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

Monday, 13 April 2026

Malta 2026 - Part 4

Valletta

Monday - April 13th 2026

Unfortunately the weather was not that great, because it was quite foggy. Thanks to strong winds from Africa a lot of dust from the Sahara dessert was in the air and so the visibilty was rather bad. Nonetheless we decided to visit Valletta, Malta's capital city, but first it was time for breakfast. Afterwards we took a Bolt taxi to Valletta and started our sightseeing tour with exploring St. John's Co Cathedral. Like so many other churches on Malta this one was breathtaking as well. Then we checked out the main shopping street until we reached the Grand Master's Palace, which houses the office of the President of Malta and a museum. We did a tour of the museum and then we continued our Sightseeing tour at Fort St. Elmo.

Interesting Weather

Breakfast

Valletta

St. John's Co Cathedral

Valletta

Grand Master's Palace

Valletta

Fort St. Elmo is located at the entrance to the Great Harbour and was built to protect Valletta from hostile forces. Nowadays it is the home to Malta's National War Museum. The fort itself was quite impressing and despite the foggy weather we got a wonderful view over the Grand Harbour. After exploring the fort we decide to head to the Upper Barraca Gardens. On the way we came across a lovely bar, where we got a snack and a drink before we continued our walking tour.

Fort St. Elmo

Grand Harbour

Valletta

Lower Barrakka Gardens

Valletta

Lovely Café

Snacks and Drinks

Valletta

Upper Barrakka Gardens

Since it was already noon and the snack not being very satisfaying, we took the elevator from the Upper Barrakka Gardens down to the harbour waterfront to get something to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. Claudia and I shared nachos and after a relaxing lunch we headed back to the inner city. There we got ice cream and did some shopping before taking a Bolt taxi back to our hotel in Rabat. The rest of the afternoon we enjoyed at the pool and got a couple of drinks at the hotel bar until it was time for dinner. Today we tried a new restaurant called Agata. While I had a pizza, Claudia ordered pasta a la norma. The food was really good and so it was no surprise that this wouldn't be our last visit there. With ice cream in our hands we strolled back to the hotel.