It’s been some years since I was in Malta and think I missed the whole island last time I was there. Shame on me! Holidays with the kids!  

So, we had planned a conference in Jordan but with the situation in the Middle East we had to pick an alternative.  Malta was our choice!  How serendipity works always amazes me.  What a delightful and surprising island.  Small enough to cover all the main sites and historically significant enough for us to want to go out and do what we do best and discover things we didn’t know and should know to make us better informed travelers.  This place has an incredible history.  Neolithic ruins that date back 5000 years.  

A huge slice of Roman antiquity and the influence of the Knights of Malta running through its history via crusades and Ottoman Empire to the present day.  The language gives it away.  Sounds Arabic with a touch of Italian but everyone speaks English.  Beautiful beaches, A magnificent Citadel on the island of Gozo, Baroque churches in glorious limestone colors, the silent city of Mdina and a state of the art reconstructed performance space built around the old ruins of the Opera House, courtesy of Renzo Piano .  

It has the deepest harbor in the Mediterranean in Valetta and was the staging point for the invasion of Italy in the second world war.  Because of its huge fortifications, it was never occupied during  WW2. It can be combined easily with Sicily.  Only 1.5 hours on the high-speed hydrofoil.  And lends itself to combinations with Italy and Greece. It gained independence from the Brits in 1964 and is now one of the 27 countries of the EU. Sadly Britain is not!!  It has great air connections.  Fantastic restaurants and a climate that extends summer well into the late Fall. What a delight. Recommend to avoid the heat of the summer but October is still beautiful.

Looking for something beyond just beaches. Welcome to Malta!