a local retired chef, we had an insane lunch at Qbajjar and then off to Xwejni Bay for swim and chill. When we were leaving, we decided to stop off at the Crab Shell Kiosk that over looks the bay for sunset and what luck!!! There just happened to be a crazy good Maltese rock band that covered all my rock jams (think Stones, AC/DC, Zeppelin, Sabbath, Hendrix) - I couldn’t stop boogie-ing and singing along. You should definitely check them out if you like rock, they are called Upper Lip! Next day it was up early to catch the first boat to Blue Lagoon/Comino - what an unreal place, the water was so crystal like. I decided to swim out to this next island and around it that nobody was trying because the currents where super strong. Thankfully, by the beard of Zeus, I survived! Back on Gozo I found this little place called Maxokk Bakery that does traditional Gozo Ftira which was so delicious. Stopping off to have a few beers in The Stoneage Bar, which was like entering into a timecapsule - so damn cool. Beers of choice in Malta was Huskie and The Brew, in Gozo you had the locally brewed Lord Chambray which was really good too! Very nice meals at Tmun and Country Terrace to top off our Gozo adventure!
Finally we headed back down south and set up base in Sliema for the last 2 nights. On day one we did the old capital city of Mdina which was so enchanting. Highly recommend going with Christian, one of the best tour guides in the history of planet earth. So good, that we went with him again on the Valetta tour on day 2 as well! After the tour ended, Silvia and I ended up picking up some beers, delicious Pastizzi (delicious Maltese pastries) and heading to watch the sun setting over at Tigné Point followed by a unique dinner at The Chophouse. On the last night, after a tasty late lunch at Cafe Cordina and as an extra special treat to finish our holiday it just so happened to be Sliema’s Festa (annual town festivals). We had a room with a lovely balcony at the Waterfront Hotel (lucky as by the water was completely packed!) and we were treated to one of the best firework shows I have ever witnessed, choreographed in unison with 8 different songs. We love you Malta 🇲🇹❤️✌🏼
Taxi Mary
And finally I leave you with a rendition of the best selling Maltese record of all time, Taxi Mary by Freddy Abela. This version with fellow local singer Joe Demicoli shows just how captivating their language is. It is derived from Siculo-Arabic, a form of Arabic which was spoken in Sicily and then introduced to Malta after 1090. The language evolved with a gradual process of Latinisation, with today’s Maltese vocabulary consisting of just over half the words deriving from Italian or Sicilian, around 30 per cent Siculo-Arabic, less than 10 per cent English with a petit peu of French.
Grazzi u Saħħa!