Saturday, June 14, 2008

Malta



This should actually have been my trip to Morocco. I registered a long time ago to attend a conference in Marrakesh, Morocco and since the location sounded so exotic I knew I had to go. But a few months before the conference the organizers announced that the location of the conference was moved to Malta due to what they cited as unsurmountable bureaucratic difficulties. I have no idea what went wrong during the organizing process although I have a vague sense of how frustrating it must have been trying to get things done on the African continent.

My initial disappointment of not getting to see Morocco was quickly overcome by my eagerness to see Malta where I had never been before and it seemed exciting enough. I was thrilled by the beauty of the small island of Malta where a visitor can see remains of Roman architecture scattered everywhere over the island. And since the island is so small it takes only a half day bus tour to see all the major sights that there are to see. Unfortunately I did not have time to explore the museums, churches and other attractions so I think a week of vacation might be just the right amount of time to see everything and not get bored.

The people of Malta are very friendly, they all speak English since it is a former British colony, their currency is Euro and the country is a member of the European Union which makes it an easy travel destination for us Europeans.