Our second day in Malta was a little more rustic than urban, and we also got to spend more time on the beach. Yesss!
First thing in the morning, we set off for the Blue Grotto on the western side of the island. Pretty little skiffs tugged at their moorings as salty Maltese boatmen caught up on last night’s gossip before beginning another day.
We waited for our own ride around the Blue Grotto:
And what a lovely ride it was! We dipped into different caves formed by years of water washing on rock. Beneath the crystal clear water we could see the deceptively fragile forms of lavender-hued jellyfish, their long tentacles streaming behind them.
Afterwards we walked along the rocky beach for a short distance and then sat down in the sunshine. Lena discovered a little hole in the rock that was filled with seawater from last night’s high tide. She dipped her hand in experimentally and then tasted the water on her fingers. Wowza! Salty and so yummy! She proceeded to dip her hand in over and over, licking the salt off each time. Here’s a video:
Later we drove to visit the temples at Hagar Qim. Our Malta guide book suggested that you could see them fairly well without paying the entrance fee, and Lonely Planet was right, as usual. We followed the paths between the two temple sites and looked through the fences at the ancient ruins. In that way the setup reminded me of Stonehenge. This photo is from the edge of a cliff near the temples. What a view!
We had just watched Gladiatoragain in our hotel room the night before, and these fields of wheat reminded us of the classic scenes of “the Spaniard” smoothing his hand over the heads of wheat on his farm in every dream sequence. Much of The Gladiator was filmed in Malta, believe it or not, as well as other films like The Count of Monte Cristo and Casino Royale. Like Italy was for spaghetti westerns, Malta is cheap.
By this point it was high time for lunch, and we were starving. Lonely Planet recommended Ghar Lapsi, a nearby town, which consisted almost entirely of three restaurants and a little stretch of rocky beach. Lena got her feet wet for the first time in Malta. She loved it!
Telling us all about it…
Meeting a hermit crab:
In the Blue Creek Restaurant, we ordered their risotto con calamari al nero de seppia, or calamari risotto in squid ink. Lena and I loved it, but it looked like she was eating mud!
At this point, with our departure time approaching, we chose to spend the last few hours in Malta on one of the recommended beaches. Although chilly in April, it was a peaceful way to leave the island. We watched teenagers kicking a soccer ball around and listened to them speak in their strangely clipped English, the language of upperclass Maltese. We finished off the wine from lunch, read a few lines of our books, watched the sun dip into the sea, and kept an eye on our little explorer, Lena.
And then at last to the airport and then home, where we finally slipped little Lena into bed around 11pm. Malta was, like I said, a short and sweet trip for us, but a beautiful one (especially this time of year!) and we’d recommend it to anyone. If you’re coming our way to Sicily, we can suggest an inexpensive flight or ferry ride and you’ll be on your way to Malta for the weekend!
Our second day in Malta was a little more rustic than urban, and we also got to spend more time on the beach. Yesss!
First thing in the morning, we set off for the Blue Grotto on the western side of the island. Pretty little skiffs tugged at their moorings as salty Maltese boatmen caught up on last night’s gossip before beginning another day.
We waited for our own ride around the Blue Grotto:
And what a lovely ride it was! We dipped into different caves formed by years of water washing on rock. Beneath the crystal clear water we could see the deceptively fragile forms of lavender-hued jellyfish, their long tentacles streaming behind them.
Afterwards we walked along the rocky beach for a short distance and then sat down in the sunshine. Lena discovered a little hole in the rock that was filled with seawater from last night’s high tide. She dipped her hand in experimentally and then tasted the water on her fingers. Wowza! Salty and so yummy! She proceeded to dip her hand in over and over, licking the salt off each time. Here’s a video:
Later we drove to visit the temples at Hagar Qim. Our Malta guide book suggested that you could see them fairly well without paying the entrance fee, and Lonely Planet was right, as usual. We followed the paths between the two temple sites and looked through the fences at the ancient ruins. In that way the setup reminded me of Stonehenge. This photo is from the edge of a cliff near the temples. What a view!
We had just watched Gladiatoragain in our hotel room the night before, and these fields of wheat reminded us of the classic scenes of “the Spaniard” smoothing his hand over the heads of wheat on his farm in every dream sequence. Much of The Gladiator was filmed in Malta, believe it or not, as well as other films like The Count of Monte Cristo and Casino Royale. Like Italy was for spaghetti westerns, Malta is cheap.
By this point it was high time for lunch, and we were starving. Lonely Planet recommended Ghar Lapsi, a nearby town, which consisted almost entirely of three restaurants and a little stretch of rocky beach. Lena got her feet wet for the first time in Malta. She loved it!
Telling us all about it…
Meeting a hermit crab:
In the Blue Creek Restaurant, we ordered their risotto con calamari al nero de seppia, or calamari risotto in squid ink. Lena and I loved it, but it looked like she was eating mud!
At this point, with our departure time approaching, we chose to spend the last few hours in Malta on one of the recommended beaches. Although chilly in April, it was a peaceful way to leave the island. We watched teenagers kicking a soccer ball around and listened to them speak in their strangely clipped English, the language of upperclass Maltese. We finished off the wine from lunch, read a few lines of our books, watched the sun dip into the sea, and kept an eye on our little explorer, Lena.
And then at last to the airport and then home, where we finally slipped little Lena into bed around 11pm. Malta was, like I said, a short and sweet trip for us, but a beautiful one (especially this time of year!) and we’d recommend it to anyone. If you’re coming our way to Sicily, we can suggest an inexpensive flight or ferry ride and you’ll be on your way to Malta for the weekend!
On Sunday afternoon we packed a picnic blanket, books, and oranges and walked down into the valley below our house. We brought along the cute dog we’re pet sitting this week as well as a length of twine. After we found a quiet spot of green grass, Elliott tied the dog to the twine and the twine to his leg. Viola! Long leash! She snuffed and scurried about happily, nose to the ground, while we spread out on our blanket.
Lena still isn’t sure what to think of our little doggie friend (although she does seem to be working on the word “dog”). With two animal-lover parents, though, she will be spending a lot of time with animals in her life!
Elliott and I settled down to read…
… while Lena crawled over and under and around and upon everything she could find, especially us.
Finally she settled down to eat one of her favorite things: a blood orange.
Such a peaceful, pleasant afternoon! It is good for the soul to escape into natural beauty every now and then, I believe, and it doesn’t hurt to have a book in hand, a dog curled up next to you, and a baby giggling up into your face.
On Sunday afternoon we packed a picnic blanket, books, and oranges and walked down into the valley below our house. We brought along the cute dog we’re pet sitting this week as well as a length of twine. After we found a quiet spot of green grass, Elliott tied the dog to the twine and the twine to his leg. Viola! Long leash! She snuffed and scurried about happily, nose to the ground, while we spread out on our blanket.
Lena still isn’t sure what to think of our little doggie friend (although she does seem to be working on the word “dog”). With two animal-lover parents, though, she will be spending a lot of time with animals in her life!
Elliott and I settled down to read…
… while Lena crawled over and under and around and upon everything she could find, especially us.
Finally she settled down to eat one of her favorite things: a blood orange.
Such a peaceful, pleasant afternoon! It is good for the soul to escape into natural beauty every now and then, I believe, and it doesn’t hurt to have a book in hand, a dog curled up next to you, and a baby giggling up into your face.
I am feeling slightly overwhelmed right now after downloading about 600 pictures onto our computer. We took a weekend trip and have come back with more photos than I know what to do with! Eventually these will be turned into some fun blog posts, but can anyone else relate to the feeling of way too much data to sort through at times?
In the interim, here are a few photos of a beautiful evening hike in our valley last weekend. The almond buds are turning into pinkish blossoms here and the air has a touch of spring in it.
This photo made me laugh because what on earth do I have on my feet?! Then I realized it was my hiking boots. They look like enormous platform shoes!
Ahh the almond blossoms…
Elliott took a photo of me taking photos. Despite about 10 minutes of dedicated labor, I only came away with a couple of good shots. Maybe that’s how photography goes? Hopefully not one day…
We kept hiking and then rounded a hill. And there in front of us was an entire flock of sheep! We haven’t been quite so close to them before, although frequently we have to wait for them to cross the road or see them grazing in the valley from our balcony.
We sat down nearby to admire them and take some photos. Lena, meanwhile, struggled to get free and then crawled off to begin examining blades of grass and tall weeds.
I took this video of Lena enjoying the grass as the sheep grazed. There’s a view of our house from the valley, too.
