Snapshots of Malta

For those of you who haven't heard of Malta, here's a few useful details at the top of my head:

1 It's a tiny country made out of a few islands in the south of Sicily, in the Mediterranean Sea. 

2 It joined the EU in 2004.

3 The capital is Valletta.

4 They have their own Maltese language.

5 It's a Catholic country.

6 Malta's flag.

Anyway, I stayed at Corinthia Resort and Spa, St George's Bay. There's 3 Corinthia Hotels in Malta itself so you better not end up in the wrong place if you're thinking of going.

Front of the hotel

Back of the hotel

One of the five pools

The upper deck pool

The service in this hotel is quite shit to be honest. The suite room we stayed in was very tiny compared to other suites around the world. Service is just horrible, staff members are unfriendly and incompetent though the guys provided much better service than the girls. Breakfast and dinner buffet is very limited and food in all five of the restaurants are only okay, presentation is not bad but limited menu once again. 

Room service is not 24/7 like wth, what if I'm hungry past 10.30pm?!? Housekeeping is bad as well, they did not vacuum my room at all throughout the eight days stay. It's so called 5 stars but I'll rate it a 6 out of 10 perhaps due to the value of money not being fulfilled. 

To do list in Malta

1 Get a massage, you're by the beach so you obviously want to relax.

(We went twice, the first day was horrible-it was as though the lady was just lotioning me, the second day much better so it depends if you get a good masseuse)

2 Visit Haqar Qim Temples

It's like UK's Stonehenge I would say although this is more interesting. For example, they have sunlight shining though the doors of the temple during sunrise but only on certain days like equinoxes where the day and night time is the same which occurs twice a year.

Taken from the museum

(You can see the ray of light shining through the doors of the temple)

Interior of the temple

Exterior of the temple

3 Hitch a ride on their local bus

Malta's population is rather tiny so cabs are really expensive. It's about a tenner for a 3 mins ride. Solution: hope on the bus. The only catch is that the buses' frequency is every 30 minutes. LOL. I went on it for a day but surrendered after. Oh, the advantage of the bus? You get to hear the current and latest pop music. :D

Maltese stripped yellow & orange bus

4 Take a cruise to Gozo & Comino (up north)

It's quite worthwhile to go on a full day cruise to see the cliffs, coasts, caves, natural bays and rocks which formed over thousand of years. You can even take another boat ride into the caves. 

5 Visit the churches and catacombs

Catacombs are underground tombs. You can see the skeletons in open tombs. If you're claustrophobic, I probably won't recommend you going down under as passage ways are tiny and dimly lit.

Churches in Malta are the only churches I've been to where the floors are filled with tombs under it.

The ceiling

6 Visit the Blue Cliffs

7 Go to Mdina & Rabat

Entrance to Mdina (It's like a little enclosed village)

Rabat

8 Dip into the pool or jacuzzi and sunbathe

9 Walk along the promenade 

10 Try Maltese food

Their food is heavily influenced by the Italians since they're so close to each other.

Overall, Malta is a beautiful country full of history (it was once under Spanish, French & British ruling) and nature. War ruins are still evident in the city where rubbles could be seen nearly everywhere. The people are quite friendly and helpful which adds more to Corinthia having no excuse for their bad services. It's quite the perfect place in Europe for relaxing and chilling out especially right after your final year. 

Oh yeah, ever bought an ice cream at sea?