With a checkout time of 11am, we didn’t have too much time to loiter on Gozo. We lounged for a bit on our balcony area. I was battling with the green owl for a spell. I have moved back to Spanish. If you rewind way back, you will find that Northern Spain was at one point a scenario for the tail end of this trip. But since we began our trip in Germany for a few days, all the flight times are jacked up now and Spain is pretty much off the table. This will be good news to my sister, who has been looking forward to a trip to Spain this summer, as it will also be the ONE time that she can claim she has been to a place before me. It shall remain so. I realize to many this is quite ludicrous that the 2nd most visited country of 2024 remains unvisited by both members of Bricole.
After checking out, we drove to the ferry to get back to the main island of Malta. However, on the way we encountered numerous backups on the narrow streets of Gozo. “Sleepy little island,” my bottom. But as we would soon find out, Valletta is a whole different animal. We made decent progress once back on the island of Malta despite a brief skirmish with a gas pump enroute. Hertz at the airport didn’t seem to care or notice the little scratch on the wheel and tire (I attempted to strategically cough when he reached that side of the car), and so we continued on our way.
We got a Bolt (like Uber but generally better and less expensive) to central Valletta which took about 15 minutes. Driving these streets would be bad enough, but parking is close to nonexistent unless you’re a resident, so we knew keeping the car was more a liability than anything. We checked in to the Pjazza Merkanti boutique hotel with a balcony looking out next to a traditional Maltese balcony. They are enclosed balconies. If this is hard to visualize, look no further than the following image.
The only thing I really wanted to see in the immediate area was the Lascaris War Rooms. These were a series of hidden underground offices and command centers used primarily during WWII to coordinate the defense of Malta as well as other movements throughout the “Med” (that’s Mediterranean to you civvies [that’s civilians to you plebes]).
It was cooler down there than outside, but as Nicole noted the air was a bit off. Inside the museum, we could see the command areas where major campaigns were run — including the invasion of Sicily which had its own exhibit with the museum. Because these command centers were underground, they were spared from the relentless German (and I suppose occasionally Italian) aerial bombardment of the island. This is often not talked about, but the island was effectively under siege for almost 2 1/2 years resulting in massive rescue convoys and the large scale naval battles that followed. Malta was viewed as very strategic given its geography in the middle of the Mediterranean, but as Italians would later come to appreciate — home to a thriving club scene as well.
After the war rooms, we enjoyed the daylight and a nice landscape overlooking other areas of Valletta. The water was a rich turquoise and blue, with parts of the city reminding me a bit of Venice. Most of the streets in this older part of Valletta are pedestrian-only, which makes walking a bit easier except for the fact that there were also a lot of other people everywhere.
We zigged and zagged throughout numerous different streets, all of which seemed to have either a steep uphill climb, or resulted in sliding on slippery stones going downhill. Malta does not appear to be a very flat country from our experiences.
As the afternoon turned to evening, the crowds seemed to keep increasing. We elected to find a cafe that wasn’t too crowded, but also not empty in hopes of sitting down to relax with a couple of Aperol Spritzes. Everyone else was doing it, and we didn’t want to feel left out. I’m still not convinced that it’s worthy of all the attention that it’s getting. It’s a bit bitter for my taste.
After thoroughly spritzed, we went to get some flatbread pizza a few blocks away. A table was set for us outside, but my chair was somewhat inclined backward due to the hill. We were warned about this predicament, but still figured outdoors offered better ambiance. Luckily we had a reservation as it filled up fast. I had a cacio e pepe flatbread and Nicole went with aubergine (that’s eggplant to you yanks). A Hawaiian pizza was on the menu and listed as 100.00 euro. We weren’t sure if that was a typo or a joke (as in don’t order Hawaiian pizza), but it gave me pause nonetheless.
After dinner we walked around trying to find some waters to take back to the room, but the local SPAR market was absolutely packed. People were coming out of everywhere. We were initially going to have a leisurely walk around the neighborhood before turning in for the night, but there was nothing leisurely about the crowds that were materializing everywhere. It was loud, it was rowdy, and everyone seemingly forgot how to walk in a straight line.
We returned to our hotel for the night to settle in. Tomorrow, it appears that we are going back to Germany because, quite simply, it has the most open seats. Of course, this could all change. Earlier today, we were seriously contemplating a flight to Warsaw. Time will soon tell.
passports & pepto bismol 