Easter on the Maltese Islands
 

As I already mentioned in my Indian trip report, I quite enjoy writing these reports.

So with no big trip planned at the moment, I decided to write up a trip report of our trip to Malta which started almost exactly one year ago today and of which I have a ton of photo’s.

However, with the flights being intra-European economy, this installment will be mostly text as these aren’t the most exiting flights.

We have the habit of taking a short trip to the sun during the Easter holidays and last year was no different. As Easter fell quite early in the year, we had only five days available and wanted to see some sun, we looked for a sunny destination within a short flying time from Brussels.

After looking into many options, we decided on Malta as the last time we visited the island before was 28 years ago (when I was 3 years old) so it would be fun to go and look what had changed.

In order to get there we looked for flights that would maximize our time on the island, leaving on Easter Sunday and returning on the next Thursday.

Unfortunately there is only one direct flight from Brussels to Malta on Air Malta which leaves in the evening arriving in Malta around 9 pm which would eliminate our whole first day. So, the best alternative was to book a ticket with Expedia, flying Lufthansa from Brussels to Frankfurt and connecting on the Frankfurt to Brussels flight which would land us on Malta just before noon. Return would be on Air Malta leaving Malta at 4pm and arriving in Brussels at 7pm.

However, some events would change our plans. We were leaving on March 27, 2017 but some terrorists decided to attack Brussels airport on March 22, 2017. Luckily they didn’t wait until the Easter Holidays during which time the airport would be packed. As a result of the attacks, the airport was closed down, but with 5 days to go before our flight I was sure they would reopen in time for us not to alter our plans.

However, instead of giving a clear time frame regarding the reopening of the airport, authorities kept pushing the opening date one day at a time and on Friday night the opening date was pushed for another two days and we received a message from Lufthansa that our flight was indeed cancelled. So I immediately got on the phone with Lufthansa customer service (on the German phone line, the Belgian line was constantly unavailable and even the German number took about an hour to get through).

Together with the customer service agent I went to look for all alternative options to get us in Malta on Sunday, trying to leave from a surrounding airport like Paris, Lille, Köln, Dusseldorf, Amsterdam which they could accommodate us on but not on Sunday. Changing our departure airport would push our departure with a couple of days. So in the end I decided on the only remaining option, being just cancelling the first leg from Brussels to Frankfurt and just drive to Frankfurt an join or flight from Frankfurt to Brussels from their, with the idea to fly back to Brussels on Air Malta and then take a plane or train the next weekend to recuperate my car in Frankfurt.

So with all set and done and the flight leaving Frankfurt at 9.25 am, we decided to leave home at 2.30 am for the 500 km drive to Frankfurt allowing plenty of time for any traffic. However, there is one thing I love about Germany and that’s the Autobahn. So after two hours we crossed the border into Germany and from there it was cruising between 200 and 250 km/hour putting us into Frankfurt airport about four hours before our flight.

One thing I noticed as odd, coming from Belgium were terror alert was at the maximum level at that moment, was that there seemed to be minimal security at Frankfurt Airport (even on Malta the access road to the airport was secured by military, but no such thing in Germany).

Check in was very swift and an automated check-in desk and we were through security in no time and having no lounge access decided to have some croissants at a very overpriced airport restaurant.

After waiting it out, the flight was fortunately on time. In managed to check us in to row 5, just behind business class. Flight was very smooth, with a sandwich or a piece of very tasty apple cake and two drink rounds and during the last part nice views of the Italian coast and Sicily before landing on time in Malta.

As I said nothing exited about intra-European economy class, but Lufthansa offers a solid economy class product with free food and drinks (take an example on that e.g. Iberia, Brussels,…), performing on time and flexible to find a solution in difficult times. The price of the Brussels-Frankfurt portion was paid back a couple of weeks later (although took some phone calls as the ticket was booked through Expedia who had to be conferenced in also before being able to process the rebate).

Next installment will cover our lodging, the Grand Hotel Excelsior and Valletta and will include pics with the story.

Excelsior Grand Hotel and Valetta
 

It took me a bit longer than expected to prodcue this trip report, but finally I found some time in between writing SPA’s to write the next installment of this report.

Now, as to our lodging, I found Malta to be a very difficult hotel market with not a lot of options that really stand out. I looked into the chain hotels (mostly the Starwood offerings), but we decided we wanted to ben within walking distance of Valetta so we could easily find some nice dinner options, which none of the chain hotels offered.

Narrowing it done to Valetta, options were limited. Casa Ellul looks incredibly nice, however they charged an arm and a leg over the eastern weekend. The Phoenicia was closed for renovations, so the only five star option left was the Excelsior Grand hotel. Now the reviews of this hotel are a mixed bag, but they offered a dirt cheap rate which included breakfast and a 50 EUR food and beverage credit and was spot on the location we wanted to be. They must have earned their 5 stars somewhere, so we booked this one and hoped for the best.

I had several contacts with the concierge beforehand to arrange the hotel car to pick up us at the airport, and to arrange a rental car on our 2nd day in Malta, which was dealt with in a very friendly and efficient way. The concierge department proved very helpful during our stay as well, as we used them extensively to recommend and book restaurants and activities.

We had landed just before noon in Malta and were out of the airport very quickly, where an older and very friendly gentleman was waiting for us with a SUV from the hotel, which was a 20 minute drive away. During the drive, the driver pointed out several landmarks.

At the hotel, check in was efficient, although a bit strange is that they ask you to guarantee 50 EUR per night on your credit card as a guarantee for expenses made at the hotel.

On of the rooms was ready at check-in, the other one would be ready later. I had read stories of run down rooms with incredibly old and dirty bath rooms, however was very surprised to find that my room, which was on the upper floor of the hotel seemed to have been recently refreshed. Although absolutely not my style of interior.

The view:
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What I forgot to take a picture of was the welcome amenity we received in each room, being a box of chocolates and a full size bottle of red wine.

One feature in the room was that there was an empty minibar which you could have stocked with anything you request. I kind of like this set up and had it filled with sprakling water (which is all I need in a mini bar and usually you only find one bottle of sparkling water in addition to all kinds of other drinks you never open). Great idea to have the drinks of your choice in your room. Next to this, there was plenty of free bottled water in the room which was replenished twice a day.

After dropping of our bags in the room, we set of to discover Valetta, but first start with some pizza on a terrace. Fueled up we did a walking tour of Valetta which is a gorgeous city.

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It was Easter Sunday and sun was burning down!

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After a first bottle of Maltese wine on a terrace, we lastly visited the St-Johns Co Cathedral.

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Finally, late afternoon it was time to head back to the hotel, which is build into a hillside, and as a result it takes about 100 steps to go from the street to the reception and vice versa. There is however a twice daily free shuttle to the main gate of Valetta.

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As we had been up since 2 a.m. at that point, we decided to stay in the hotel the first night and use up our food and beverage credit. So after some laps in the indoor swimming pool, we headed to the bar for some cocktails, where there was live entertainment by a singing piano player. Atmosphere was very British.

After cocktails we headed one level down to the restaurant, where we opted to partake in the buffet which was of good quality with amongst others a grill station grilling meat to order. However, all following meals around the island would be even better.

After dinner it was time for an early sleep as the rental car we had ordered would be delivered at 9 a.m. in the morning.

Up in the next installment: learning to drive on the wrong side of the street and visiting the three cities.

Nice photos, thanks for sharing your trip ^^

Learning to drive on the wrong side:D My ex-wife always claimed I nearly hit a few people on my first meters. Can't remember;)

The Three Cities and the Blue Grotto
 

The next day, once again, it was an early rise as I had reserved a rental car through the hotel concierge to be delivered around 9:30 in the morning.

We went to breakfast before the delivery of the car, and unfortunately you can not have breakfast outside, although the breakfast restaurants has huge windows on the bayside, so the view is incredible. The breakfast is the place were the hotel shows how huge it is and were the negative sides of the reviews on trip advisor may be true. The Maitre D’hotel in the breakfast room could be friendlier and is more of a traffic agent in the breakfast restaurant. The buffet is standard fare for a 5 star hotel, although noting excels, with a heavy focus on the tastebuds on our English friends. They do have two egg/pancake stations, which at times have a long line, but give me a nicely cooked omelet in the morning and I’m okay.

After breakfast, the lady from the rental car agency (local and quite cheap) was waiting in the lobby to arrange the paper work on the rental car, which was waiting for us in the underground garage of the hotel. As we wouldn’t be hauling any luggage and having heard that a large car can not be parked on Malta (small island with too many cars) I booked the cheapest category, and this is what was waiting for us:

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Driving it on the left side of the road worked out after a couple of hours, but one thing I could never get used of was shifting gears with my left hand. I deeply regretted not spending 5 EUR more per day to rent an automatic car. A lesson learned for the next time I visit a country were they never learned which is the right side of the road. However the small size of the car proved useful as it indeed only needs a handkerchief to park on and thus we could most of the time leave it right in front of the door of the places we wanted to visit.

First up today were the Three Cities, right across the harbor from Valetta. Very nice to walk around in the sunny spring morning.

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After walking around the tree cities, where the harbor between the three cities and Valetta is filled with the most incredible yachts, we headed for Marsaxlokk bay, where we had an outside lunch with an incredible view on the fishing boats in the harbor. Some lobster ravioli and a beer on a simple road side terrace certainly hit the spot.

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After lunch, it was time for one of Malta’s obligatory tourist attractions, the Blue Grotto. Although the island has no real beaches, the coast is amazing.

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Geared up in life jackets, jumped in a boat full of (Asian) tourists for a tour around the caves.

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All in all, a tourist trap, but a fun way to spend an afternoon.

After this, we drove further along the coast until the temples of Mnajdra, a couple of temples dating back to 3600 B.C. To protect them from the elements, the remains are covered by tents, and are mostly stones requiring lots of imangination, but it’s a nice walk on the cliffs of Malta.

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Getting back to the car it was time to head back to the Excelsior for some rest and a swim before dinner.

As I already said I came ill prepared and let the concierge decide where we would have dinner and this night the suggestion and reservation was at Rampila, a restaurant right next to the main city gate, in the fortifications of the city. The restaurant has a beautiful terrace which was unfortunately closed as it still was to cold at night to eat outside. We opted for the dining menu with some bottles of Maltese wines (a red and a white). Quality of the food was good, I’ll let the pictures do the speaking:

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Unfortunately, I forgot to picture the main course and the dessert.

The restaurant itself is in a tunnel in the fortifications, which ends on the now almost empty terrace.
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Fully satisfied, we headed back the short walk to the excelsior for some rest before heading out to Medina and a Maltese wine estate the next day.