WE HEART MALTA

Written by Joanna Demarco

Lying in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, between Europe and Africa, lies an island so small that you have to sometimes zoom in on a virtual map; Malta, a place which, give or take, 450,000 people call home. Welcome to our beautiful island. As you get off the plane, chances are you will be greeted by sunshine which causes you to promptly whip out your sun lotion quicker than you can say ‘Xi Shana’ – ‘how hot’. Lucky for you, (and everyone else), Malta’s heat is compromised by its abundance of beaches which are never more than a twenty minute drive away from wherever you are standing. Alternatively, you can roll out your towels in places which are far away (by Malta standards), like ‘Blue Grotto’ or ‘Riviera’, the distance giving you more of a reason to laze in the sun all day.

Let’s get to the point.

We all know stag and hen holidays are greatly synonymous with partying, alcohol-consumption and a handful of cringe-y memories which will definitely not make it onto Facebook, let alone your wedding album. The good news is Malta has its own party town called ‘Paceville’. It basically consists of one long street (where you will regret the heels you slapped on your feet a few hours before), embellished with clubs and bars with comparatively cheap alcohol on both sides of the road. If that doesn’t suffice, events throughout the year, especially the summer months, host internationally acclaimed DJs and artists who, more and more regularly, are gracing Malta’s air with their sound waves, making Malta more of an entertainment hub than it was a number of years back. In the last few years, David Guetta, Calvin Harris, Boys Noize, Fatboy Slim, Rudimental, Jessie J, Enrique Iglesias, Prodigy, Dizzee Rascal and even Snoop Dogg, have all bopped their head on our stages.

Malta is a bilingual country where both Maltese and English are mother tongues. The former is a medley of various languages which aurally portray Malta’s rich history and cultural influences. In fact, Malta also caters for the post and pre-partying sightseeing days, with it’s old, beautiful architecture, sunset (and sunrise) views and humble towns of character. You can take a twenty minute ferry ride to our well-loved sister island Gozo, or a shorter speedboat ride to Comino, renowned for its tourist-loving clear blue waters.

Here are a few more of our ideas which we have materialised into activities: Why not spend a day on a ‘Luzzu’, a colourful, traditional Maltese boat? Play football against each other wearing huge inflatable balls? Have a typical Maltese ‘Fenkata’ or ‘Majjalata’ (‘Rabbit’ and ‘Pig’ dinners respectively)? Take a pole dancing lesson? Go windsurfing? Play laser tag? Be original and get strippers? Go on jet skiis? Go bowling? Canoeing? Have a party on a traditional bus? Sing karaoke? Stagger your way through a bar hop (or crawl)? Go to a comedy night? Go diving? Biking? Zip-lining? Have a boat party? Abseiling? Paintballing? Horse-riding? Fixed-target shooting? Quad biking?

Ibiza… what?

When it comes to organising holidays prior to tying the knot, we believe it is time to choose a different island. Whilst the clubbing and entertainment scene are easily comparable, the culture and activities which Malta have to offer will definitely give you something to text your-soon-to-be-home about. We assure a vacation which will see you off home with temporary tan lines and permanent memories.