First, I would like to point out that ( for some of you ) countries don't need to be big in order to have landscapes to marvel at. Malta, is a
good example of that as it is in the top 10 to 15 smallest countries in the world.
Malta's history goes way back to about 5900 BCE when the first farmers lived there. They had a tactic to fram that damaged the land,
therefore losing fertility, starving the people. Anyway, people came back there around 3850 BCE. Moving on...
By this stage, you may want to know why I came to Malta. I came here to see what life looks like in the middle of the Mediterranean sea
with palm trees, cacti and small deserts. I would stay in Malta for 3 days full of excitement.
When I arrived in Malta -in October- it was pretty hot for my standards. Had I been in Northern France, I'd honestly have thought that it
was early or the middle of July. Back to the point, it was hot enough to go for a swim!
Upon my arrival at the airport, everyone there spoke English fluently as if it was their main language. In fact, it was, later I did some research
and found out that it was a British colony in the past.
The next day I went to Valetta to take in the sights. It is a city filled with culture and history, featuring stone fortresses that are towering
over the seas. Whatever your opinion may be upon visiting the city, you must accept that it is exciting, historical and anything but boring.
Valetta was built in the 1570s by Grandmaster Jean-Luc de la Valette of the Knights' Hospitalier in order to defend the island as it was very
sought after in the past by growing empires.
That day, I walked back home to my hotel for 1 hour. On the way, I met some locals and talked a bit with them. One of them stated that
" Malta is an inferno in summer, rained at in winter and perfect in spring and autumn. ". That really does say a lot about the climate, in just a
couple of words.
On my last day I thought I would visit the beach close to my hotel to take a morning swim. I found a lagoon with cliffs around it. I closed
my eyes and took a deep breath as I heard the waves crashing against the cliffs and seagulls singing their songs of joy. After that, I took a swim
in the sea to see what it was like. It was pretty refreshing and it really woke me up. After that I took another breath, this time with open eyes
and admired these lands for their suffering and having multiple owners, like St. John's Knights and the British Empire.
Later on, I went to the neighbouring island of Gozo to see the now sunken Azure Window. To show you the scale of the islands, here is a map:
[picture map of Malta]
The Window looked pretty beautiful, I really enjoyed seeing it. However, it looked better when it was still holding on to the land than now.
It's basically just a shadow of its former self now, sadly.
Later on, I went to Gozo's capital, Victoria. It, like Valetta, was a strong stone fortress with culture and history. However, Valetta was
bigger and more interesting.
It, was a pity that I had to go back to Luxembourg where it was probably very cold and raining cats and dogs...
So, as a conclusion, my trip to Malta really filled me up with excitement, culture and history. This 20 by 15 km piece of land in the middle of
Europe's largest sea, really taught me a lot of stuff. If you'll ever think about visiting the Mediterranean region, go to Malta, and don't overthink
it!