Traveling

Saturday, 18 April 2026

Malta 2026 - Part 1

Traveling Day

Friday - April 10th 2026

Finally it was time for another much needed vacation. After work we hit the road and drove to Vienna International Airport from where our KM Malta flight departed. About three hours later we arrived at the airport, dropped of the luggage and spent some time at the Vienna Lounge while waiting for departure. Around 9:00pm we left Vienna and two hours later we landed at Malta Airport. There we got picked up by a hotel shuttle and soon we arrived at out hotel. We stayed at the Verdala Wellness Hotel AX Privilege in Rabat and once we had checked in and got our room, we called it a day and went to bed.

Vienna International Airport

Vienna Lounge

Our Room

Friday, 17 April 2026

Malta 2026 - Part 2

Exploring Mdina And Rabat

Saturday - April 11th 2026

Since we arrived in the middle of the night, we didn't get to see a lot of our hotel except our room. So we were really stunned by how beautiful the hotel was. First we headed downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast and since the weather was so nice, we were able to sit outside at the pool. After our delicious breakfast we got ready to explore Rabat, where our hotel was located, and Mdina, Malta's former capital city. It was just a short walk from our hotel to the beautiful fortified city.

View from our Room

Hotel Pool

Verdala Wellness Hotel

Breakfast

Verdala Wellness Hotel

Our Room

Verdala Wellness Hotel

Rabat

Mdina City Wall

We entered the medieval town through Mdina Gate and suddenly we were in transported back in time. Our first stop was the amazing Mdina Metropolitan Cathedral, also known as St. Paul's Cathedral, and its museum, before strolling through the ancient town. Until now we had the city basically to our own, since the tourists hadn't yet arrived. Mdina is located on a plateau from where we had a wonderful view over the small island. Next we stopped at a little bar for a drink before it was time leave Mdina. In Rabat we found a lovely bar, where we got a couple of drinks and a snack for lunch. After checking out the catacombs of St. Paul, we decided to walk back to the hotel to spend the rest of the afternoon at the pool.

Mdina Gate

Mdina

St. Paul's Cathedral

Cathedral Museum

St. Peter's Church

View over Malta

Mdina

Rabat

Drinks

Lunch

St. Paul's Cathedral of Rabat

St. Paul's Catacombs

Rabat

Pool Time

In the evening we headed back to Mdina to have dinner at Coogi's, only one of two restaurants that has a terrace on top of the city wall, from where we got to enjoy the beautiful sunset while overlooking the island. Coogi's offered a huge plant based menu and so Claudia ordered the veggie burger and I got nuggets with fries. After a wonderful dinner we got ice cream at the gelatteria next door and walked around the empty town with all the tourists gone for the day. Back at the hotel we spent a quiet evening in front of the TV trying different sweets from the convenient store.

Coogi's

Dinner

View over Malta

Ice Cream

Mdina Gate

Back at the Hotel

Thursday, 16 April 2026

Malta 2026 - Part 3

Exploring Malta

Sunday - April 12th 2026

Our second full day in Malta started with breakfast before getting a Bolt taxi that took us to the small village of Mgarr. There the annual Festa Frawli, also know as the Strawberry Festival, was taking place. Luckily we arrived pretty early, because soon a huge traffic jam made it nearly impossible to arrive by car. The whole village was decorated and nearly all offered products, like food and drinks, contained strawberries. Not only did we get regular strawberries, but also strawberry sangria and strawberry cannoli. We had a great time, but soon the festival was packed with people and so we decided to check out the nearby Ta Hagrat Megalithic Site. Afterwards we ordered another Bolt taxi and left Mgarr.

Breakfast

Festa Frawli

Mgarr

Festa Frawli

Ta Hagrat Megalithic Site

The Bolt taxi took us in about 40 minutes to Popeye Village, a former movie set that was transformed into a small thempark which is now major tourist site in Malta. The film set was built for the production of the 1980 Popeye movie starring Robin William and Shelley Duvall. There wasn't a lot to do except for exploring the buildings, but we still enjoyed spending time there. After purchasing some souvenirs we left again and took another Bolt taxi to Mosta to visit the Rotunda of Mosta. Based on the design of the Pantheon in Rome this Catholic church has the third largest unsupported dome in the world. Afterwards we got a traditional cake in a nearby coffee house and then we walked to a nearby shopping mall, where we had a late lunch at KFC. In Malta KFC offers a plant based burger and of course we had to try it. To our surprise the burger was really good. Back at the hotel we went for a swim in the pool und before it was time for dinner we had an aperitif at the hotel bar. Like yesterday we ate at Coogis again and enjoyed a relaxing evening taking a walk through Rabat.