Photos of Malta

Cathedral

Paceville

Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni

Island of Gozo

That's all. Hope u like our blog and Malta, of course!

The food in Malta

The ingredients of traditional Maltese cuisine is mainly fish and vegetables. The rabbitdishes, very popular today, were once a rarity. There are very few animals that live in freedom on the island and wild rabbits are small and infrequent. Rabbits are used todayare almost always farmed. The kitchen on the island was influenced by the many powers that occupied it for centuries. Who has ever been to Sicily, Turkey and North Africa, many things will sound familiar. For a long time Maltese food was not much in demand. The tourists could onlyget it in simple bars some villages. In recent years, demand rose sharply, so that today the more upscale restaurants offering traditional dishes. In tourist areas there are also branches of the best known fast food chains and lettersalmost every restaurant there are dishes from nearby Italy. Before the island to expandthe use of electric cooking, food is cooked in small clay pots over hot stones. Still the fishis cooked slowly in this way.

Religion in Malta

The predominant religion in Malta is Christianity, with Roman Catholicism being the predominant denomination. Most Maltese claim to be Catholic and participate in Catholic religious services and the Constitution of Malta establishes Catholicism as the state religion. Catholicism is also present in various elements of Maltese culture.

Freedom of religion is, however, guaranteed as a constitutional right and generally respected and increasing secularisation and minority religions are in evidence.

Malta's patron saints are St Paul, St Publius and St Agatha. The feast of the Assumption of Mary (15 August) is also widely celebrated also thanks to its being the day in 1942 when a relief convoy as part of Operation Pedestal made it through the Axis' blockade during the Second World war.

Geography of Malta

Malta is a state of southern Europe, formed by a group of islands in the central Mediterranean Sea, about 90 km from Sicily (Italy). Located on the edge of the African Plate, near the Eurasian. It comprises the islands of Malta, which is the largest, Gozo andComino, and the islets of Cominetto and Filfola. There are also smaller islands and the islands of St. Paul.

News: Tom Hanks films his new movie in Malta

Today I could see this interesting news about the new Tom Hanks film, that it films in Malta:

Tom Hanks in Malta: A lot of the filming will take place out at sea

Captain Phillips, a Sony Pictures Entertainment production starring Tom Hanks that is currently being shot in Malta, is one of the first big movies whose filming will mainly take place out at sea, this newspaper has learnt.

Film commissioner Peter Busuttil said local ports will be used for certain scenes, but a lot of the filming will take place out at sea on a tanker. The water tanks at the Mediterranean Film Studios will also be used. The cast will be in Malta until the end of May, and is then expected to head to Morocco to shoot the beach scenes. 

Captain Phillips is a hostage thriller based on the real-life drama of the Maersk Alabama, a cointainer ship that was taken over by Somali pirates in 2009. 

According to Empire magazine: “The movie stars Tom Hanks as the ship’s American skipper, Capt. Richard Phillips, and revolves around his, and his crew’s terrifying encounter with a bunch of gun-toting Somali pirates. Not even the yo-ho-ho’ing kind of pirates. The nasty ones.” 

Mr Busuttil said two other productions with significant budgets have started being shot in Malta – the Italian television series Come un Delfino, starring Raoul Bova, and the Russian production Fort Ross, while the filming of a number of documentaries is ongoing. Filming on a children’s movie is also expected to start towards the end of this month.“We have also received queries about the possibility of a reality show related to weddings being shot in Malta, as well as a series about Maltese food by an Australian television company featuring Shane Delia, a chef of Maltese origin.”

Nightlife in Malta

Paceville is one of Malta’s most exciting town as it is literally dotted with bars, clubs, discos, casinos, gentlemen’s clubs, cinemas and so much more. Most of the clubs in Paceville have a free entrance and are usually open till the early hours of the morning.

 So if you want to taste Malta’s nightlife, make sure to take a trip to Paceville and wander around the town in order to find the perfect club that will keep you dancing all night.

In this video you can see how is the nightlife in a Paceville's Disco.

Horse Racing in Malta

Horse racing has a long tradition in Malta. The popular, bareback horse races that take place annually on Saqqajja Hill, in Rabat on 29 June date back to the 15th century. These races form part of the traditional celebrations of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (il-Festa tal-Imnarja), and were greatly encouraged by the Knights of Malta, especially during the reign of Grand Masters de Verdalle and de Lascaris-Castellar. The Knights took these races very seriously: Bonelli records a proclamation issued by the Grand Masters of the era, which threatened anyone caught interfering with or obstructing a racing horse with forced labour on board the galleys of the Knights. The tradition was revived and strengthened after the First World War under British Governor, Lord Plumer. The racecourse at Marsa, which was founded in 1868, boasted one of the longest tracks in Europe, at one and three quarter miles (2.8 km). The first Marsa races were held on 12 and 13 April 1869.

Basketball in Malta

The best basketball club in Malta is "TheFloriana Basketbll Club. The Floriana Basketball Club was founded in 1977 and is affiliated to the Malta Basketball Association. This Club was originally founded under the auspices of the Fsobians Club of Floriana and for the first two seasons it played under the name of Fsobians Basketball Team with the first Chairman of the Club being Nigel Holland. The present premises of the Club is at the Independence Arena in Floriana.

Football in Malta

Football in Malta is run by the Malta Football Association and was introduced to the Maltese Islands during British rule in the mid-19th century. The sport at the time was new to England, and was used as a means of entertainment for the soldiers stationed in Malta at the various barracks around Malta at the time. In 1863 a football association was formed which governed rules and regulations for this quickly changing sport, which was still in amateur competition stage and played in an un-scheduled format until 1909 when a league format was introduced.

Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest

Malta has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1971. At the beginning, Malta hasn't got good results and it retired from the festival after 1975. In 1991, Malta return to the festival and it got better results, althought that Malta never win Eurovision, Malta has been close to being.

Usually, Malta use English in their songs, except the first who used the Maltese.

The Malta songs in Eurovision with the best position are 7th Wonder by Ira Losco (2nd Place in 2002), Angel by Chiara (2nd Place in 2005), Little Child by Mary Spiteri (3rd place in 1992) and The One That I Love by Chiara (3rd Place in 1998).

This year, Malta returns to the festival with Kurt Calleja and the song 'This is the night':

~Valletta~

Valletta Location

• Officially the name for Valletta is II-Belt Valletta
• Valletta is located on Malta's North East coast, 10 km from Luqa airport
• To the North is Marsamxett Harbour, to the east the Mediterranean Sea and to the south the magnificent  Grand Harbour

Valletta Description

• Valletta is the capital of Malta. .


• Valletta is a fortified town, and are supposedly the best and most powerful old fortifications in the world

Valletta Attractions

• Valletta has a vast array of attractions and tourist placesof interest to visit. Many of the attractions are about Malta's history and it's defence following it's two great fences.
  
  Valletta is built on top of a hill Mount Sceberras, and surrounded by harbours or the ses on 3 sides giving magnificent view from strategic points of it's formidable fortifications, possibly the best medieval fortifications in the world, and still almost entirely intact.

Valletta Seafront & Valletta Rock Beaches

• Harbours and the sea surrounds Valletta on 3 sides
 all of the sea frontage lies outside of the fortifications which forms a barrier between the city and the seafront. Great views of the harbours are obtainable from high vantage points in Valletta's fortifications.

• There are only a few places that attract tourists to the seafront
  • The ferry stage. 
  • The water polo / swimming pool  near the Sliema ferry
  • The ferry service on the south side to the 3 cities located near the custom house
  • The fish market
• There are no sandy beaches in Valetta, but there are rocks.

Shopping in Valletta

• Valletta is Malta's main shopping centre. Republic street that runs downhill from Valletta's city gate, where the bus station is located on the outer side of the gate.

Nightlife in Valletta

• There are quiet bars and restaurants. Valletta's got a lot of activity in the day, but at night the city relaxes. 

Valletta Restaurants & Cuisine

•  Valletta has a good choice of restaurants for a quiet evening meal. The city itself boasts a number of cafes for convenient dining.
• The Main square next to the Palace and other squares in the same areaare very popular with open air restaurants.
• There are a few cafes or restaurants with great views located around the city ramparts
• Upper and Lower Barrakka Gardens
• Near St Johns Cavalier overlooking the ditch

Sports in Valletta

• Scuba Diving for beginners and experienced divers is available from Diving schools
• Snorkeling in the sea
• Many hotels & aparthotels have their own sporting facilities. 

Welcome to About Malta

In this blog we'll write about Malta (an European country) and its cities. The best news, articles, information... about Malta and their cities here!

Our blog is called "About Malta", so we don't talk much about the geography, culture, economy and these boring things. We talk about what you can do in Malta and its cities. I hope you can visit Malta someday.  Enjoy!