Vivez bien. Aimez beaucoup. Riez souvent.: Merhba! (Hello in Maltese)

Hi team!

I'm in Malta! And i love it. It has been so great to reconnect with my roommate and the rest of the Luther folk here. Oh and i suppose the island is beautiful as well, but that's really just a bonus to the rest of it :)

Audrey had class all day today, so i had some time to explore. And let me tell you, it was definitely an adventure...

I spent the first part of the morning walking along the promenade in Sliema. This is basically just a long boardwalk that goes along the ocean for about 2 miles. However, i walked along the rocks and beach instead of the sidewalk. It was really warm out this morning too, so i enjoyed walking in my t-shirt and soaking in some sun.

My ultimate goal for the day was to reach Mdina, an old city, south of Sliema. Mdina actually means walled city, so the entire thing is surrounded by huge walls. Inside is St. Paul's Cathedral and many other historical sites. The streets are extremely narrow though and cars can't fit through them. Also, you can walk on top of the walls, and the views of the rest of the island are gorgeous. Pretty much from any point on the island you can see the ocean (that's how small it is).

However, there was some trouble reaching Mdina, at least initially. Let me tell you about the Malta bus system, at least from what i've experienced thus far. There is no rhyme or reason to the bus schedule. They basically come and go as they please. Also, the bus stops aren't labeled, so you never quite know where you are or what bus is going to stop there. There is simply a bright blue sign that says BUS STOP.

So i tried to get on a bus that would go directly from Sliema (where i'm staying) to Mdina, but everytime it came to a stop i was at, it would never stop, even though i was waving at it... so i eventually gave up on this and took a bus to Valetta (the capital) and then got on another bus towards Mdina. This turned into another adventure though, as i wasn't able to figure out where to get off for Mdina, and ended up just staying on the bus for another half hour.... BUT i found some beautiful sights. The bus drove to the most southern point of the island, to a place called the Dingli Cliffs. It was basically just a small strip of road at the top of a cliff, overlooking bright blue water and green hillside all the way down to the water. And because it was so beautiful out today, everything just sparkled. It was perfect. I decided to get off the bus and have the picnic lunch i had packed, and then just took some time to look out and sit. It was very peaceful.

The bus didn't come back to the cliffs for another hour and a half though, so there was a lot of sitting and observing. There was a big herd of goats and sheep in the fields behind the cliffs that were pretty amusing. They kept going in the street, and then the man herding them would run out and yell at them and they would go back, but only right on the other side of the wall. The sheep were even walking on top of the little stone wall that was separating the field from the road. It was pretty humorous.

When the bus finally came, i was able to find my way to Mdina. I spent the rest of the afternoon touring the Cathedral and the museums there, and then found St. Paul's Catacombs in Rabat, right outside of Mdina. The catacombs were creepy. Just very eerie to think that at one point so many dead bodies were there. They were better than the ones in Paris though. The Paris ones definitely take the cake with all the stacked bones...ah!

I eventually found my way back to Audrey's flat, with some more bus adventures. I also tried the local soda here, called Kinnie. It wasn't so good. It's made from bitter oranges and local herbs and it seriously isn't kidding about the bitter part. Apparently it's good mixed with alcohol? At least that's what all of our guide books have been saying. We'll see. I'm not convinced it'll ever be good. Apparently the local beer, called Cisk (pronounced Chisk) also has a similiar taste. I'll have to ask around to see what's so appealing about it.

It was a good experience to go and do things alone. I was able to see the things i wanted to and come back at the end of the day all in one piece. It feels good being able to do that. Tomorrow is another big class day for everyone here, and because i can't go with them, i'll be off on another adventure...hopefully. My goal for the day is to explore the island of Gozo. I'll take a ferry from the west coast of Malta, and then it's only a 25 minute boat ride to Gozo. I'm hoping to find some good hiking and explore some of the gorgeous beaches there. I'll probably be a little sad that it won't be warmer out and that i can't go swimming, but oh well. I'll live, no worries.