On my year and half stint of living in Sicily I was never a legal resident of the country of Italy. As with most other countries, they allow American citizens to enter the country for 3 months without any visa. After three months a visa is needed or a permission to stay (permesso di soggiorno). Due to the fact that Sicily is more backwards than mainland Italy, I had to wait for hours to get try and get my permission to stay (keyword: try). I never did get it because the government office was a mess so I decided to take a trip outside the country every 3 months and Malta seemed like a good choice; it’s only a short ferry ride away, everyone spoke English, and there a ton of things to do in Malta.
You’re seeing a picture of the rocky shores of Valetta, the capital of Malta. I walked the entire coast of the city that day and took one of the funny old school buses back to the hotel. Would definitely recommend that you visit Malta on one of your future trips. Dont forget to check out our Top 5 section for more things to do in Malta and around the world!
When I worked on cruise ships, Malta was one of my favorite ports. A few of us crew members would head to the beach, eat in cafe along the water and then roam around Mdina and Valletta. I’ve always enjoyed visiting places that are forced to really develop their own unique identity as a result of their relative isolation (in this case being a small island).
Thanks for taking me back to those times!
Earl anytime! Did you get to visit any of the megaliths?
Klaus, even though they are part of Eurozone now before they were not part of the EMS, European Monetary System. so currently they are using euros where before they were using their own currency the Maltese pound. I was able to go to Malta because they were outside the eurozone, they have now joined as of 2008 so you couldn’t so that anymore
I had no idea you lived in Sicily for a year and a half! Did you love it? Sicily is one of the few places that I think I could actually settle down and live for a few years. I really need to get Scott over there since he has never been even though he has family living there and he is Sicilian.
It is one of the most amazing places that I have ever been truly, there is so much history so much culture; baroque art, the best greek temples in the world, just incredible. I dont have those pics digital yet but once I get organized Im going to start uploading those
I absolutely loved it too. I stayed in Taormina most of the time, but I liked Sicily so much that I went back twice. So what is your funny story about this photo? Did you spend most of your time taking photos here?
I lived in Malta for many years and never once thought of Valletta’s shores as beaches. Interesting to see how other people think of things 🙂