Malta

12 Nov 2024 - Austin Shen

In Europe for the second time this year, and again for work-related travel. This trip was to attend the annual Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems (ADASS) conference, which is pertinent to my line of work. The location this year, Malta, was also well aligned to my personal travel interests having not been previously. It is the 37th country that I have visited now (left the airport). An amazing trip all-in-all; reunited with Kitty for the second time this year (of course, the highlight), made a new friend in Dustin from Canada, enjoyed some of the best snorkelling of my life in the Mediterranean Sea, and developed some great new work relationships with the astronomy software community that should end up being quite productive.

The buildings were all square and made of limestone, similar to buildings in both Greece and Qatar simultaneously which makes sense given the country’s complex and mixed history. It’s a safe and hilly place, with massive cacti plants (lots of prickly pears), the feel of a European city in terms of culture, but where everybody speaks English and embraces tourism (as far as I could tell). I had the opportunity to stay in a few different areas of the country: Valletta the (tourist) capital, where restaurants, bars and cafes overflowed onto the pedestrian-only streets, and with beautiful architecture; San Gwaan, a quiet residential area close to a university campus, and the only place I could find accomodation during the busy conference week; and Sliema, the modern area with a mixture of residents and tourists, giving it a real city vibe. I visited other areas of the country too: Marsaxlokk, the fishing village with colourful boats; Mdina, the old city with an old castle fortress surrounded by a dry moat and old traps; and Gozo, which was on another island but was a stopping point for our snorkelling day at the Blue Lagoon. We saw the Hagar Qim stone temples, which are said to be from ~3200 BC and are amongst the oldest (if not the oldest) stone structures in the world, and enjoyed so much of the local seafood, pasta, and wine that the country is known for. Two weeks felt just right for sampling a bit of everything that this beautiful country has to offer.