WHERE IN THE WORLD IS MALTA?

For more years than I would like to admit, I thought Malta was just a big rock in the middle of the ocean, somewhere near Europe.  Sort of like the Rock of Gibraltar without the monkeys.  I wish someone had told me the truth, so I didn't sound like a geographic idiot when I found out Malta is a country located in the Mediterranean between Sicily and North Africa.  The country is actually a group of islands, although the main island is often called Valetta, which is the country's capital, so as to distinguish the more populated island from the rest of the country.

After our trip to Romania last month, we added three extra days in Malta because Amy, Bruce's daughter, works  for the United Nations High Commission on Refugees in their Malta office.  If the acronym UNHCR sounds familiar, it's because this agency is responsible for dealing with the enormous migrant crisis that affects so much of our world right now.   Since we focused our trip planning primarily around Romania, we assumed that our three day visit to Malta would be to check out Amy's apartment and meet some of her friends.  So when we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that Malta is a major tourist destination, offering  an array of things to do and see, like antiquities representing ancient civilizations,  cultural curiosities, and interesting beach scenery to keep visitors entertained for a couple of weeks.   

Malta's history dates back to 5200 B.C. assuring that every tourist gets some sort of history lesson, since its strategic importance involves the Phoenicians,  Greeks,  Carthaginians, Romans, the Knights of St. John, French, Turks, and the British, all of whom occupied Malta at one time or another and left their visual mark. 

In fact, Malta is such a feast for the eyes that I'd rather not bore you with descriptive text, but rather I'd like to share a video that my talented husband, Bruce, produced to document our short time there and to show you what a stunning country Malta truly is. As someone once said A picture is worth a thousand words. 

                      Marvelous Malta 2015 by Bruce Berger