I took a 5 day solo trip to Malta for my 29th birthday and this was how it went.
Why Malta?
Since I became financially independent, I’ve made the conscious effort to travel to at least one new country every year. Currently I’m still exploring Europe. Normally I’d celebrate my birthday at home but for this year I had the urge to get away from home maybe because it is my last year of my 20s. It was a bit emotional for me. Ive always wanted to go to Malta because of the size, crystal clear beaches, antique structures but more than anything, I was going for a country that has a better weather condition as at the time because it was extremely cold in the uk and Malta check red all the list.
Planning and logistics
I started planning 4 months to my travel date. Getting the visa was surprisingly not stressful, and unlike other Schengen countries, Malta didn’t require a lot of online data collection, they did the collection in person, I just had to get an appointment date and then all went according to planned except for the fact that I got 8 months instead of of 2 years that I applied for. For activities I had booked those in booking.com. I flew into Malta International Airport at about 20:30 and was picked up by my ride, checked into my hotel and then went straight to bed because I came straight from work to the airport.
First day in Malta
I woke up early and had my breakfast and then got dressed and left for Rotunda of Mosta. The church was a beautiful sight to behold from the architectural view to the the holy statues and paintings it was a lot to soak in and I was able to gather more information through 2 hours tour. I got to learn about the Miracle Bomb, this is a wonderful story of how over 250 parishioners were gathered to celebrate the mass and the bomb made its was into the church through the dome without exploding and no casualties.
Another exciting thing I did was to celebrate the holy mass and say my confession, it was important to me because the next day was my birthday and its been a while I did that. I ended the day at the fish market with a plate of swordfish all to myself.
Second day in malta
I stayed at home because it was my birthday and I spent the day soaking in all the good wished, prayers from friends and family
3rd day in malta
I had booked a 6 hours cruise to see the Gozo, Comino and the Blue Lagoon. The weather was good but in the middle of the sea it was extremely cold, all this to say if you find yourself making the decision of doing the cruise, make sure you’re well covered, not the double or triple layering, just a simple coat will do the trick. Overall it was such a beautiful sight to behold and also it was exciting to finally see the set where the like go game of thrown, Troy, By the Sea etc. were shot. It was a long but interactive excursion. Also I was able to have a quick view of the Cathedral of the Assumption located at the capital city of Gozo. At the end, I came back to my hotel and out of exhaustion I did uber eat and had the rest of the evening to myself
4th day in malta
I woke up early, had my breakfast and then went to the Pretty Beach which was a two mins walk away from my hotel and by the way, I stayed at the Ca Sand Dune hotel. I spent the hot morning there and made a friend almost taught me how to swim.
In the afternoon, I went back to my hotel and got ready and ubered to Hagar Qim. This is one of the oldest standing independently standing stone Temple and is older than the pyramid of Egypt. It was very mind blowing to know that the stones were set up by human during the time when machines were not in existence, so to learn this almost felt impossible to believe because of the stone sizes. I took some photos and then called it a day.
Last day was emotional as I would have loved to stay longer but I had to pack, had my breakfast and then left for the airport. It was a very fulfilling trip I must say.
My thoughts on this trip to Malta
It was very productive being that I was able to have the unplanned encounter I had at the church. Overall it was fascinating to see something that is different from where I live, the weather, people, blues waters. I’ll say that God outdid himself with his work of creation. Malta is a beautiful country. On the side of food, there’s no much difference, though I was not able to taste the rabbit stew which was one meal I had in mind before going there. The total cost of the trip was very relatable compared to other European countries that I’ve been to. Commuting around, I used uber and I’ll also say that the cost was very relatable. I’ll be coming back.