Country Hopp’n Part 2.2: Malta Revisited

Winter, 2008- Before our evening flight back to Italy, we still had a few must-sees on our list.

Back to that lack of pre-planning thing … we didn’t book the super-must-see Hypogeum in advance, but luckily when we walked into the Archeological Museum in Valetta on our first day, we were able to get tickets for a morning tour on the last day.

The Hypogeum is a mysterious underground world- some say a necropolis, but others think a grain storage facility. Who knows? It’s worth trying to figure it out for yourself. You must book ahead and you must take the guided tour which is informative and does a nice job preserving the site, but lacks enough information to definitively answer to inquiring minds. The truth is … it’s so old, no one really knows much for sure.

While we were in the mood for ancient rocks, we hit up the Tarxien Temples. Moving to something a bit newer, we visited Vittoriosa for some of the oldest residential blocks on the island (the knights of Malta called these streets home) and then drove back to Valetta to partake in that package massage and lunch.

Lunching

Ambrosia in the old (main) part of Valetta is a petite but cozy and enjoyable dining experience. There are no menus, just a blackboard and the food is pleasurable and creative.

To digest, a stroll through the picturesque streets of Valetta does the trick. There’s shopping, dining and seeing for everyone. On your way out of town, check out the 1950s style yellow public buses at the main bus station.

A half day was enough to check off the last few list items and a three day weekend (without any beach time of course) was ample for drive by sight seeing. If you are in for something more, Gozo has now become something like a boutique destination for ancient farmhouse rentals. Next time? Maybe. But there is so much world to see. What’s a person to do?