Hi Charliegirl, very interesting topic I was beggining to give up hope , we first went to Malta in June 1998 as we wanted somewhere completely different to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary, we had done a few of the Canaries before Malta including our honeymoon in Gran Canaria but compared to Malta we found them to be quite boring, a bit samey, and fairly soulless, we instantly fell in love wirh Malta as it just felt so nice and comfortable, in fact it was the first holiday ever where I wasn't ready to return home at the end, normally after 4 or 5 days in Lanzarotte or similar I would be getting a bit bored as there is so little to do compared to magical Malta.

Prosit
Sliema2

hi all.. we first went 35 years ago and i think its great ,.the only down side now and its got worse is the time share touts,.why oh why is nothing done to curb them they are a pain.............regards .....john-doe..a confirmed malta lover...........

Good man John so are we

Regards
Sliema2

I married into a Maltese family 6 years ago and can remember the 1st time i went to visit all my hubbys family i wasnt very impressed with Malta at all.
The 2nd time i went hubby had to virtually carry me onto the plane kicking and screaming as i didnt want to leave.I have grown to love Malta over the last 6 years and now class it as home.

Hi there charliegirl007! Thanks for setting up this thread, it makes a great companion to the Brand Malta one!

Although I have been to many places round the world on holiday, including most of Europe, I never did choose Malta as a holiday destination. Mostly I had this vision in my mind of Malta as a small, dusty island with a couple of forts and a lot of British OAP's. A bit like Eastbourne without the greenery

Now that I live there as an expat and have chatted to many other expats I can add their point of view. Malta is perceived as a safe place to bring up a family, the climate is good and English is spoken widely. Many expat families (UK/Canadian/American/European) are here whilst the husband works in more inhospitable places such as the Middle East/Kazakhstan/Eastern Europe. Most are here for 2/3 years at a time.

Sliema2, I didn't realise you were so young (unless of course you married very late, if so I apologise) and certainly Malta is an improvement over many of the more traditional 'Brit' holiday destinations.

I am happy to be spending a year or so in Malta, it's easier to fly home from here than it is from Malaysia, say, and southern Europe is much more accessible. However I think most people are looking for something a bit more exciting or novel for their annual holidays. With the many choices of destination available for the same cost as a trip to Malta I think most tourists are wanting to get as much value for money as possible.

Ciao

Susan

Hi Susan, yes I am incredibly young as you can tell from my avatar :lol:, since our first visit to Malta in 1998 we have been 17 times with number 18 coming up very soon, the thing with Malta is that it feels so comfy to visit, nothing is heavy going and it always feels relaxed and still very very special and unique and always jolly good fun, one of many great things about the Maltese is that they don't take themselves seriously so you can have a good laugh with them, in June 2005 we went to tuscany instead of Malta and boy was it heavy going, they do seem to take themselves too seriously, even though I speak some Italian we just felt no warmth from them, don't get me wrong we have always enjoyed our trips to Italy but give me Malta and Ghawdex any day over Tuscany.

Sliema2

sorry Sliema2, didn't spot that on your avatar. Still, you're younger than me!

I'm not a great fan of Tuscany either, although I loved Pisa. I think it's just a trendy place atm. Milan was very cosmopolitan but also quite hectic, luckily we could scoot off to the Lakes or the Alps for the weekends. In Europe we mostly stick to Switzerland, although we love (former) Yugoslavia and Greece and found Berlin fascinating. I'd like to try Iceland sometime and have never been to Turkey.

For a relaxed attitude you can't beat SE Asia, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, the people there really know the meaning of the word 'hospitality', excellent hotels too. My favourite place in all the world is Bali, fascinating culture and geography, wonderful people and great weather! The flight's a bit long though.

We've always considered that life's too short and the world's too big to go to the same places more than 2 or 3 times.

Ciao

Susan

It was actually Pisa that we stayed in, we rented an apartment for 10 days and the apprtment was fantastic right on the Lungarno Pacinotti by the Arno, Pisa was the real problem as we found it quite scruffy and covered in graffiti just generally not much fun, Florence wasn't much better either, granted the Domo, Ponte Vecchio etc was all very nice, but it was uncomfortably busy and the areas outside the city near the Firenze Stazione Santa Mari Novella were horrid and over run with gypsies, immigrant tat sellers, and general drunks and druggies not our cup of tea at all, however other places such as Lucca were really very nice, give me good old Malta any day.

Sliema2

Well just goes to show that one man's meat is another man's poison and all that, particularly judging by the responses you received on the Italy forum!

Most places have something to offer, even if it is just the thought that you'd never go back!

Ciao

Susan

Nice topic this one.
Well i booked a last minute package deal to Malta 16 years ago.Went with an ex girlfriend.I never have a bad holiday,i make the most of what is there.Couple of months later i split with the girlfriend,then decided to go for a holiday on my own.Where could i go on my own where i could find my way around.So i decided to go back to Malta.When i arrived at the hotel i had previously stayed in,there was the young lad who i had spoken to on my previous visit.He askedwhere was my girlfriend,told him she left me,his answer.Congratulations,that is the best thing that has happened to you.
I kept going back,to the point of going up to 8 times a year,even for long weekends.Made more and more friends.In 1995 i ended up going to stay with my friend at his apt for nearly 6 months.
I,ve kept going back year after year.In 2000 i married an English girl,but in St Pauls Anglican Cathedral in Valletta.
You know who my best man was.The same guy who shook my hand on my 2nd visit to Malta 10 yrs earlier.
In 2001 my son was born,in Oct 2002 my son was baptised in St Pauls.The godparents were my friend as per above.Another dear maltese friend who works at the Magic Kiosk,where i always go when im in Malta and a friend of my wife,s,yes now she has friends in Malta too.
I could go on here,as i,ve been to Malta over 100 times,yes that many.i,ve had Xmas and New Year there a few times,summers,winters.
One final story i,ll share with you.
I went out to Malta for Xmas + New Year,just before i went i found out my boss was going there too,travelling out on Boxing Day.One of my Maltese friends was a rep for First Choice.When my boss arrived in Malta,he said Mr + Mrs R.Staying at the Fortina,Ah you must be Chris,s boss,nice to meet you.You know Chris,he replied.Well yes everyone in Malta knows Chris.He was gobsmacked .So many happy memories,could tell you all so many more

well here is the story regarding my choice:

I was in the second semester of my access course at college; looking at having a large chunk of my bursary left as I was hardly spending it, and having a very long summer break. So I went onto lastminute.com to look for a holiday. Well a cheap one, and it was either Malta or a Greek Island.

To me, Greek Islands are two much like beach holidays where you sit around, doing nothing, also being autistic a club 18-30 holiday is not suitable, due to the noise. I need structure and to be doing things.

So it was Malta. To be honest even at 19 I prefered siteseeing; history and culture to sitting around doing nothing.

Some great responses on here, especially like helen and Malta b's replies, keep em coming chaps.

Regards
Sliema2

I first went to malta in 1971 when I was stationed at R.A.F. Luqa, and I fell in love with the island and also a maltese girl. We married and had 26 years together before we parted. We used to visit every year along with my three children who also love malta and still visit. I then met another lady from u.k. and we both visited malta, she loved it too. I lost her 18 months ago, and i found it difficult to go to malta as it brought back too many memories but I went again at christmas and laid all the ghosts. Now I go again on monday and I intend on having a good time just like the old days.

Sahha

Alan

Hi Alan, your a very brave man mate, I'm so sorry to hear that you have had such a sad loss my heart really does go out to you, I really hope that you enjoy your holiday in Malta and that you will be as happy as you can there although it must be very difficult for you sometimes, we have a freind who can't go back to Malta for exactly the same reasons as he and his late wife also had happy holidays there, and although he loves it and keeps in touch with it via me he just cannot build up the strength to go because of the memories, that is why I thnk you are very brave, not that he isn't we are all just different thats all.

L-isbah xewqat
Sliema2

hi ..happychef...have a great time mate...very sorry to hear of your loss.........regards.......john-doe........

Happychef, it would be trite to say that I can comprehend a loss such as you have endured, but I am glad that Malta is once again a place where you can find contentment.

Best wishes

Susan

Have a great time Alan.I,m sure you will have a great time,and come back on here to tell us some fantastic stories of your holiday.
Enjoy

Thankyou all for your kind words.
I have allready taken the first step, life can only get better.
I fly on monday, hopefully I will not have too much trouble at heathrow , I have my little clear plastic bag ready, but what about my cigarettes My first visit will be to the grotto of our lady in melhieha to light a candle.

will tell you all about my trip when I return, if I ever get back

sahha

Alan

well I'm still really a Malta virgin after, at the age of 41, being dragged kicking and screaming on my first holiday abroad in 2004, by my wife and daughter!

I was very boring and was quite content to spend the summer holidays at home in Cornwall. However, my wife spent part of her childhood in Malta, as her dad was stationed there in the Air Force in the late 50's/early 60's.

As the years went by my wife kept in touch with the family her family lodged with in Mosta, exchanging letters cards etc and promising that she would go back. She then met and married me, we had a daughter and holidays took a back seat as money became tight.

Christmas 2003 we had a card from her friends in Malta with a letter saying how much they missed my wife and would love to see her again and they were itching to see me and Meg (our daughter).

I gave in to the constant nagging from 2 females and booked us a week in Malta for Easter 2004. Right up until departure I really didnt want to go, one because I hate flying, and two, Malta just didnt appeal to me, I cant say why, but it just didnt.

Even the bus ride from the airport to our hotel filled me with dismay as all I could see was building work everywhere.

All that changed when we went to Valletta on one of the famous buses, I fell in love with the city immediately, it's culture and history was fantastic, and to cut a very long story short, within 2 days I had fallen hook line and sinker for Malta, I cant get enough of it's history, culture, weather and most of all, it's people.

Meeting up with my wifes friends after so many years was very emotional, it felt like "I" had known them for years. We were all in tears when the holiday ended, the week was not enough.

Upon our return I booked a 2 week holiday for summer 2005 and we had the best holiday of our lives.

I'm slightly down at the moment as we had planned to be back in Malta right now, but as my wife blew our car up, we had to get a new one which put our holiday plans on hold for this year.

But watch out Malta, we WILL be back in 2007