Index
Day 1: Flying
Day 2: London
Day 3: St. Julian's
Day 4: St. Julian's
Days 5/6: Valletta
Day 7: Mdina
Day 8: Gzira
Day 9: Gozo
Day 10: Return
Malta
Spent one day in at the hotel (aka: the joys of working remotely), where about the only thing worth noting that we did was explore more of the lobby bar/room service menu. Chicken breast wasn't bad, sea bass did the job, and the bolongese was pretty good.
The next day we finally made it to Valletta, the historic coastal city that seems to dominate most people's idea of coastal Malta. It's built-up, full of history, and crowded with tourists, but in a bit of a more welcoming way than what we'd experienced so far in Malta. Actually loved the character, down to the little bit of hills, although having only spent an afternoon there, hard to say with any real authority (aside from our experiences with other long-established European cities such as Rome, Lisbon, Madrid...). Seriously should have stayed here instead of in St. Julian's, although the hotel situation probably would have been a lot rougher for trying to work remotely.
Lunch was at Palazzo Preca in Valletta; everything was excellent, from the arancini to the crab cakes to the seafood pasta and the pork belly-- the last was well-presented and tasty. Dessert was the only so-so looking thing there, which honestly was okay as the rest of the food was so good, and the vibe was the perfect mix of historic, dignified, and tourist. Was definitely better than the hotel food we had for dinner, although the burger was nicely meaty.