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
Got smart (and tired of smelly Ubers) and booked a hotel car for the ride back to the airport-- instead of the party-style Mercedes minivan that picked us up to start the trip, we had a Mercedes S-class early this morning.
Malta International Airport is good-sized, but some of the gate areas are decidedly utilitarian, including ground-level walks across the tarmac to the airport (fun for aviation geeks, not so great for everyone else). Service on KM Malta Airlines was not any more better (read: existent) on the return, but at least we were more comfortable navigating between Terminal 4 and Terminal 2 at Heathrow the third time around. Hunger drove us to Jones The Grocer for a disappointing snack, then the United Club by the gate, which had much better ambiance, a pretty Easter spread, and... honestly not great food either.
At least the return flight was pleasant enough despite United's usual mediocre food, although definitely had to talk to customer service about Tiff's pre-arrival meal: the flight attendant (who was nice enough otherwise) literally plopped her croque monsieur still in the plastic bag on her tray. In Polaris. *shakes head*
Verdict: good to say we'd been to Malta, but not a place we'd go back to.