Bonjour de la Suisse: A trip worth the sprint

A while back, G mentioned that there was yet another company sales meeting that he was required to attend... this time in the exotic location of Malta. Where?!? I knew it was an island in the Mediterranean, but what country is it in? Italy, Span, or perhaps Greece?

I thought I was up on my European geography, but apparently not. Malta is its own country! Who knew? I soon learned that Malta is Europe's most southern country, located just south of Sicily, halfway between the tip of Italy and North Africa. It's such a small place, just five little islands with the main island only 16 miles long and 9 miles wide.

After a little research, I learned that for such a small place, Malta is packed with history and interesting sights, not to mention the beaches and warm weather that draw people here from all over. We were booked for five days of fun and sun (and a bit of work for G). I was excited to explore this new place that I hardly new existed just a few weeks earlier!

But we had to get there first, which seemed fated to be a huge challenge for me. G and I were on separate flights (his paid for by the company and mine the cheapest option I could find). I was booked on Alitalia, and thankfully I decided to give G all my liquids so I could go all carry-on (Alitalia's reputation as the worst airline for lost luggage precedes itself).

Well, the morning arrived and we managed to sleep through all our alarms and woke up at 6am. Early, but not early enough to make my 6:55am flight! I brushed my teeth, threw on my clothes and was headed full sprint to the train station. My only hope was to catch the 6:07 train. We live about 3 1/2 blocks from the station and I actually made it to the tracks by 6:07, enough to push the button on the train to make the doors open, but I was a split second too late... the train pulled out without me. I was in full sprint again, this time to the taxi stand out front. I had no time to wait the 11 minutes for the next train.

We arrived at the airport in record time, and there was only one person in line ahead of me at the check in counter! But it was a fight to get me on the flight. I was informed I was too late!! I begged her to help me out ("See... no bags to check!") She hesitantly called the gate... "Okay, but you have to run." No problem, and I was off sprinting again. I cut the line at both passport control and security (something which I detest) only to get to the gate a full 10 minutes before boarding. I was happy as a clam. At my connecting airport in Rome, I also had to make a mad dash through the airport after getting confused as to my gate location during my very short connection. But I managed to just get on that flight too and soon I was in Malta.

While waiting for G at the hotel, I was trying to figure out what to do for the week and the logistics of getting around. I thought it would be fun to rent a car, but after reading that Malta has the highest accident rate in Europe, that no one follows any of the road signs or rules of the road, and that "any courtesy on your part will be seen as a sign of weakness", I figured that even for this ambulance driver maybe we would be better with the extensive network of big yellow buses that crisscross the islands.

G had a couple free days and we were planning on filling them with sea and sun (yes, that was G's preference!) We started at a place called Golden Bay which was so windy we could hardly stand it. After freezing on the beach for a couple hours we gave up and trekked across the island to the docks to catch a boat to the island of Camino where The Blue Lagoon is located. But it was too windy for the boats as well, so we had to come back the next morning. The Blue Lagoon seemed to be a bit overrated as well. Not only was the water absolutely freezing, it was infested with jelly fish!! We hardly had a chance to pop in ankle deep for a quick picture when they would drift our way.

The days I was on my own I checked out the numerous prehistoric temples (many of which predate the Egyptian pyramids) and the towns of Valletta (Europe's tiniest capital city) and Mdina (the ancient walled city in the center of Malta). One of the coolest sights was the incredible underground temple called the Hypogeum in Ħal-Saflieni, which unbeknownst to me requires a reservation at lest a month in advance. But thanks to a very cool taxi driver and a little luck, I managed to get in. Later that day I unexpectedly was guided around by an old local fisherman who was kind enough to show me around his favorite haunts.

Even with all the daytime sightseeing, my favorite part of the trip was the evenings. Most nights we were at company functions, but on our own we dined at a fantastic restaurant (recommended by a Geneva friend) called The Kitchen. The big finale was the huge beach party that was just down from our hotel. It was fantastic, complete with tiki torches, great music, dancing, henna, and lots of delicious food & drinks. After the police shut us down we danced our way to the bar before finally retiring sometime early the next morning.

Malta was great. It's a lively mix of Italian, Middle Eastern, and Northern African. We had such a great time! Thanks again to G's company for helping us to discover another of Europe's great places and a jewel of the Mediterranean.