Malta. Odd.

It’s a strange country.

60 seconds walk from my apartment to this… hard to complain.

There, I’ve said it.  A mish-mash of different cultures, lumped together on a rocky island in the middle of the Mediterranean, half-way between Europe and Africa.  Kind of like that girl that doesn’t look anything special most of the time, but who surprises you with her beauty from a certain angle or in the right light.
There are no rolling green plains here, no lakes or rivers or mountains, a melange of different architectural styles marred by ugly apartment blocks and poorly thought out developments.  But occasionally beautiful just the same.  And the weather covers a lot of the cracks.. when you’re looking at blue skies over blue seas you forget about that nasty hotel looming behind you and the dingy backstreets of Sliema and Gzira.


Odd and full of contrasts.  Much of the inland is dusty and brown and nondescript, but you find beautiful beaches on the Northern coast and the sea has carved the rocks into exquisite shapes at the Blue Grotto and Blue Window.  The country and people are proudly independent after a traumatic history, but yet are still as British as beans on toast.  The language is a strange amalgam of Sicilian and Arabic, but nearly everyone can switch into lilting English at the drop of a hat.  Drivers career about the streets with seeming reckless abandon, but will (almost) always draw to a halt at the pedestrian crossing.  The Maltese people themselves can seem abrupt bordering on rude one minute, and then go out of their way to help you the next.

After six months here I haven’t made my mind up about this place completely, but I am planning to stick around for a while to try and figure it out.

I love it when people comment on whatever nonsense I may have written, so please do.  I will reply, and will use exclamation points where possible so as to take the sting out of what may otherwise be seen as sardonic responses!  See?  I did it just then.

I hope you enjoy what I’ve come to know as a beautiful and welcoming country, whether you’re living here or just spending a day or two.