mal-teaser: not talking about chocolate

Posted on October 19, 2006 Updated on July 7, 2013

Before we had left Australia, we had tossed up between M&Ms: Morocco or Malta for a 4-day visit. And we swayed towards Malta because other than knowing a few Maltese people, we did not know much else about the country.

Firstly, we had no idea that we would meet so many Australian expats there. Our cab driver from the airport was telling us how he lived in Australia for most of his life but was wanting to retire in Malta.

Secondly, we had no idea that English was spoken everywhere.

Thirdly, that the money would not be in Euro so was ever so confusing to work out how much anything cost in comparison to the rest of Europe. For this trip, we had decided that our everyday expenses (excluding accommodation) would be 100 Euro no matter where we were so we had to convert back to euro if that was not the currency.

Fourthly, that rabbit was a delicacy in Malta. Let’s just say, we ate rabbit accidentally one day when we ate spaghetti bolognese with “special” sauce and enjoyed it too!

We had a day in Valetta, a day in Gozo and then on our last day, we had a day tour of Malta. And it was here we experienced and learnt some interesting things.

Mosta Cathedral – famous because during World War II (in 1942), a bomb came through the roof and amazingly no one was injured and also it did not explode.

Rabat – where St Paul was held captive for 3 months after becoming shipwrecked on Malta. He started the first church in the old Roman prisons underground.

Mdina – the silent city; a fortress the knights had built, knights exiled from Rhodes, ever so peaceful walking through the alleyways and behind the high walls.

We are sooooo happy we opted to visit here. It was such a great getaway from the mainland. It is definitely not a place that is frequented by Australians coming to Europe so we were happy to be able to experience Malta!