[:en]Valletta, capital of Malta[:fr]Ville de La Valette[:]

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3 days’ stay in Malta (04/10/2009-04/13/2009)

Trip with colleagues to Malta for an extended weekend, as a reward to ourselves after extremely exhausting and “(psychic) energy consuming” work

Valletta view from sliema, by Myriam Thyes @ Wikimedia

Malta is an island nation that consists of three main islands: main island Malta, Gozo and Comino. The archipelago lies south of Sicily (Italy) and North of Tunisia, in the centre of the Mediterranean. The country’s official languages are Maltese and English. Malta has been a member state of the European Union since May 2004 and is the smallest EU country both in population and geographical size.

Valletta is the capital city of Malta (smallest capital in EU) and is located in the central-eastern part of main island Malta. Valletta is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site (since 1980), thanks to its rich historical value and links to the Knights of Malta, who built the city in the second half of the 16th century. With 320 recognised monuments situated within an area of just 0.55 km2, Valletta is one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world. The city is named after its founder, Grand Master of the Order of St. John, Jean Pirot de la Valette and is also known as “a city built by gentlemen for gentlemen”.

The façade of St. John’s Co-Cathedral

Although the weather was not sunny all the time and it was quite windy, we had a great time enjoying our stay in a 4 star hoteland took a ferry to Gozo Island to “view the Azur Window“.

The Grandmaster’s Palace & The State Rooms & The Palace Armoury

Symbols of Malta: Luzzu & Malta Bus

Luzzu: Maltese traditional fishing boat, saw them in Marsalforn, a fishing village on the north coast which has developed into Gozo’s most popular sea resort.
Malta Classic Bus: Malta’s public transport with unique appearance. We took them often to travel in the island. It was fun & bumpy. After having a bumpy ride at work, we had a bumpy fun ride in Malta.

I brought a fridge magnet with Luzzu’s eyes and a Malta Bus miniature for souvenir.