February Break: Malta

It is time for February Break! Many teacher friends were hitting the slopes over the week long vacation. There were six of us who decided to part for warmer weather and heard about the country of Malta which is below Sicily. It is a small archipelago of islands with Malta being the largest island. The width of the island is roughly 16 miles across. There are two other inhabited islands; Gozo and Comino, both much smaller. For such a small island, many movies have been here including one of my mom's favorite the first.... (Popeye, Troy, Gladiator, Alexander, The new version of the Counte of Monte Cristo, and there are more too). The weather was between 50-70 degrees :) We had four days of sunshine and two days of rain. I was even able to wear capri's one day! It was very nice to feel the sunshine again and I look forward the spring/summer already.

Our hotel was great and it was outside on the other side of the island from the capital city of Valletta. We had to take these yellow buses around everywhere! They were so rickety and stalled on average once every other ride! They were quite reliable with time and have pick ups every half hour at most spots.

We spent the first day in Valletta to celebrate Carnival. It was quite crowded and there was a parade and so many children in costumes. It was neat to see. The city is a World Heritage Site itself because of its fortified walls the knights built in the 1500's. It also withstood so much bombing during WWII, in fact, Malta was the most bombed place during WWII because it was under British rule.

On another day, we took a ferry to Gozo Island where there is the OLDEST FREE STANDING STRUCTURE in the world built in 5000 BC. Older than the Pyramids, Stonehenge, etc... So weird it is on this tiny island in the Mediterranean. It is on UNESCO's World Heritage List and appears to be in great shape.

The other picture is called Azure Window which was also on Gozo Island and is a natural wonder. We took a tiny bus over to this part and had to walk over the rocks to get to this spot. This was my favorite part of the trip. The waves were crashing..... it was pristine and found myself in a gaze taking it in...

Great place to visit and can imagine how much fun Malta would be in the summer. Incredible food and coffee:) Italian influence for sure with little "Pazzteria's" everywhere! What is not to love about eating "Cheese Pies"for breakfast, that is one main food item in the early morning. Mom, that was for you.... You would love it... pastry with ricotta cheese in it!