Malta is 187 km southwest of Sicily, and a short 45 minute flight away from Sicily. And, perhaps more important, it is a new country for the Bishops! Gerry & Sue had once visited it for a day while on a cruise but they agreed it would be fun to spend more time there and explore it a bit.  Secret Italia offers tours there so we simply added on a five day tour of the country to our Sicily trip. We had a 3:30 PM flight from Catania to Valletta, the capital city of Malta so it was a leisurely morning as we were scheduled to be picked up at noon and taken to the airport which happens to be in Catania, about 45 minutes away.

The pickup (another tour couple went with the four of us) and the drive to the airport  went smoothly, but when we got to the Catania airport the driver unloaded another suitcase & briefcase that did not belong to any of us, or anyone in our tour group! Someone was going to be very unhappy when he/she discovered their suitcase had disappeared. We do not know what happened next. The airport was very crowded but we managed to grab sandwiches as there would be no food on our Ryanair flight to Malta.

All went well with the flight and we were met by a driver in Valletta when we landed. I give Secret Italia a lot of credit for arranging for personal driver/transportation. It is a very nice perk.

The old town part of Valletta is also a walking city for most of it. In fact, our driver had to leave us off about one block from our hotel. The good news is it was downhill and we managed to roll our suitcases there without much effort. Our wives did note, however, that it was uphill when we leave! We”ll cross that bridge later!

The hotel was a very small boutique hotel with maybe 20 rooms and a tiny lobby. The rooms were very modern but ours was very small with only a couple of windows which looked out to the building walls next door! We had no idea of what the weather would be.

Dinner was provided this evening but no one met us in the lobby so we assumed we had to walk to the selected restaurant and hope that all had been prearranged. There was no real bar at the hotel so we wandered down the street to find some pre-dinner refreshment, stopping at a “funky” tiny bar that looked like a 1940s living room, run by a couple of guys. It/they were friendly and we had our first cocktail in Malta, and, no, it was not a Manhattan. Gin & tonic seemed more appropriate for some reason. We walked a few blocks further on pedestrian-only streets to our restaurant hoping there was a table waiting for us. There was, and we had an absolutely delightful meal, complete with wine. In fact, in my opinion, it was one of the better meals we had on the trip. The decor in the small restaurant was elegant and the food was great. It was a  wonderful way to start our visit to Malta. Walking back to the hotel we again were met with a tremendous energy level and vibe of the city, brought about by all the people eating and drinking in the outdoor cafes and restaurants.

Steps for the day: 5,439, mostly once we got to Malta. Tomorrow we hopefully are met by a guide who will show us Malta.