Malta

Finally it is time for my next long awaited Blog post (I know I have countless followers who have been on the edge of their seat for a while now).

After Greece I flew to Milan where I met up with several classmates who were finishing up their exchange term. After a couple of days of shopping and eating amazing meals I flew to Malta with one of those classmates (Lauren Luxenburg) and a couple of her friends from Milan.

Malta is a bit of a strange place. I was surprised to find a culture which seemed to mix British, Arabic, and African influences. Everything from the buildings to the Language was totally foreign. The Maltese language is derived from Arabic but it has huge Italian and English influences. Even more interesting is that the written language uses Latin characters. While we were in Malta we sampled the local wine (left something to be desired) as well as the food such as rabbit stew (a big improvement on the wine).

Aside from this unexpected mix of cultures, the beaches and landscape totally surpassed our expectations. We spent a few days on beaches like Golden Beach and St. Peters Pool (actually a limestone formation). St. Peter's was amazing. This place has sheer cliffs ranging in size from several hundred feet to 15 or 20 feet. The smaller ones were perfect to jump into the crystal clear water from.

St. Peter's Pool

Golden Beach

One of the coolest things for me was a day trip to Comino and Gozo. The water in Comino was shockingly clear and I was able to walk over to the cliffs on the other side of the island where the building that appears as the prison in the Count of Monte Cristo (CMC) overlooks the Mediterranean. I really liked this little side trip because CMC is one of my favorite movies. When i went to Gozo I saw a pretty amazing limestone cliff called Azur's Window as well as a cool old town. The human history on Gozo runs back 7,000 years and the oldest free standing structures in the world are on the island.

Azur's Window, Gozo

To wrap up my Maltese adventure I visited the Medina (a really cool fortified city and of the oldest in Malta) with one of the other girls I was staying with. I flew out of Malta and headed back to Milan to regroup before I head to Venice, Florence, Rome, and Amalfi.