A Day Trip to the Blue Lagoon

I decided to make the most of the Sette Giugno National Holiday here in Malta to take a day cruise over to the Blue Lagoon on Comino Island. This, of course, is considered to be one of the country's most beautiful attractions, so I wanted to go as soon as possible - especially because it's only going to get busier in the coming weeks!

I went down to the harbour in Sliema in the morning and got a ticket for 25 euros, which seems to be quite a reasonable price compared to other offers I've seen. The trip took a couple of hours, which meant that we got to see quite a few different sights around the country, starting with the modern architecture of Saint Julian's.

We then sailed up to the north of the country, past the town of St Paul's Bay.

And then we entered Mellieha Bay, which has some of the most popular sandy beaches in Malta. It's on my to-visit list!

At the very northern tip of the island, we passed these beautiful cliffs and caves with turquoise water beneath them.

And then we finally approached Comino Island, where the Blue Lagoon is located! We came round on the east side, which meant we got to see Elephant Rock. As its name suggests, it's a rock that looks like the head of an elephant. It's a bit hard to make it out in my photos, but it was cool to see!

We also passed this natural archway on Comino. There used to be another, more famous natural archway called the Azure Window on Gozo Island, but it collapsed in 2017, so this one is a sort of alternative.

Shortly afterwards, we arrived at the port of Ghajnsielem on the island of Gozo, which is the second largest island in Malta. Some people on the boat, who had bought more expensive tickets, got out here to do a quick tour of the island before joining the rest of us at the Blue Lagoon later.

Personally, I feel like one afternoon isn't really enough for both Gozo and the Blue Lagoon. At some point in the coming weeks, I plan to get the bus to the north of Malta, take the ferry to Gozo from there, and then spend a full day or possibly a weekend on the island.

But it was nice to see a little bit of Gozo for the time being!

About 10 minutes later, we finally arrived in the Blue Lagoon! Getting off the boat, climbing up the rocky pathway, and looking down at the amazingly blue water below was such a memorable moment. It really is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places I've ever seen.

However, once I walked further into the lagoon and closer to the places where the sea is more easily reached, I was a bit disappointed, but not surprised, to see how incredibly busy it was.

All the same, that wasn't going to stop me from going for a swim! After I had a little walk around the area, I walked back to the boat to buy a snorkel (I feel like it's something I'm going to use quite a bit in the future!).

I swam in two different spots in the lagoon: the main part with all the people, and a rockier bit closer to the boat. I was a little bit nervous about going in, as I'd had a very nasty sting from a jellyfish while swimming in the sea close to where I live the previous week. But while I noticed one jellyfish floating past, and saw someone else getting stung by one, fortunately I wasn't attacked again! The water in the Blue Lagoon is so clear that generally you can see them coming.

I did use my snorkel a little bit, but only saw some tiny fish (it really couldn't compare to snorkelling in Brazil). But overall, it was a wonderful experience to swim in this perfectly blue sea under the baking Mediterranean sun.

After my swims, I bought a rather pricey veggie burger from a food truck for my lunch and also spent 10 euros on a piña colada in a pineapple (very expensive, but an important part of the Blue Lagoon experience!).

I used the last part of my time on Comino to walk up towards the north of the island. This area was very quiet and peaceful with some lovely views of the countryside and the sea.

After nearly four hours at the lagoon, it was time to get back on the boat. On our way back we sailed around the west side of Comino, seeing some interesting caves and rock formations.

To conclude, I don't think I'll return to the Blue Lagoon this summer or quite possibly ever again (maybe if I ever find myself in Malta during the winter I will!). It was just too crowded! But having said that, I did really enjoy the experience of seeing this beautiful place and swimming there, and I'm glad to have done it. 

It was also great to see various interesting places around Malta during the boat journeys. I'm looking forward to discovering even more of the country in the weeks to come!

Valletta

I've been a bit delayed with my blogging recently (having a civil union ceremony and then moving country twice all in the same month did make me quite busy!), but I'm finally caught up enough that I'm actually writing about the country where I'm currently located, which is Malta!

Like when I was living in Chile, I plan to do some posts about specific places I've travelled to, as well as posts about life in general here. I've actually already been to a fair few places around the archipelago in my first few weeks, so I've got a bit to catch up on with this blog, but I've decided to start with Valletta. After all, it's the capital city and the first place I properly travelled to here, so it's a good place to start!

I was lucky enough to have a free day before starting my internship during my first week here, so I decided to use it to head down to Valletta. 

Valletta, the southernmost capital city in Europe, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, thanks to its amazing 16th-century architecture.

When getting off the bus at the bus station, the first landmark you come to is the Tritons' Fountain.

And then you pass through the city gate, and into Valletta itself.

The views of the fortifications are really spectacular!

The first building you come to within the city itself is Parliament House, which is much more modern than most of the rest of the buildings in Valletta, but which has the same golden colour.

That's something I like about Valletta actually - all of the golden buildings look beautiful in the sunshine, and they remind me quite a bit of the architecture in Bath. My family home is about 45 minutes away from Bath, so we take a lot of day trips there, and it always feels a bit like going on holiday somewhere like France or Italy, thanks to its grand architecture and Roman ruins. So it makes sense that I would be reminded of Bath while travelling somewhere else in Europe!

Valletta has an array of beautiful old buildings, and here are some memorable ones:

Church of Our Lady of Victory

Church of Saint Catherine of Italy

Auberge de Castille

St John's Co-Cathedral (You can go inside to see two paintings by Caravaggio. I didn't go in, because the tickets are expensive and the queue was massive, but perhaps I'll do it at some point in the next two months.)

Courts of Justice

National Library of Malta

The Grandmaster's Palace (This was built by the Knights of St John and is the largest palace in the city.)

The Royal Opera House (This building was destroyed in WWII, and its ruins now function as an open air theatre.)

On that first day in Valletta, I had noticed that the city seemed really packed with tourists, especially in the area around the city gate, and I thought that was odd for a weekday in May. But soon I spotted the reason - down below in the harbour was the most massive cruise ship I've ever seen! To be honest, I think it was bigger than any building I've ever seen, and it was hard to even comprehend its size. Needless to say, it certainly looked out of place among the beautiful old architecture, and there's no way you'd get me to go on it!

Two of the places I most liked seeing in Valletta were the Upper Barrakka Gardens and the Lower Barrakka Gardens. The Upper Barrakka Gardens are located close to the city gate, and have great views of the Three Cities on the other side of the harbour, and the Saluting Battery below. 

This week, I returned to Valletta, partly because I wanted to buy a tea towel and a postcard, but also because I wanted to visit the Lower Barrakka Gardens, which I missed on my first visit. This is a beautiful little garden which definitely made me feel like I was in Greece!

Something else I loved seeing in Valletta was this cat café, which isn't your typical café with cats - it's actually a "café" for stray cats. It's a nice idea given how many stray cats there are on the island.

All in all, Valletta is a really beautiful city with an array of amazing views.

I'm very glad that it's so close on the bus from where I live and work, so I can pop there whenever I want. I'll certainly be back a few times in the weeks to come!