November in Sweden is normally gray and rainy and this year was pretty much the same. A weekend in Malta with sun, crystal clear water and a swimrun race couldn’t be better.
Thursday
We started our trip to Malta with a short stop in München. You can find direct flights but the best one for us included a short stop and food break. When we arrived in Malta we had a pickup to take us to our hotel, Dolmen Hotel. We got a big and nice room with a view over the sea. The hotel was central and there was a lot of restaurants and some supermarkets close to the hotel.
Friday
We started with a great breakfast buffe at the hotel.
At 09.00 the guide picked us up. Our guide was a nice old lady who has been working with guided tours for over 44 years. We started with a walk in the old town Medina also called the silent city.
Medina
Medina is located in the Northern Region of Malta with enclosed bastions, and the history dates back to more than four centuries ago. The town was the old capital of Malta, and with its narrow streets, few inhabitants and beautiful views over the Island it is truly a magical town. There’s a lot of known films that have been recored here.
Our driver picked up us and drove to our next stop. A visit in the capital of Malta, Valletta. There was more people here but still not a busy town. We started with a short visit in one of Valletta’s best views, Barrakka Garden.
Amazing view from Barrakka Garden
St.Johns co-Cathedral
Malta and is known for its giant domed churches, and the most impressive of all is St John’s Co-Cathedral. It looks pretty normal from the outside, but when you come indoor it’s a magical place. Every surface is coated with colour and sparkling gold and everything is handmade.
The cathedral – or co-cathedral as it shares the job of Bishop’s residence with the cathedral in Mdina – was built for the Knights of Saint John. But it was revamped in Baroque style in the 17th century, and they really went all out on the decor.
Lunch – We had lunch at the King’s Own Bar & Restaurant. The food in Malta is a little mix of everything and we tried some socialites like goatcheese, Snigels and of course grilled tuna.
Grilled Tuna Goat cheese
Adventure
We spend the afternoon with activities. The original plan was kayaking but since the weather could be a little stormy during this time of the season we changed it to abseiling.
MC Adventure doing a lot of different activities and we had a guide that took us to a super cool place.
Abseiling is a real adventure. Standing on the edge of a steep incline, with the rope disappearing off the edge to the bottom somewhere beneath you.
We started with a small one before Patrik tried two longer that was between 45-50 meters.
There is so much more adventure to do at Malta. We didn’t have time to do more but if you have time we suggest to do more cool things.
Saturday
We started the day with a short swimrun and gear session to check so everything felt ok.
We had a great breakfast at the hotel before we went to the ÖtillÖ event area, hotel Golden Sands. Our plan for the day was checking out the sprint and experience race during the day.
During the afternoon we also attended a clean the ocean event. A important event to make awareness about the problem.
We picked up our race kit and at the race briefing we got to know all about the ÖtillÖ race. We also got to know that is was storm and rainy weather so they did some changes along the course.
Sunday
Raceday and woke up early and it was storm and rain outside. We had some breakfast before we had a taxi to the startbus. The bus took us to the start in Valletta. We started with running and swimming in the city. This day was very special and though race and you can read all about it our race report from ÖtillÖ Malta here.
Monday
We woke up and both of us felt tired. In 6 hours where we out running and swimming and that makes you a little bit tierd. We had a great breakfast before it was time pack our bags and check out and travel back home to Sweden.
Short about Malta
Travel: It’s easy to travel to Malta. We took flights with a short stop in München but you can also find direct flights. When we arrived to Malta it took around 30 minutes to the hotel. Malta is perfect for a weekend.
Language: Most natives speak Maltese, and nearly 90% speak English, while another 50% also speak Italian.
Cards or Cash: The best thing is to have a mixed of both. Most big retailers and restaurants accept cards but you still want cash on hand for small purchases. They use Euro
Climate: It’s never too cold in Malta because they have a Mediterranean climate. We traveled in November and it’s a little stormy and vindy period.
You find your best Malta tips at visitmalta.com