"It was pretty nice... while it lasted"

Since nobody else offers themselves to share their summer experiences and memories on this blog, I find myself in the position of 'breaking the ice' (as vulgarly said), thus making the rest of you, hopefully, follow me up.

As you all know, I got back from the Republic of Malta (curious thing if we assume they're a member of The Commonwealth and thus have H.M. The Queen of England as their Head of State) just a couple of days ago and set out again for my beach holidays tomorrow morning so I did not want to head off without first sharing with all of you some of my experiences in Malta.

It goes without saying It would've been much better off if we all had gone there together but certainly luck hasn't been on our side this year and it was only me who eventually got granted.

Having said that, making it to an unknown country just on my own has given me the chance to get to know new people and make new friends, with whom I have spent twenty fabulous days and, in the same way, won't probably see them again in my life.

If we could apply a saying to Malta, the one which perfectly fits it would no doubts be 'it is not gold all that glitters'. I will explain myself. Despite being one of the most preferred summer destinations, above all among youngters, it is nothing out of the common really.

Its beaches are rocky, not sandy, its roads leave a lot to be desired (to tarmac them once in a while would not hurt anybody) and what's worse, cleanliness is a chimera.

To top this with an example, in the apartments where I stayed they were supposed to clean up the rooms and change the bed linen twice a week and honestly throughout the time I was there, I think the linen was changed only once and more of the same with rooms cleanliness.

Besides that, the atmosphere over there was awesome and there's party twenty-four hours a day (see Paceville, St. Julian) which makes it a very suitable place to go, maybe not for three weeks, but indeed for one or two.

Malta is made up of three islands, the island of Malta, Comino and Gozo. To visit the last two ones you have to take a Ferry which takes you across the sea for the modest price of €10. Comino is named after the plant with the same name as that is basically the only thing you can find in it, along with crystal water beaches (the only thing why it's worth the visit).

Finally, I just hope next year we all get granted and can go abroad all together even if I am fully aware that It will much more difficult for me now that I've already been granted once.

A.M.G.