One of the little known facts about little known Malta is that 20% of the world heritage sites are there. These heritage sites are ancient temples and burial sites carved or built of stone (naturally, since Malta is the all stone island) see: http://www.heritagemalta.org/home.html. These incredible archeological finds were the original main draw for us to visit Malta. Tom is a very keen armchair archeologist and I have no problem being the photographic companion for these types of journeys.
The high point of these temple expeditions was to the Hypogeum, which is a must see attraction for anyone visiting Malta. You must make advance reservations, and you get a particular day and time and you must be there promptly for your tour. This site is well managed and they can only allow so much oxygen/CO2 transfer in a day. 10 people tour each hour, 8 times per day. No pictures allowed, so have a look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypogeum_of_Ħal-Saflieni. The most impressive part for me was the room carved underground out of stone, which looked like the inside of a room in an above ground temple - truly extraordinary.
Many of the best finds from within the various sites have been moved to the archeological museums for safety and preservation. I recommend that the museums be visited first as a preparation for the temple visits. It sets a good foundation and understanding of what can be seen onsite.
So we spent several of our days on Malta and Gozo searching out these amazing archeological sites and museums. Getting back and forth between the islands is accomplished by car ferry. The ferries run like clockwork and are very efficient at getting the job done. Tom drove, and he did a great job of driving on the left (thank the British) side of the road, on incredibly narrow roads typically with rock walls on either side, and observing the local traffic rules (there are rules there???). I did my best to navigate and not get frustrated or angry. Frequently there would be a sign somewhere within the roundabout announcing the destination of our intent, with an arrow not pointing in any particular direction. Cue the funky music and the big letters L O S T.
When we picked up the rental car the first day on Malta, we had had very little sleep and had not yet found our morning coffee. That was a mistake. The Avis person did their very best to talk us into a rental insurance that would have more than doubled the cost of renting the vehicle. They did this by explaining how difficult it would be to drive here and how easy it is to get into trouble and how many thousands of Euros we would be spending to correct for our error in judgment regarding the insurance package. We did not take the package, but I think that this original pep talk about the roads, coupled with the level of difficulty in navigation made us so incredibly grateful on our last day on Malta to give the car back to Avis, accident and scrape free.
We spent that last day in the main city of Valletta, at the Hilton, again using frequent traveler points. We arrived early in the day, around 10:30 or so, and expected to be told (a) that we could not check in that early, and (b) that our free room would be the twin bedroom facing the garbage and a brick wall. Which would have been fine. So what a great surprise it was that they asked if we would like to check in right away, and sent us up to an absolutely splendid room, a large corner room with sliding doors on two walls each leading out to a mammoth wraparound balcony, all facing the Mediterranean and that beautiful blue water. We were so glad to have arrived early.
This was a terrific ending to a great time on Malta, but to top it off we had the chance to spend the evening with Tom's friend Isabel, who he had met some years ago in Greece, along with her archeological society that had just arrived on Malta for their tour. We met up with them at their hotel in Valetta - the Grand Excelsior Hotel - where we were treated to a pretty amazing international buffet.
Pictures are again posted on Flickr... use slideshow mode to see the whole of the temple panoramas, as the thumbnail versions do not make much sense : http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawkperson/sets/72157619753773220/
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