Malta.... Yalta...

Maltese falcon is the first thing that comes to my mind, when I hear the word Malta.. and to be honest I had very little idea about Malta until I visited Malta... Interestingly Malta has a rich history and has had lot of influences from different cultures across the Mediterenean. Smack in the center of Mediterenean it has always been a strategic location for all the powers of Europe, Africa and Persia in olden times. A place known for clear and sandy beaches is a great tourist location.

After sailing for almost 10 days and having finished our work, it was time to get off the boat. The boat was going in port to Malta for a crew change and supplies in Valetta in Malta. So that was our opportunity to get off before the boat sets sail again towards the North sea. It was then I realised Malta is such a small Island. You can easily drive along the coast of the country easily in a day or so. Since I had the opportunity, I took a couple of days off and stayed back in Malta to do some sight seeing. My bad luck, a depression set in mediterenean and it was cloudy and raining. and more depressingly.. my camera broke down... and I had no way of fixing it until I reached Oslo...

Malta is a very nice Island with lot of influences from the Romans, Byzantines, Phoenicians, Templar knights during the crusades, Napolean's French army and later became a British colony. It was heavily attacked by Zeee... Germans during WWII due to its location between Italy and North Africa. Most of these history is seen in its language 'Maltese' which is a heavy mix of Arabic and Italian. Quite frankly it is a very funny sounding language. Neither here nor there... They also speak English very well due to British influence. It has lots of beach resorts and tourism is a big money generating industry. Scuba diving and water sports is a great attraction.

Since I had very litle time, I explored the historic places of Malta, old chappels, factories from the last century fully preserved, catacombs from the Roman times etc. I went and checked out the night life in St. John's bay and St. Julian's bay which are known for the trendy bars and night clubs. These places thrive with huge crowd of college crowd hitting the bars late at night.

All in all it was a good and relaxing break for a couple of days before I headed back to Oslo.

I only managed to take a few photos.

More info on Malta: http://www.visitmalta.com/main