Our last full day in Malta – we have a list of to-dos and to-see! First, we missed Mosta Dome two days ago so we decided to head there first thing in the morning. Yay, it was open!
The dome, finally, it is massive!
The church is famous not only because it has the world’s third largest unsupported dome but also a miracle occurred there during World World II. A bomb was dropped into the church during mass but did not explode otherwise hundreds of lives would’ve taken.
Inside is a little museum where the replica of the bomb is located:
We took a photo and walked out for more photos of the church. The dome was too large to fit into one picture even with the wide angle lens!
Jason used his phone to do a panorama to capture the dome!
Then, a tour group arrived so it was good that we came when it opens at 9!
On the way back to Valletta, we stopped at Tereza bus station to shop at my favorite clothing store in Europe – Pimkie, bought a nice pink jacket, jeans, and tops yay!
Then, we got back to Valletta and caught the bus down to the waterfront where it has another Mdina Glass store…that was my last hope for the pink glass! Guess what, the shop is closed even the store hours should be open! After few days in Malta, we realized that shops don’t really go by their store hours, we felt like they open whenever they like! That means if you see something that you really like, don’t go around to compare prices because when you come back, it might be close and you might not find another store selling the same thing!
The waterfront area was completely deserted; we were the only ones there, a little bit scary LOL! I know that down at the waterfront, you can catch a ferry to the Three Fortified Cities so we did that. The ferry was only like 2.5 euros for a little boat trip 🙂 Great to have a different perspective of Valletta from the water!
Approaching Isla also known as Senglea.
The other side is Birgu also known as Vittoriosa.
Once we got off the ferry, we walked toward Fort Saint Angelo….and passed through many churches and cafe/bar:
And many multi-million yacht!!!
This yacht even has its own helicopter…..rich!!!
And finally we got there and it is closed!!! Seriously? I wondered how many hours people work per day?
We walked along the harbor side hoping to reach as far as we could for the view of Valletta.
There!
Boat to me is that cheap, 1 euros only LOL!!!
We walked to Birgu center for lunch at Osteria Ve.
The restaurant is tucked in a corner of the residential area.
We even get the “window” seat; it was a little table on the corner of the staircase to the 2nd floor with direct view out the window of the street, it was so cute!!!
Our lunch:
Lobster spaghetti, it was delicious!
The duck as appetizers, love those duck fat! And also mussels, they were cooked perfectly!
Lastly, tiramisu, very authentic tiramisu! The lunch was so satisfying! Too bad we discovered this hidden gem on our last day 🙁 All those food for €41.00 included €4 tips!
We were stuffed that we need to walk to burn out those calories hehe. We walked to Isla…a 20 minutes walk or so. We saw a jewelry shop on the way and checked it out. I have seen many silver jewelry in Malta but never seriously spend the time to check them out. There are very nice pendants all handmade and the prices were surprisingly reasonable! I ended up buying a peacock pendant; I was amazed by the details and craftsmanship of it that it made a unique souvenir from Malta! Jason got some knights figurines and the miniature houses (if you follow my blog, you know that I like to collect miniature houses of the places we visited). The shop owner convinced us to spend €100 for tax refund and I bargained to save like €15. The sad part is Malta has a very high fee on tax refund so unless you spent like €350+, the fee is higher than the refund, urg!!!
Our walk:
Those blue sky and white puffy clouds, plenty in Malta…..everyday was like that!
We saw a video crew there looking like they are filming a movie! We continued on…
The entrance into Isla!
The street was completely empty, everything is closed, and the trash on the ground looked like they have a party here last night! It turned out to be some kind of festival last night so I guess people were sleeping after partying?
It was insanely quiet but great for photos!
We went and checked out those unqiue door handles haha! Mostly are sea themed!
We finally reached the very end – Gardjola Gardens with again good views of Valletta.
We ran out of water and everywhere is closed oh no! Only a butcher shop and a “sports” bar were open. I went into the sports to buy soft drinks LOL!
We waited half an hour for the next bus back to Valletta. Missions accomplished, we went to Mosta Dome, did some shopping, and visited two of the Three Fortified Cities.
Our last dinner, we took a bus out to Sliema to have dinner at MedAsia, a pretty asian fusion restaurant/bar.
I ordered some kind of beef, don’t remember, but it was a little bit too salty for me. Thankfully with white rice, it was too bad.
Jason ordered a beef noodle soup, he wished he ordered something else!
The sushi and salmon were fine.
The dinner was our most expensive meal in Malta – €60.40. It was okay but not impressive. I think the most memorable meal was the lunch with the window table, great food and great view haha!
My conclusion of Malta – a very relaxing, quiet, and good weather island country. It has tons of history (if you are a history buff, you’ll love it), very beautiful churches, and relatively inexpensive island (accommodations, transportation, and food). My favorite is the colorful fishing village of Marsaxlokk. I would stay at Valletta again, even though it is very quiet and limited choices for dinner, but it is very convenient to connect with other parts of the country. Probably the downside (as with Portugal) is the transportation system. It just takes so long to get from one place to another! People are friendly; no annoying vendors, very safe to walk around at night, and very relaxing atmosphere. No rush at all, just take your time and absorb the island life 🙂
