Weather. The mediterranean climate is a welcome change for someone whose been cursing the cold since I arrived in Ireland. At 18°, people are bundled up in puffer jackets, scarfs and hats. Ireland has conditioned me well. I only needed two layers. Too cold for the Maltese, warm enough for flies.
People. It’s probably unfair to compare to the Irish. This is not to say Maltese people aren’t friendly. I’ve had the opportunity of meeting some lovely and helpful locals while I was there. But the friendliness of Irish people are unparalleled. Nothing like I’ve ever experienced in all my travels.
Architecture. Nothing but beige as far as the eye can see. Primarily because their buildings and pavements are constructed with limestone. In some of the older buildings, there are wooden window frames which screened the window space completely known as the Maltese balcony. They are usually painted in bright primary colours. Malta also has several fascinating fortresses and megalithic temples. We had the pleasure of attending a gig in one of these old forts. It was magical.
Landscape. I can’t believe I’m saying this, I truly have come a long way but sadly there are no mountains or rivers in Malta. It’s completely forest free. The beige is eye-pleasing to look at but after a while, you do begin yearning for some greenery. Even so there are postcard-perfect coastal cliffs and plenty of clear blue waters but hiking for me is still preferable to swimming in the ocean any day.
Transport. There are cars everywhere. Streets are narrow, a result of limited space on the island so there are no special lanes for buses or cyclists. Speaking of cyclists, I asked a local if cycling was a thing and they told me in the most matter of fact way that I will certainly die if I tried. Drivers in Malta are notorious for fast and reckless driving. Although the congestion is nowhere as bad as Kuala Lumpur, drivers it seems are twice as impatient. There were a lot of gesturing and sudden breaking in the cabs that I took. Speaking of cabs, they have a Grab/Uber equivalent called Bolt and they are always only 1-2mins away. It’s mostly walkable if you’re in a central location. If not, there are buses but I’ve been spoiled by the convenience of Bolt so I can’t confirm their reliability.
Food. Probably not a priority for most but Malta has an array of Japanese restaurants. Back home, we get Japanese takeout at least twice a week. Since moving to Ireland, apart from Dublin, that routine has largely come to a halt. Malta does have a decent variety of food. The best things I ate were a seafood pasta from an Italian restaurant and a vegan hotdog from a random cafe in the capital. We also had a really impressive meal, specifically the Caribbean Tataki dish at a South American restaurant for Nine’s birthday.
Language. When I first heard spoken Maltese, I was blown away at the complexity. If you’re not paying close attention, you’d think you’re hearing Italian but to the trained ear, it is more like Arabic with interspersions of English, French and Italian sounding words. It’s a beautiful language, possibly quite tricky to learn. But definitely not as impossible as Irish.
mostly earnest 