Malta: Holiday Snaps
Malta is a treasure that has been polished by history. ― Walter Scott
Some holiday snaps from Malta… It’s obviously a hugely popular destination for tourism (the very excellent Mark Steel’s in Town episode on the island covers this well), but it also has a rich and deep history dating back around 8,500 years to the Mesolithic era. Its position as a strategic stronghold in the Mediterranean means that the heritage stretches from there to the modern day. It was this aspect that piqued our interest more than the undoubtedly fine weather and beaches…
The long and the short is that this was a brilliant holiday - we really enjoyed our time in Malta and are very pleased to have had the opportunity to visit. The lasting impression is one of colour - the yellows and browns of the buildings and landscapes combined with the deep blues and aquas of the sea and sky. It’s an old place, a place that has helped shape history and yet still a place of great beauty.
Fort St Angelo and Cospicua from Upper Barrakka
Fujifilm X-Pro2 | 35mm f/8.0 1/60s ISO 640
Thursday - First Impressions
Given our interest in the island’s story, we wanted to base ourselves centrally and the Phoenicia Malta’s location right by the Valletta City Gate proved ideal. We arrived mid-afternoon, giving us just enough time for a brief wander into the town before dinner. In the evening the locals had kindly laid on a fireworks display to celebrate our arrival!
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Friday - Fort St Elmo
We started Friday with the intention of having a wander around the perimeter of Valletta and then perhaps exploring a little further into town. In the event, we walked as far as Fort St Elmo and then hours seemed to disappear. It’s an interesting location; plenty to explore and fascinating exhibitions and illustrations of the fort’s history and its strategic role from the 1500s through to the second world war. We can highly recommend the Heritage Malta pass - outstanding value and well worth buying.
View to Fort St Elmo
Fujifilm X-Pro2 | 16mm f/5.6 1/2200s ISO 200
After exploring the fort we wandered back on the other side of the town before heading into town for dinner. Helen’s friend had, through one of her Maltese friends, given us some restaurant recommendations; all excellent. For a first full day Manon Gastro Bar was very good.
Saturday - Fort St Angelo and Cospicua
We over-reached again on Saturday and set off with the aim of taking in the Three Cities on the other side of the Grand Harbour from Valletta. In the event we only really managed one;. Having lost some time to far from up to date signage for the ferry, we were then distracted by Fort St Angelo. If anything, the complex is even more extensive and varied than that at Fort St Elmo. Seeing the way the fort has been adapted over the centuries, from a stronghold of the Knights of St John to a British Naval station was really absorbing.
Fort St Angelo
Fujifilm X-Pro2 | 35mm f/8.0 1/420s ISO 200
In addition we did have time to take in the Parish Church of St Lawrence as well as the Inquisitor’s Palace. Both were, again, well worth a look. There was some minor drama on the return journey when the ferry service was cancelled. Helen was mightily relieved that, in fact, the solution was a short taxi ride rather than swimming for it or booking overnight accommodation! Fatigue had rather set in by this point and we opted for a bite to eat at the hotel.
Sunday - Mdina and Rabat
An exploration of Mdina and Rabat was the plan for the Sunday. Bolt rather than Uber seems to have the market across Malta, but we found taxi was probably the most effective way of travelling across the island. There are buses, but strict adherence to a timetable reportedly seems not to be a strength, and they can get very busy. Prices for the taxis are also sensible if you use the ride app rather than the white cabs.
Mdina itself was the capital of the island up until the Medieval period and still retains much of the character of the old fortified city. The narrow alleyways can get busy, so a little patience can be needed at times, but we liked the mix of architecture and history. Definitely worth a visit.
Mdina Street View
Fujifilm X-Pro2 | 35mm f/8.0 1/450s ISO 200
From Mdina we wandered into Rabat via the Domvs Romana, one of the better preserved Roman era houses. Rabat itself was a little quieter and felt a little more local, but still had plenty to hold the interest. After a lovely lunch at Chalk in Rabat we headed back to Valletta for the evening. Having eaten well at lunch we thought we’d go for the lighter option for dinner and a sharing platter at 67 Kapital; it was excellent, but wasn’t the lighter option!
Monday - Ħaġar Qim and the South
Monday took us south, again by taxi, to the Ħaġar Qim Archaeological Site at Qrendi. This is a megalithic temple complex that dates back to around 3600-3200 BC. What’s striking is the apparent sophistication of the complex and culture and the sheer scale of enterprise that must have been needed to construct the buildings.
Ħaġar Qim and the little island of Filfla
Fujifilm X-Pro2 | 35mm f/5.6 1/420s ISO 200
From the temples we were able to walk down to the viewpoint overlooking the Blue Grotto and from there into Żurrieq for a well-earned drink and an ice cream. We then ventured across the south of the island to the pretty harbour town of Marsaxlokk. I think by that point we were starting to flag a little and the harbour itself was extremely busy. We decided to call it a day and retreated back to Valletta for some downtime at the hotel and an excellent evening meal at Beati Paoli Restaurant.
Tuesday - Gozo
This was probably our highest friction day… Our intended ferry was cancelled because of a mechanical fault, which put us an hour behind; the hop-on, hop-off bus in Gozo managed the trick of being incredibly cramped and fantastically dull and we made it back to the return ferry with less than a minute to spare. On top of that, Victoria was incredibly busy, rather going against its well-marketed reputation. Despite that, the Cittadella was fabulous and the history of the place quite fascinating. Despite the friction, it was well worth the trip.
Cittadella, Gozo
Sony A7R V | 70mm f/8.0 1/400s ISO 100
One of the highlights within the Cittadella is the Cathedral of the Assumption. Like many of the larger churches and cathedrals on the island (of which there are many), it managed that splendid combination of piety and extreme opulence… We stopped off at the Ġgantija Archaeological Park on the way back, site of the earliest of the megalithic temples of Malta and the world's second-oldest existing man-made religious structures. In amongst the ruins were some rather lovely ice plants…
This was also the only day I took the Sony. Not sure why - probably because it was feeling neglected… The evening saw us wandering back in Valletta to grab dinner at da Sandro, which was magnificent!
Wednesday - Valletta Revisited
For our final full day we headed back into Valletta to take in a couple of the locations that we’d missed over the rest of the week. Top of the list was St John’s Co-Cathedral. There are, reputedly, 365 churches on Malta - one for every day of the year - and this has to be one of absolute highlights. It is, put simply, stunning. It’s also worth booking tickets online unless you’re a massive fan of standing in queues.
St John’s Co-Cathedral
Fujifilm X-Pro2 | 16mm f/4.0 1/60s ISO 4000
The Co-Cathedral is also home to Caravaggio’s ‘The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist’ and there’s an exhibition and installation dedicated to the artist which was extremely well done. The other heritage site we’d not visited was the Grand Master’s Palace - the home to previous Grand Masters, British Governors and subsequently, until 2015 home of the parliament. Again, the history is superbly shown and we’re very pleased not to have missed it. We also had chance to catch the firing of the cannon at the Saluting Battery before a wander back.
Conclusions / Photography Bit
As I said at the outset this was a fabulous holiday. Hopefully the images give some sense of the place and positives from the trip. I’d like to think that we’ll be back, but possibly at a slightly different time of year. Helen and I have never really visited any of the traditional ‘Med’ holiday destinations, so this was a first. There’s no doubt it’s pretty; there’s also no doubt it’s busy.
Even at the end of April / beginning of May the town felt very crowded at times (although we were also there over a bank holiday weekend). Cruise ships arrive daily (some of them HUGE) and it is no regret that we didn’t visit the more tourist centric areas such as St Julians and Sliema.
This is nitpicking though; it’s a brilliant, vibrant, lively and life-affirming place to visit and we’d thoroughly recommend it!
From a photography perspective it was just really quite good to shoot without fiddling with the minutiae of settings or composition. Two focal lengths worked fine - 24mm and 50mm in full frame terms. - but swapping lenses occasionally added a little friction. The main issue is that the X-Pro2 is now 10 years old. Much like myself, while quality is assured it occasionally takes to or three attempts to start up! I have a plan to simplify further…
St John’s Co-Cathedral - little chance of quiet reflection…
