With Ron arriving a little over a week before our booked Mediterranean cruise, I wasn’t sure whether or not he would want to do a lot of running around in Malta before then, as jet lag from flying across the world can be pretty killer.

But I should have known better.

After just one day of being couped up in my apartment, he was ready to see what this place was about.  So for the next three days, we were all over the place.

We weaved and _ through all the tourists and day cruise vendors along The Strand in my town, Sliema, and walked through to the neighboring St. Julian’s, past the clear turquoise waters of Balluta and Spinola bay.  He tried our favorite Kebab restaurant.  He tried ricotta pastizzi, quiche lorraine, traditional ftira.  We walked through the nightlife center of St. Julian’s, Paceville, on a Saturday night and he couldn’t believe how packed it was.   (“This place is poppin’!!!!”)  He loved it.  I said just wait until we actually go one night and a couple belligerently drunk European boys try to grab my ass, dancing 14-year-olds in mini-skirts and way-too-high heels stumble in to you, and your clothes reek of smoke the next day.  Anyway.

We took the hour walk from Sliema to Valletta.  We walked through Msida and the skate park with all the street art.  We walked by the Msida marina.  We got to Valletta, and I showed him where I go to school.  We walked the entire perimeter of Valletta at sunset, and wandered through streets that I’d never seen in the entire time I’ve been living here.  As the sun set and the skies turned a deep purple-blue, we sat for a good 20 minutes just admiring the view–the ocean, the city lights, the ancient buildings.  Ron was completely taken aback by the scenery in front of us.  “You act like you’ve never seen a sunset before,” I said.  We would watch the sun set behind the ocean in Los Angeles and San Diego all the time.  “LA and San Diego have nothing on this,” he answered.  He’s right, I’ve been so spoiled by these Maltese sunsets that they’re almost the norm for me now.  I guess you just really have to be here to see.

We went to Mdina, “The Silent City,” which is a medieval walled-town with history tracing back to some 4000 years ago.  We strolled the narrow streets through to the end of the fortress, where there were spectacular views stretching to the ocean.  We had coffee and banana cake at the top of the Fontanella Restaurant, taking in the view for a bit longer.

Tomorrow, we’ll go to Gozo and see the Ġgantija temples and have a picnic at the Azure window at sunset.  The next day, Golden Bay.

So happy to be here with him.