Michael Carøe Andersen

Category: Trips in Malta

Holiday Tips for Malta: Food and a Bit of Sightseeing

The last couple of years I’ve had a couple of friends ask me for recommendations and tips for a visit to Malta. This is the latest I’ve written. I figured other people might find it useful so here it is.

Hi Michael, How’s London in October? Rainy, I’m guessing?

Anyway, as I told you when you were in Prague, me and my girlfriend will be visiting Malta about ten days from now.

Could you give us some tips perhaps? Myself I’m mainly and mostly interested in food. The local thing would be what we are looking for. for example, in Italy, by chance we walked into this place, which looked like a czech jidelna – like a snackbar – but turned out to bto have great, simple traditional food.

Do you know any of such places? or how to recognize the average traditional diner? we are staying in Valetta, Marsalforn (Gozo) and Qawra. Perhaps for S you could advise some sightseeing tips.

London get’s it fair share of rain but I think people have a disproportionate impression of how much rain we get 🙂 Malta got a bit of rain last week as well as you can see in the video below. (Update video is no longer online.

Malta weather in November can be tricky. With clouds, storms and lots of rainfall or bright sunny days not too warm not too cold.

Anyways on to the food! The Maltese people love food so I think you will find some compatriots there. The Maltese kitchen is related to Italian/Sicilian in many ways but with their own particular twist to it. Culturally the island has had influences from most of the big empires of the Mediterranean so the Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Sicilian has had an impact on the language, culture and food. Wikipedia has a very comprehensive list of dishes and their Maltese names.

A local soft drink that you should most definitely try is Kinnie. Made with bitter orange it’s refreshing without being super sweet and great for a hot day. Local beers are Cisk Lager and Hopleaf Pale Ale – the latter being my favorite.

The snack of Malta is the Pastizzi as shown above. It’s a flaky pastry made with either mushy pea or ricotta (cheese) filling. Another variation is the Qassatat. You can buy pastizzi and other fresh-made snacks at small corner bars or pastizzeria as they are sometime called. As the place you found in Italy the front wont give away a good place like Crystal Palace here which supposedly is the best in Rabat/Mdina.

You can also find pastizzi in band clubs. These institutions started as community projects and today each band club will have a bar at a central location of the villages. They might not have the best pastizzi but you get to experience the enthusiastic (to say the least) conversation culture of Malta often executed by elderly men. In the village where Ann is from there are two band clubs across from each other and when we walked by it I always heard shouting coming from inside. At first I just thought it was a once-off drunken row but after hearing it a couple of times I asked Ann what they were fighting about and she said; “They are not fighting they are just discussing.” Without understanding the language it’s still interesting to go to a band club and see a real Mediterranean discourse unfold while having a Kinnie or Hopleaf. You find them at the center of towns, just go after the noise. Here’s the band club in Birgu:

I really like the local bakeries. Also very unassuming from the outside when you walk in you walk straight into the actual bakery where the oven might still be on and churning out fresh bread. The big round Maltese bread is called Ftira and the typical way at Ann’s house is to get it as a sandwich with tuna, capers, gbejnet (goat cheese) and kunserva. You can make that yourself if you want a lunch on the cheap.
However on Gozo the Ftira is an open sandwich more like a pizza and Maxokk Bakery in Nadur, Gozo is one of the best places to get one of these.

Being an island seafood is relatively cheap, fresh and very good. Apart from that a typical local dishes are rabbit stew (which is good), snails (I tried it once – nothing too exciting) and apparently horse meat (I’ve never noticed it on menus or been offered it at home). Apart from these “exotic” things you can get great pasta, pizza and risotto in most respectable places. My favorite is Ann’s aunts’ homemade ravjul.

When I’m there we mostly eat at home so I don’t know of any “hidden, secret” restaurants. I would do as in Prague – if you want food that locals eat go for a walk and get away from areas where there are too many tourists.

One of Ann’s aunt has a place in Marsalforn, Gozo and whenever we or someone goes up to Gozo we always have to bring back some honey rings. The place they buy them from is a confectionary more or less opposite the bus station in Victoria, Gozo. I think you can get them all over the islands but their family has a special affection for exactly the ones from this place. And they are really good.

There are other Maltese seasonal sweets like the Prinjolata before Carnival or the Christmas Pudina tal-Ä¦obÅ¼ but both are too sweet for my taste.

My favorite cake place has to be Fontanella’s in Mdina.

I would highly recommend making the trip into the Hypogeum – an ancient underground temple. Really fascinating place but because of the conditions of the place only 10 people are allowed in per hour so you should book tickets online before you go to Malta.

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There are loads of other historic sites and museums but since that doesn’t sound like you are too interested in that I’ll leave out the rest apart from my favorite museums which are Norman House in Mdina, St. John’s Co-cathedral in Valletta and the knights museum in the Infermeria in Valletta.

I’d recommend you go for a walk in Mdina preferably early morning or late evening as it is best experienced without hords of tourists when it lives up to it’s name The Silent City. It’s the old capital and really a charming place.

For things to do I would check out the salute at noon from Upper Barrakka Gardens in Valletta and see if there is a reenactment on at St. Elmo. Just walking in the streets of Valletta is amazing. Although the main Republic Street is a bit boring with mostly have the same shops as any other European country.

Just two streets away from Republic Street is a “forgotten” street. The narrow Strait Street that was the bar and brothel street when the British servicemen where in Malta up til the independence in 1964. Walking down the street it’s like talking a walk through history as many of the old street signs still hang around slowly decaying.

A “hidden” gem in Valletta is Hastings Garden at the southwestern corner. Climbing up on top of the bastions here is the perfect make-out spot it seems as there is always a couple of couples sitting up here when I come by. If the weather is nice it’s great for watching sunset or just to take in the grand view of Manoel Island and Msida Creek.

While you are in Malta there will be a feast in BaÄ§rija where you will be able to see a procession and ground fireworks.

Sat 13th at 6pm: mass followed by procession with statue around village. 9pm: statue ‘returns’ to church followed by a service. Then there is a band march followed by ground fireworks.

That was what I could come up with now. Let me know if you need more suggestions for places to go. Too read about the trips I’ve made to the islands see blog post about My First Time in Malta, Spring in Malta, Miniholiday in Gozo, Fireworks, Farm and Forts, Maltese Wedding, Easter in Malta, Christmas in Malta

October 30, 2010
A Maltese Wedding

Almost three months ago Ann and I made a trip to Malta. We went to catch up with her family and friends and to attend her cousins wedding. It was going to be my first wedding in Malta.

The events started at the village church in Å»urrieq where most of Ann’s family lives.

The church is a typical Maltese church sitting in the center of the village and as the front door faces West it is always lit by the most golden light when the sun is starting to set. The ceremony started at 18.30 so as we walked up the roadwe got to see the church in all it’s grandeur.

We went inside and the ceremony started. It was in Maltese so I’m not really sure all that went on. My liturgical knowledge is not really up to scratch but there were some different talks by the priest. Some of the aunts of the bride and groom went to the podium and read some bible verses. And in between there was music being played. Initially I thought it was just recorded music as I could not see the musicians but it turned out there were a singer and a keyboard player behind one of the columns. The songs were more modern that what we are used to hear played by organs in Danish churches.

Running around during the service was a cameraman with a huge light, a photographer and two light assistants with long booms. The photographer looked like a secret service agent in his black suit and an ear peice directing the cameraman and two assistants around. With the church ceremony lasting about an hour and a half I had plenty of time to look at all these guys running around trying to get the perfect shots.

Afterwards we went outside to greet the newlywed as they exited the church and we threw confetti at them while they made their way to the veteran car that would take them to the venue. Here’s the sweet couple.

And then we headed to the venue of the reception. In church most of the family had been present but at the reception more friends and family showed up so we were in the neighbourhood of 300 people there I think.

The reception was held at Ir-Razzett L-Abjad which is an old farm house beautifully converted into a venue hall with a big outdoor garden. It was a huge place with people flocking around either the indoor or outdoor bar.

I had already met a most of Ann’s uncles and aunts on this side of the family on previous trips but here I got to meet all the cousins as well as we came across them at the party.

Unlike Danish parties they don’t go around shaking hands or giving hugs. Instead you find a place to stand or sit while the waiters make the rounds with hors d’oeuvres and other foods. I didn’t take picture of the food and forgot all the different options but there was a lot (maybe it was something like this). A band was playing some background music but there wasn’t really anybody dancing and the food kept coming.

I was quite hungry when the food started to arrive and didn’t realize that it would keep coming all through the night so I indulged a lot in the first couple of items and was struggling as we were halfway through the list. Anyways there was a lot(!) of food and as always in Malta it was really tasty.

The evening ended with the cutting of the cake (more food!) and coffee. An open bar and good food in a steady stream is the perfect combination to keep a Maltese happy so I think everyone had a good night.

Check flickr for the rest of my pictures from the evening.

For me the wedding season continues later this summer with two weddings in Germany. I’m looking forward to seeing friends and joining more happy celebrations.

August 3, 2010
Beautiful Malta

While London is cold, grey and dreary these days Malta is pretty warm so I decide to post a few pictures.

Malta is very photogenic and very different from my usual habitats so there is lots to “shoot” at. Especially for the Christmas trip where I had a new camera and was spending 16 days. Here is a couple of my favorite pictures and themes from this trip and others to Malta.

Malta has many cats – some are pets others just roam around.

Typical Maltese balconies can be seen everywhere.

The decorative doors and windows begs to be admired whether they are falling apart or had a new lick of paint.

Old, rustic street decorations as niches, statues and signs can be found on a lot of buildings.

Beautiful panoramic views of the sun, sea and the sandstone of Malta.

And a couple of the quirky and cute ones;

Shepherd and his sheep

Green toes!!

Japanese truck

Privte Propeirty

Last but not least I need to mention that I won two nights stay and the luxury hotel Kempinski in Gozo! They had a competition where you should write a blog post about Gozo and then the winner was found in a draw. If you are interested you can go read my piece here: Going to Gozo – A vacation within a vacation.

…and now it started to snow – again – in London [sigh].

February 23, 2010
New Year in Gozo

To celebrate New Year’s Eve Ann and I joined Ann’s sister and boyfriend for a trip to the neighbor island of Gozo. I’ve been to Gozo a couple of times and always enjoy the quieter, green island for a break away from bustling Malta – this time it wasn’t that quiet tho.

Victoria, the biggest city on Gozo was putting on a New Year’s Eve party at two of the town’s squares with some local bands playing for the evening. We saw a number of bands/acts playing cover numbers and own songs. My two favorites were Carrie Haber and Airport Impressions.

There was a great atmosphere with the live music, lots of Gozitans out in their best clothes, beer and food stands and pleasant weather. A very different New Year for me without any Queen’s speech, cold snowy weather, fireworks or big bell for midnight but I really enjoyed the night.

The next day we went back to Malta – again a nice boat ride in good weather.

January 13, 2010
Christmas in Malta 2009

On the eve of the 22nd Ann and I made our way to Gatwick airport. We had a flight to Malta the next morning at 7.15 AM and didn’t want to count on public transport getting us out there in the morning as London was having severe traffic issues due to snow and ice. Lucky for us the the flight was almost and time and we made it to Malta without any problems.

While England and the rest of northern Europe was struggling/celebrating snow and ice we ended up in Malta’s warmest Christmas in more than 20 years with temperatures up to 24 degrees – nice!

On December 24th, while Ann was busy, I walked around the village she is from taking pictures of the Christmas decorated houses.

The last photo is a hand-painted picture on the back entrance to a bar that really have an aura of Christmas. As I walked by Christmas music was blasting out in the streets. Check out the front and side photos.

In the evening of the 24th we went to the village’s Christmas Procession where kids dressed as angels and shepherds walk the baby Jesus through the streets as they sing carols.

In the evening we went out with Ann’s siblings and partners to a nice restaurant on Vittoriosa Waterfront.

After that it was on to the university church where we went for midnight mass. The church was packed with people sitting outside watching the service on a big screen. We got a seat inside and watched the Maltese service which started with this kid retelling the Christmas story. Very cute.

Well I’m used to celebrating Christmas on the eve of the 24th but here it’s different so we had to let the gifts stay under the crib for another night before we could release the excitement.

The next morning we got stockings, opened gifts, played games, Wii and watched films.

An extra bonus is that Ann’s mum has orange trees in her garden so we could all start the day with a glass of fresh juice – delicious.

Merry Christmas!

December 27, 2009
A mini vacation in Gozo

After Easter and all it’s celebrations were over Ann and I took a 3 day mini vacation to the neighboring island of Gozo. The weather when we went up there was pretty bad as you can see in the film above.

Gozo is more slow paced, greener and more rural than the main island of Malta. Life in Malta can be pretty hectic and for the week of Easter we did a lot of things so it was nice to spend some time alone with Ann before my parents came.

We also went to Gozo when I was in Malta last year. One of her aunt’s have an apartment in the fishing village turned resort of Marsalforn which was really quiet while we were there because it is still out of season. Here’s a view of the village as we walked back to the apartment after having had dinner.

On our second day there we went for a long walk. All along the northwest coast of Gozo you see these types of salt pans. The salt pans are filled with sea water over winter by the waves hitting the coast. Then over the summer the water evaporates and the salt can be collected. Some of the salt pans has been in use since the Roman times and is still used today.

We left the coast and turned uphill towards the village of Zebbug where we came across a street mirror where you can sort of see the road going down the hill from where we came.

There was a great view of the green island from Zebbug. However what I found most interesting was that on the spot in the village with the best view over the Mediterranean you were met by this truck with the ironic “I ♥ my truck” written on the back-end.

We continued on and was met with a great view of the UNESCO protected Cittadella fort at the center of Gozo. We followed the road and caught a bus back to the apartment from Victoria.

The day we left Gozo we had great weather so we shot a bit more film as we were leaving.

May 4, 2009
Easter in Malta

The image above is the last statue to be carried through the streets of Haz-Zebbug in the Good Friday procession but more about that later.

I came back to Prague last Tuesday after spending two weeks around Easter in Malta with Ann and her family. And for the last 5 days my parents joined us as well. It was again a really nice trip and great to see Ann and her family.

I’ve just finished uploading all my pictures and this time round Ann and I shot a lot of video that I hope to turn into 3-4 different videos. All that takes time but the videos will eventually come up over the next couple of weeks.

I’m used to celebrate Easter with bunnies, colored eggs, “gækkebreve” and with an Easter egg hunt as the highlight of the Easter dinner. Most of these Danish traditions have little if any religious content. This is in contrast to Malta where Easter, as the most important feast in the Roman Catholic Church’s calendar, is celebrated in many unique and colorful ways.

On Maundy Thursday we eat Qaghaq ta’ l-Appostli (the apostles ring bread) a sweet white ring of bread. I think it’s to represent the last supper (correct me if I’m wrong). For Easter these breads are sold everywhere from the back of cars and in the shops.

There are also some sweets called Figolli which I will spend a whole blog post on some other day and KwareÅ¼imal which are one of the few sweets that is suppose to be eaten during lent.

The night of Maundy Thursday a lot of Maltese people go out and visit seven different churches or go in of seven different doors of the same church saying seven different payers. So there is a lot of people in the streets as the towns are buzzing from people strolling around. In the churches the main cross and alter is covered or removed and instead the attention is directed to a side-alter where a display with a halo/sun as the centerpiece is made for this event.

We went to Rabat/Mdina in the middle of the island and visited churches there. If you click on the pictures above you can see the special decorations made in churches we went to.

Good Friday was the day of Christ’s long suffering and this is commemorated with processions in Malta. We went to the processions in Haz-Zebbug. This is a parade of groups of people dressed up in various costumes from the times of Christ. Everybody looking sad or solemnly as they parade in front of us in very impressive costumes. Between the groups were life-size statues depicting the different stages of the Passion of Christ on big wooden boards carried by 8 men in white robes.

The costumes where very detailed and it was fascinating to see them. For some reason I thought it would be over quick but because the statues they carry through the processions were so heavy they would walk some 20 meters and then take a break, so it took some hours for the whole procession to walk through the town.

On Easter Sunday there was another procession. This time to celebrate the Risen Christ so gone were the solemn face and now there was a band with the procession. The procession we went to had one statue and it was one of Jesus rising from his grave.

The statue itself was very impressive but the most impressive by this event was when they ran with it, several times. This video shows them running with the statue and lifting it up at the end as paper confetti is thrown from the surrounding houses, the band playing in the background and people cheering:

I’m not a particular religious person and I find these displays a bit overwhelming in their expression compared to how private religion is practiced in Denmark. But the Easter celebrations in Malta are really impressive shows of devotion and I’m glad I finally got around to see it for myself. I had some great guides into the Maltese traditions by Bernard, Cecelia and Ann 🙂

Look out for the next blog post about our trip to Malta.

April 30, 2009
I'm in Malta!

Tuesday I arrived in Malta for the first time in nearly a year. It’s great to see Ann again, good to be back and everything looks so familiar yet still different from what I am used to. Wednesday we started out at Paula, a friend of Ann, who gave us both snazzy haircuts 🙂

Since I met Ann I’ve been following a couple of Maltese bloggers. Two of them we met last night for dinner and had a great time. Meeting other bloggers is always fun as it feels like you know a person even if you have never met. We had a nice evening at with La Delirante and Red a Salvadorian/Maltese couple. It was great to meet them and time flew as we had dinner.

April 9, 2009
Fireworks, farm and forts

I recently returned from a week in Malta – my third visit to this pretty place, to see a pretty girl. On my two previous visits we covered a lot of places, sights and museums so this time round we took it easy on the touristy stuff. That meant that we spent more time at home, at the beach and in the neighbouring village where one of the two annual feasts were taking place.

Feast and fireworks
The Catholic religion plays a big part in many matters on Malta and one of the occasions where it really shines through is when it is time to celebrate the saint of the village. Every village on Malta will have at least one (sometimes two or three) patron saints that will be celebrated once a year with a week of festivities.

Above is the village of Mqabba seen from Zurrieq where Ann lives. Mqabba was celebrating the patron saint Lady of Lilies and raising with blue in her honour.

From I arrived on Wednesday until around Monday there was fireworks going off at the village, day and night. The Maltese seem obsessed with their fireworks in different shapes and sizes and I really got to experience it when we went to Mqabba for the big show on Saturday. First off was the single rounds where various shapes, sizes and colours. My fireworks pictures didn’t t turn out well so watch this video for a better impression.

Feast of our Lady of Lilies fireworks

Inbetween the single rounds was two acts of a so-called pyromusical – fireworks synchronized with music. This was very well choreographed and very impressive to watch. Here is a video of the second act of the pyromusical (Thans to superhuanÂ for putting the video on YouTube):

After the aerial fireworks we moved into the streets of Mqabba where the ground fireworks where to be displayed. Maltese ground fireworks is made with loads of gears, chains, levers and and abundance of fireworks to make it all go around and light it up. Here is one of the installments before it is fired off and another one while on fire.

Mechanised Catherine Wheel, Mqabba Malta

There were probably about 20 of these ground fireworks and each of them was more intricate and impressive than the previous. Again photos and videos doesnt do these devices justice but below is a picture and see a video of it as well (The one in the picture above is cool in action and is on the video at 8:08).

I cant remember how long the different segments lasted but the whole fireworks ordeal lasted about 4 hours – and this was just in a village with 3000 inhabitants. It was really impressive and I cant help to think of the amount of money and hours goes into creating these immense performances.

The connection between fireworks and a religious celebration is a bit lost on me but the next day we went back to the Mqabba for the procession of a statue of the patron saint. The streets and church were decorated, two bands were playing and then the procession passed in front of us with the statue of Lady of Lilies on a huge block carried by 10 men.

Quite an experience to see a Maltese feast. All through the summer the villages across the islands will have similar celebrations.

Farm
Ann’s grandfathers farm is a bit outside of the village where the family lives. One of Ann’s uncles and a couple of the aunts take care of the land and the animals – most of what is produced in the farm is distributed to the family. It’s not a big farm like what I know from Denmark but instead it’s a small stone building and some patches of land around it.

They have all sorts of animals on the farm. They have chickens, ducks, goat, rabbit and sheep and I counted at least five different breeds of dogs from rottweilers to the small thing below.

Forts
The Knights of St. John build a lot of defences and fortifications around the Maltese island during their reign. This time we visited the two forts that played a crucial role in The Great Siege were 30,000 Ottoman troops attacked Malta defended by 500 knights and 3000 Maltese.

The Siege of Malta in 1565 was a clash of unimaginable
brutality, one of the bloodiest – yet most overlooked – battles
ever fought. It was also an event that determined the course of
history, for at stake was the very survival of Christianity.

If vitally strategic Malta fell, the Muslim Ottoman Empire would
soon dominate the Mediterranean. Even Rome would be in peril.

– History’s bloodiest siege used human heads as cannonballs

Fort St. Elmo was small, cut-off and defended by only a small group of soldiers. It was the first to be attacked and see the full force of the Ottoman. The Ottoman general Mustapha Pasha had expected the fort to fall within
three but it held out for 30 days.

After St. Elmo had fallen Fort St. Angelo and Birgu the adjoining peninsula was next to be attacked but eventually the knights and the Maltese prevailed and the Ottoman gave up their attempt to take the island. The image above is from Fort St. Angelo, three guys dressed in what I think must be a 16th or 17th century armour.

Normally the two forts are closed off for the public but the week I was there we got into both of them. Here is the view from Fort St. Angelo over Valletta, a city built after the great siege to improve the defence of the knights and Malta.

About a month ago I read Ironfire by David Ball describing the a couple of key persons in the Mediterranean leading up to and during the Great Siege. A great summer read for a week on the beach.

We went to Fort St. Elmo which now houses the Maltese police academy. Here we saw a reenactment of Napoleons arrival in Malta in 1798 where he kicked out the Knights of St. John. The French only stayed for two years untill they were kicked out themselves by the Maltese and the British.

Another good week with Ann went by too quick and I am back in Prague now. Next is off to Roskilde Festival.

June 24, 2008
Spring Sensation

I left Prague in snow and flew the next morning from Bremen on a freezing, misty morning.

And arrived at Malta a few hours later. Heres the tiny Maltese island of Comino as it looked on the approach. Wikipedia claims there are only four permanent residents but there is also a 100 room hotel and the Blue Lagoon so in summer time its a bit more crowded.

The weather was cloudy and we had some scattered rain – but I didnt care, Ann was there to greet me

Last time I was in Malta I only had 4 days there and everything was new and different. This time around I knew what to expect and I was there for a week which gave me a better chance to take it all in.

In the meantime I also had a chance to learn more on Malta, the history and follow a few of the local bloggers to get a grasp of what Malta is all about. A couple of my favorites are the politician and economist who tracks everything Malta online, the Salvadorian who married a Maltese, the Peruvian, the newlywed, the German in Gozo and the pregnant Danish couple.

Here is a map of some of the places we covered this time round. (click on the blue pins)

View Malta March 2008 in a larger map

Off to Gozo

Malta is really seven islands were only the three biggest, Malta Island, Gozo and Comino are inhabited. Comino is the small island I flew over in the beginning. Malta Island is the big, main island and Gozo is the little brother to the northwest – this was where we were heading.

Before we crossed over we made a stop in Mellieha where one set of Anns grandparents is from. Next to the parish church on the picture was a small sanctuary with lots of letters, photos, crutches, casts and other items sent from people who thanked Our Lady for all sorts of miracles.

I later realized that Mellieha also is the place of The Danish Village a resort own by the Danish Folkeferie.dk.

As we were crossing over the strait to get to Gozo the weather had turned for the worse so the sea was a bit rough. Here we are approaching Marr the only habour on Gozo. One of Anns aunts have an apartment on the island and was kind enough to lend it to us.

The next day the weather was great and we went out to explore the beautiful island of Gozo. The first picture below is the view from Gozos Citadella in the middle of the island.

Gozo is greener, more rural and calmer than the main island of Malta,
its the place where people from Malta go for a weekend breaks and I
can understand why;

Imagine yourself on the most tranquil, isolated, sunshine-filled island. You have no worries. You feel at peace with your
surroundings and time seems to slow down. Well, this isnt an imaginary
place, this island is Gozo, also known as the island of Calypso. A calm, clear, deep blue water surrounds the island. This relatively unknown island may be small but it is rich in culture, history and beauty.

April 23, 2008