I, like many other people and I’m sure yourself, LOVE a good holiday! This time last year I had already used up my holiday allowance for the entire year which was depressing as by May this year we hadn’t so much as browsed the pages of Expedia. Both Luke and I were in serious need of a getaway and I enjoyed Malta so much last year that we decided to go for round 2! If you’re looking for a holiday in May that’s warm and yet not as far a flight as the Caribbean and most importantly speaks English, keep on reading, here’s what we got up to…

Day 1

Our flight left at 6.25am from Luton, now I know what you’re thinking, that’s ridiculously early, but when you arrive in Malta just gone 10 with the whole day ahead of you, you will be thankful for the sacrifice of a few hours less in bed! We were staying at Le Meridien in St Julian’s which is a SPG (starwood preferred guest) hotel. We had stayed in Valetta last time which was great but it’s always nice to try something new, we have a family friend, Marcus, who lives in St Julian’s and when we visited him last year it was the lively atmosphere and choice of waterside restaurant after waterside restaurant that made me want to go back! Le Meridien hotel was in the perfect location, just on the outskirts of the heart of St Julian’s bay and within easy walking distance to the next town, Sliema.  What’s more is that it had the most amazing roof top pool and roof terrace bar covered in blue and white cushioned wicker chairs that lapped up the sun for the majority of the day.

We headed into one of the waterside restaurants of St Julian’s and proceeded to order a pizza and the first Aperol Spritz of the holiday which I then proceeded to knock over my entirely white outfit whilst swatting at a wasp, which turned out to be fly!

After refreshing, binge watching about 4 episodes of some American reality show and having a cheeky half hour nap, (I always enjoy the holiday chill time before dinner) we headed back into town for supper. Last year Marcus took us to a gorgeous restaurant called Peppino’s and I really wanted to take Luke there, it’s got this amazing view of the harbour if you’re lucky to get a seat outside. We were more than lucky as we got to sit at the only table on the 1st floor balcony and we were served by the nicest waiter ever who chatted to us through the evening.

Day 2

Today we had breakfast just across the road overlooking the Naar club and its pool. I’ve got really into my English breakfasts recently so naturally I continued the tradition and indulged in one accompanied by a pina colada. We then soaked up a couple of hours of rays on the roof top pool and I began reading  my book. My favourite author for holiday reads has got to be Sophie Kinsella / Madeline Wickham (of shopaholic series fame) and I had chosen to read ‘A Desirable Residence’ , her books are so gripping and it’s interesting to read events from different character’s points of view, definitely check her other books out! http://www.sophiekinsella.co.uk/

We then headed down to the spa as we had treated ourselves to a massage which was super relaxing apart from my head is always too small for the hole!! We then took a walk to the next town Sliema, stopping at a bar along the way which just so happened to be celebrating happy hour! So after a good few daiquiris and a couple of selfies (to capture my beloved TRIANGL bikini http://international.triangl.com/collections/balconnet/products/poppy-marshmallow-yellow) we continued to Sliema, via Zara, naturally!

We then took the 3 Euro ferry (bargain, can’t get a Starbucks in London for that) across to Valetta which is the old town where I stayed last year. We were, by this time, quite hungry so I gave Luke a speedy tour of the City and gardens on our way to the Upper Barakka lift which took us down to the waterfront (a little tip: It’s free to go down in the lift but 1 euro to come back up so make sure you take change or you’ll be climbing the 200 odd steps back up! That’s worse than Covent Garden tube!!)

Being on holiday we should be tasting the local cuisine but as we sat eyeing up the menu of a lovely sea food restaurant, the Hard Rock Cafe caught our eye and I do love to tick off the locations on my Hard Rock Cafe world list. Luke suggested just leaving but I couldn’t handle it and hurriedly ordered a round of drinks to avoid suspicion. We then nonchalantly wondered over to the Hard Rock as if we’d already booked a reservation! On the way home we waited at the taxi rank for about 10 minutes before giving up and strolling back up the hill into Valetta to try and find a cab, which you wouldn’t think would be too difficult, turns out you can’t just flag one down like a black cab so none of them would stop for us! After walking in the wrong direction twice still with no luck and a phone that was losing battery power rapidly as Google maps sucked it up, the only thing I could think of was to head to the hotel I stayed at last time and use their car service. After making up another elaborate story (we really thought on our feet this evening!) we were soon in their car on the way back to St Julian’s.

Day 3

We were up super early today (early for holiday anyway) ready to head on our boat tour to the islands of Gozo and Comino in the north of Malta. It was sooooo windy today, Luke and I are both pretty stubborn so we battled with the stiff breeze (understatement) on the roof of the boat for over an hour before nearly having our drinks blown out of our hands and scuttling inside. We arrived at Gozo and took a trip to the capital City, Victoria where we had lunch (another pizza of course) in a little square before visiting the Azure Window which is a natural arch on the island. The view was great but the many food/drink and ice cream stands seemed to attract every single wasp on the island! Even the random guy with an even more random owl on his shoulder didn’t seem to scare them off!

We hastily moved on and boarded the boat back to neighbouring island Comino. Comino is home to only 4 permanent residents and is famous for its Blue Lagoon which sees crystal clear turquoise waters surround it. It has also been featured in the film Troy!

The trip took up the whole day and we arrived back at the hotel about 7.30pm which meant that with our chill time we didn’t head out to dinner until gone 9.30. We actually didn’t venture far, just to The Villa restaurant opposite our hotel where we had another amazing balcony seat. The place was decorated with little fairy lights which looked sooo cute, definitely going to do some DIY fairy lighting on my garden, when I get one! It was such a nice restaurant whether for just drinks or a full meal, I have never seen such a stocked bar, I mean if you have both Disaronno and Galliano then I’m there!

Day 4

Our final day (sad face, no, crying face!) was still pretty much a good day of tanning, after breakfast although we had officially checked out we were still allowed access to the pool for the day, which of course we took full advantage of to catch some final rays before heading home. It was also another opportunity to wear my new Bridgette crochet bikini from Baby Milk clothing (by HotMess!), which you can buy now online for £50! http://hot-mess.co.uk/babymilk/babymilk-the-collection/babymilk-natural-shimmer-bridgette-crochet-bikini-top.html http://hot-mess.co.uk/babymilk/babymilk-the-collection/babymilk-natural-shimmer-bardot-high-waisted-crochet-bikini-bottom.html

All in all, like I said, if you’re looking for a place to go at the beginning of the summer that is still 24 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, just 3 and a bit hours away and purely English speaking, Malta is definitely the one and I hope to return next year!

Happy travelling!

Lexie

xxx