I'm Back in the Mediterranean Sea...But Not in Greece

[00:00:18]Where in the world is this? You will find out in just a few seconds.

[00:00:43]Hey, hey, hey.

[00:01:31]Hey there. How's it going? Today is Sunday, July 19th, 2026. Currently 91° F. That is 33° C. It is hot here in Valeta, the capital of Malta. I just wanted to walk over to this really cool old looking bus here. Look at this thing. What year is it? Fordson Tames.

[00:02:04]Valleta Berzabuga. Berzabooga is a town on the island of Malta here.

[00:02:17]So, this is my third time to Malta. I flew in yesterday coming from Manchester, England. A fairly uneventful day yesterday. I spent the night at a hotel in Manchester. Got up yesterday morning. My flight wasn't until 4:00 in the afternoon, so I had plenty of time.

[00:02:39]Took a train to the airport. The uh flight ended up being delayed 1 hour. We were supposed to land at 8:30, so we landed at 9:30 p.m. last night, and I got this uh place for only tonight. It is currently about 12 noon, and I am checking out today. Luckily, they have 100 p.m. checkout. That is amazing. which happens to work in great with my plans for today because I'm going to be catching a ferry in about an hour and 45 minutes from Valleta Malta here over to Goo. Gooo is the smaller nearby island which I went to on a previous trip to Malta, but only for a day trip and also to Komino Island, an even smaller one between the two. And so I wanted to go back and spend more time there. So I have a hotel reserved there for five nights. Okay, just wanted to read a little bit of the history here.

[00:03:50]The Commonwealth Walkway, Valleta, the capital of Malta, was built in 1566 by the Knights of St. John and named after Grandmaster Jean Pareso de Lavallet following his victory over the Ottoman Empire in the great siege of 1565.

[00:04:10]The city was designed by the renowned Italian architect Francesco Laareelli, an assistant of Michelangelos's. Wow.

[00:04:21]Malta is strategically placed between Europe and North Africa and for many years the Grand Harbor served as an important British naval base. In the Second World War, Valleta underwent intense bombing by the Italians and Germans in which over 3,000 Maltese civilians were killed or injured. But the island never surrendered.

[00:04:44]Okay, so I have a mission, which is to find something to munch on before I get to the ferry. But before I get to the ferry, I have to get back to my room, which is like a 7 8 minute walk away, and grab my backpack and then get over to the ferry either by walking or maybe catching a uh Uber or something. The Odyssey, I want to see it as a Grecoile lover of Greece and Greek history. going to have to uh keep my eyes open for where I can see the movie. So, uh Malta is a very very interesting country, a very small island archipelago with Malta being the main island and then as I mentioned Goo and Kino.

[00:05:47]The Maltese language is a very interesting mix of Italian and Arabic.

[00:05:52]Malta is in the Mediterranean Sea between Sicily, Italy, and Libya in North Africa.

[00:06:02]And there is so much history here. It is insane. So, one of the things that I like about Malta is that it isn't just a beach destination. There is so much more to see.

[00:06:14]The uh capital city here of Alleta is absolutely fantastic. As you are getting a glimpse of look at these old columns and what is this exactly?

[00:06:36]Might be a museum or something now. But uh all over the island are tons of historical ruins, monuments, sites from thousands and thousands of years of history. So, uh despite being a small island, it is really, really packed with places to check out. I'm not sure if I will come back and spend more time on the main island or not. I don't have a flight booked out yet.

[00:07:14]Oh, yeah. I should point out, first time that I've actually shaved in I don't know how long, if it was last year or the year before that. Just decided to uh shave and then I'm actually going to uh let it grow back. But uh partly I did it because I actually wanted to stop shaving. I'd had the beard but was shaving the neck. Decided I wanted to uh take a break from shaving in general, especially because I'm planning to fly back to the US soon, probably more or less directly from here.

[00:07:53]And so I'll just let the uh beard grow out in full. One less thing to do in the morning. Okay. So, uh I need to find some stuff to munch on quick. Well, we have uh waffles there.

[00:08:10]That is a good uh option.

[00:08:15]But, uh let's wander just a little bit more and see what else is available. What is this? Is that ice cream or shia chiate?

[00:08:36]I guess that must be like sandwiches.

[00:08:42]I think it's a sandwich. I just ordered one.

[00:08:48]Holy moly. This thing is massive. So, it's kind of a sandwich, but uh it's kind of like chabatada bread, I guess.

[00:09:00]with salami, some kind of like cream cheese kind of thing, I think, and then artichoke spread. Anyway, that looks good. I also have a like granola bar thing, and so that is definitely going to do it. All right.

[00:09:20]So, uh, the plan is to walk back to my room and eat this there and then head out with my backpack. Just wanted to show a little bit more. Look at this amazing uh, whatever it is, church, cathedral. There you can see it is just after 12:00 noon.

[00:09:51]I would go inside if it wasn't for the sandwich and the hat. Not really going to work this time. But uh anyways, my uh room is back this way. So going to head back, munch, grab my stuff, and then get to that ferry and get over to Goo.

[00:10:10]Looking forward to it.

[00:10:14]And back at the fountain, walking over to the ferry port about a 15-minute walk away. Got all my stuff.

[00:10:24]So, this is the bus stop where you can catch buses going all over the island.

[00:10:32]Renting a car is definitely the better way to go. Important to keep in mind that even though it is quite a small island, it is very densely populated.

[00:10:45]There are a lot of towns and cities here. It is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. And so getting around takes longer than you would expect. Also, lots of winding roads and uh narrow little roads going through the countryside and up and down hills, etc. But it is a very very fascinating place to explore by car. You just find all kinds of interesting places whether you're intentionally heading for them or just coming across them.

[00:11:24]We have some Latin there.

[00:11:29]And we got Roman numerals M C M 193, I think. Oh, yep. There we go.

[00:11:44]Confirmation. 1913.

[00:11:48]Another one of those old buses.

[00:11:54]Looks like gas is 149, I guess, for power. Regular unled 134. That's about $1.50 per liter time 4. So about six bucks a gallon.

[00:12:14]Bolt. So Bolt and Uber both work.

[00:12:20]Not sure what this is a monument to. I don't see any signs or plaques or anything.

[00:12:35]And so across there is another part of the city that I haven't been to yet. It looks amazing and there's supposed to be a lot to see over there. So, that will definitely be a mission for when I come back from GooO before catching my flight out is hopefully have a day or two to uh get over there and we'll see maybe even a few days and see more of Malta Island. And up there, NCL, Norwegian Cruise Lines. That is a massive ship there.

[00:13:15]I've never done a cruise. I would like to sometime.

[00:13:19]I was just watching a video by Jumping Places about their uh MCL cruise in the Caribbean.

[00:13:31]So, one of these days got to do a cruise just to try it. Say that I've done it. See how I like it.

[00:13:41]Another big ship there. Is that a ferry or cruise ship?

[00:13:50]Silver Sea. Probably a cruise ship.

[00:13:55]So there it says lift to Valeta 150 m.

[00:14:01]It's pointing like that, but I think that it means like this. Another one of these old buses here. And so when I was uh looking online >> to find where to catch this ferry. Then I came across the lift or elevator >> and then when I plugged in the name of the elevator on Google, it was showing this route that I just did even though I plugged in upper part of the elevator. So that uh kind of messed me up although no big deal. walk 10 minutes further. But something to keep in mind and also something that I will look for when I come back here, skip the hill, get a lift up here.

[00:14:58]>> And here we go. Map of Malta, Valeta, Grand Harbor. That's where I am right now.

[00:15:08]And then gooo is up here and Komino right about there.

[00:15:18]Tourist dream. Open air tour. City by sea. Open top bus. Visit Malta as you have never done. So I guess a bus tour around the island.

[00:15:33]So there it is. Baraka lift and so I had plugged in upper Baraka lift and it was telling me to go out of my way. So something was wrong with uh Google there. But uh right on. Well, now I know for next time.

[00:15:58]I love all of this whatever it is. sandstone, limestone.

[00:16:06]It is all over Malta. Obviously coming from quaries on the island. It is so kind of exotic and evocative.

[00:16:19]It feels so old even though there are many new buildings being constructed with it. Goofy. That is what I'm looking for.

[00:16:32]But I'm assuming this wall is actually old.

[00:16:51]The ferry leaves in 24 minutes, so I got plenty of time. From right there, I am on the wrong side.

[00:16:58]There we have a sign. And nice old car there.

[00:17:06]And so from here you get a great view of the other side of the city. And man, it looks absolutely spectacular.

[00:17:15]So many massive walls and looks like a full-on castle there. And then kind of a fort and church on a hill. I got to get over there when I come back.

[00:17:37]And so I think this is it. It cost €750 for a 45minute high-speed ferry ride. So good deal.

[00:17:50]>> All right. All right. All right. We're going on a ferry in the Mediterranean Sea. It ain't Greece, but very stoked to be here.

[00:18:03]Thank you.

[00:18:11]>> Great. Great.

[00:18:15]>> All right. Thanks.

[00:18:24]AC nice and cold here.

[00:18:30]I got to try to find a beer on this ferry.

[00:18:35]>> So, I guess everybody's on basically.

[00:18:39]It's surprisingly empty considering it's late July, smack in the uh tourist high season. Probably the earlier berries are more crowded, I would guess, in the morning.

[00:18:55]So, you probably can't hear, but uh they're announcing in the Maltese language.

[00:19:03]>> It's so interesting sounding.

[00:19:17]>> And it's also written on the screen.

[00:19:20]It looks so strange.

[00:19:29]Billy Dawir Chingaisha Mini Busika Chinga Iranga Chinga Galagla Sikaha Gaketa Gandanda Dawi The hill meta gir in tistatings deli man it is just such a unique one.

[00:20:07]All right. All right.

[00:20:09]So glad to be here. Gooo is going to be really fun to explore.

[00:20:17]Can't wait.

[00:20:20]And getting a closer look at this fort here.

[00:20:35]So, no beer for me. They don't have a concession stand. I guess that is normally it there.

[00:20:43]And so there is Malta Island there. And then this is Little Commino Island where I went on a day trip and I think hiked up to that uh watch tower there, but from the other side or maybe it's a different one. But anyways, there is Gooo Island. So, I will get to the port there and then I have to get across the island somehow over to the town where I'm staying.

[00:21:12]Probably take a taxi or maybe a bus.

[00:21:16]I will definitely plan to rent something at some point, whether a car or a motor scooter or quad or whatever, but Gooo is quite small. You can drive everywhere within like 15 minutes.

[00:21:35]So, yes, I'm pretty sure that that is the watchtowwer that I hiked to from over there, which is the main beach area.

[00:21:44]It's a really interesting walk along those cliffs there. So, I'm going to show a clip now that I took right on one of those cliffs there the first time that I was in Malta in 2019.

[00:22:03]Look at this.

[00:22:21]And now here is another clip that I took right over there looking down at the beach area.

[00:22:32]Damn, this is insane.

[00:22:36]>> I am definitely going to find other parts of Malta in the coming days, rent a car and get out on my own and find some less crowded spots.

[00:22:53]All right, I'm going to uh do a hike.

[00:23:15]There was a cool looking old building back up there. So, >> get away from this madness.

[00:23:23]and then come back and do a quick dip.

[00:23:26]We have 90 minutes here to uh hang out and then head back to Malta.

[00:23:34]Oh my god.

[00:23:59]And then here you can see the little channel between Komino and Goo.

[00:24:17]If you want to stay in front, up to you.

[00:24:19]Go. No problem.

[00:24:20]>> All right. This is fine.

[00:24:22]>> Is it okay?

[00:24:23]>> Yep. I'm all good.

[00:24:24]>> Mia, how hot?

[00:24:26]>> Especially if that AC works.

[00:24:28]>> Of course.

[00:24:29]>> Good. Good.

[00:24:30]>> How can you stay without it?

[00:24:31]>> Yeah, no doubt. It is intense.

[00:24:36]I'm coming from England. It was a little cooler.

[00:24:38]>> I just had people from England now.

[00:24:41]>> You just came from England?

[00:24:42]>> No. No. I just had one >> had customers. Okay.

[00:24:44]>> Passengers.

[00:24:45]>> Yeah. 1 hour to go.

[00:24:47]>> I see. I'm American, but I was in England.

[00:24:50]>> All right.

[00:24:51]>> Yeah.

[00:24:55]>> You from Go or Malta? Go Gooo? Yeah.

[00:24:58]>> We have temperature like this till Wednesday.

[00:25:01]>> Okay. And then it cools down a little bit.

[00:25:03]>> A bit. Yeah. A bit.

[00:25:04]>> Yeah.

[00:25:05]>> We have today is very windy.

[00:25:07]>> Okay.

[00:25:08]>> It will be it will be a bit cooler.

[00:25:11]>> Yeah.

[00:25:12]>> But then after I don't know.

[00:25:14]>> Okay.

[00:25:16]Yeah. Well, that's what the sea is for.

[00:25:19]>> The sea is nice. I I was swimming three days ago.

[00:25:24]>> Okay, good. Is there a uh >> It was cold. It was I mean, not cold, but >> cooler.

[00:25:30]>> It's cool. Yeah.

[00:25:31]>> Is there a good good uh swimming spot you recommend?

[00:25:34]>> Of course.

[00:25:35]>> I'm sure many.

[00:25:36]>> You can at Mars. Okay.

[00:25:38]>> Where you go, Mar?

[00:25:40]>> Uh it's called something lantern. I will tell you the name.

[00:25:42]>> West. Sorry. Lantern. I know where it is.

[00:25:45]>> Okay, great. Perfect.

[00:25:46]>> So, behind behind in the in the main in the main square there is a small beach.

[00:25:51]>> Okay.

[00:25:51]>> You can swim there.

[00:25:54]>> Nearby nearby there is the red sand beach which is the only proper sand beach of the island.

[00:26:00]>> I see red sand. Okay.

[00:26:01]>> Red sand. Ramla bay.

[00:26:03]>> Yeah.

[00:26:03]>> Ramla Bay.

[00:26:05]The name is >> all right.

[00:26:06]>> It's in a village called Shara. The village behind >> Shara. Okay.

[00:26:13]I think I have a picture.

[00:26:18]>> This is the red sand beach.

[00:26:20]>> Okay.

[00:26:25]>> How long you're staying in Mojo?

[00:26:26]>> Five nights.

[00:26:27]>> Oh, you have plenty of time.

[00:26:29]>> Exactly. Yeah.

[00:26:30]>> But don't don't go by walk. Don't >> Yeah. Not especially not in this heat.

[00:26:34]>> Yeah. I will try to rent a scooter or a quad or >> Yes. Yes. Yes. Scooter is better, but it's very expensive.

[00:26:41]>> Okay. Okay. But scooter is okay.

[00:26:43]>> Yeah, that's the best way to get around.

[00:26:45]>> The best way. Yeah, >> because it's small. So, 15 minutes. 15 minutes.

[00:26:48]>> You know how to drive on our side as well?

[00:26:51]>> Yes. Yes. I'm used to it. I've I've driven uh I rented a car uh on Malta Island other time.

[00:26:57]I was here and Cyprus and UK and Yeah.

[00:27:02]>> No, here it's I mean, okay. It's high season, >> but the traffic in go is not as bad.

[00:27:07]>> Exactly. It's not as bad as Malta.

[00:27:09]>> In Victoria, the main town. Uh-huh.

[00:27:12]>> Where is the feast, you know?

[00:27:13]>> Yeah. Yeah. I only came to Gooo on a day boat trip once. Commino Gooo >> and so I wanted to come back and see more cuz I know there's a lot to see.

[00:27:24]>> Those people one hour ago that I had same thing. Goamino.

[00:27:28]>> Okay. Yeah.

[00:27:29]>> In fourth place.

[00:27:30]>> Yes. I was just reading the news and they they won England.

[00:27:33]>> Uhhuh. 64 10 goals.

[00:27:36]>> Yeah. That was uh the biggest scoring World Cup game since 1982. I think >> there was no stress.

[00:27:42]>> Yeah.

[00:27:43]>> About who will win, how will we lose.

[00:27:45]>> See, exactly. Yeah.

[00:27:46]>> Doesn't matter.

[00:27:48]>> Much more exciting that way.

[00:28:06]over there.

[00:28:08]>> Gigantia is here or >> in Go.

[00:28:10]>> It's on Go. Oh, okay.

[00:28:12]>> Behind behind the behind Marcel.

[00:28:14]>> I see. Okay.

[00:28:15]>> If you have a motors out scooter scooter not 15 minutes, not even 15 minutes.

[00:28:22]>> Okay.

[00:28:23]>> You are there.

[00:28:34]So, €20 for that taxi. I'm glad that I didn't take a bus. That definitely would have taken longer, especially because there was some road construction.

[00:28:44]So, this is Marcelorn, a small city, I guess, on the water right there.

[00:28:56]Going to walk up to my place, get checked in. And oh man, is it hot. I hope the AC is working good where I'm staying for 5 days.

[00:29:14]And so that cute little beach is here on Goo Island, just a 20-minute walk away from here. So I definitely need to find it. And here we go. Perfect little room for €687 $78 US per night. Pretty good price, especially for being smack in the middle of high season. Although next month in August, it will probably get even more busy and expensive. But anyways, this is definitely going to work.

[00:29:49]and fridge and a little balcony. Not much of a view, but uh at least it's nice and quiet here and it's fairly cool even without the AC on yet. And I have AC there. So, uh everything is looking good here. Now, going to relax for a little bit and then uh head out and uh just give a little bit of a taste of Marcelorn.

[00:30:17]All right. So, let's take a look at the water.

[00:30:22]Pretty sweet spot here.

[00:30:27]>> It's very smoky.

[00:30:30]I can't tell if those are clouds or smoke billing over.

[00:30:37]>> Seems kind of like smoke.

[00:30:47]So you have a little rocky pebbly beach there, but you don't necessarily need a beach to get wet and cool off. Man, the heat is really intense. And that definitely seems like smoke. So I wonder where that's coming from.

[00:31:13]It's not like there are many trees around here that can be on fire.

[00:31:21]Anyway, just going to uh go for a very quick little wander up this way. Not uh planning to spend much time hiking around in this heat today.

[00:31:37]La Trtori. So that's very Italian.

[00:31:42]And here's the beach.

[00:31:47]A blue flag beach, whatever that means.

[00:31:52]Yeah, there is definitely smoke in the air. It smells like it, too.

[00:31:58]But I think rather than swimming somewhere like that, I would rather go around a corner, find a uh quieter spot, even if it's not a beach.

[00:32:14]All right. So, not really sure if it's okay to uh be here, but no signs saying don't. I want to uh get up on those stairs and get the view.

[00:32:33]Oh man, that water is looking so refreshing.

[00:32:44]All right, nice view from here.

[00:33:11]Yeah, there's a better swimming spot there. Almost nobody there.

[00:33:16]And the water is much better for uh jumping in. It gets deep right away.

[00:33:26]You know what?

[00:33:28]I got shorts on. I didn't bring my swim trunks, but uh yeah, I am going for a swim.

[00:33:44]Oh yeah, that was a good idea.

[00:34:03]>> Oh yeah, >> just amazing.

[00:34:15]This is a good place to be.

[00:34:27]All right. Well, this is definitely going to be my go-to swimming spot while I'm staying here for the next 5 days.

[00:34:32]That water is amazing.

[00:34:35]There it gets even deeper. You could even jump from here into there.

[00:34:45]So definitely smoke. And I think that I can see where it is rising from. So just for a little something to do, let's uh wander over there and see if we can see what is burning.

[00:35:08]So, I just saw the manager of my hotel as I was walking past it and asked him about the smoke and he said that it was a field that was burning. So, not going to be too exciting, but uh let's just see if we can actually get a look at it while exploring some back alleys.

[00:35:36]So, we have a Jesus statue on the top of that hill.

[00:35:45]Interesting scene here.

[00:35:52]We should get a view of the smoke.

[00:36:01]Man, oh man.

[00:36:02]The heat is just so intense.

[00:36:05]Just to make it clear since you can't really tell, is it, you know, 78° F, 82, 84?

[00:36:16]No. When it's like, I think 94, 95, that is very, very intense. Well, there's a field now. It looks like the smoke has completely stopped. I don't see any smoke. So strange. Anyway, at least it isn't a uh you know building on fire or anything too bad. So uh here we go. A field not on fire.

[00:37:04]>> Looks like uh tomatoes and can't tell there, but looks like probably squash or something and peppers.

[00:37:21]Oh, that's the fire department.

[00:37:28]I guess I just walked right into the uh Oh, yeah. I can see a little bit of smoke going up over there. So, yeah, I guess right in here was on fire. I guess I should probably get away even though not looking like an actual uh threat at this point. So, all right. I'm hot, tired, and uh going to head back to my room, take a nice cold shower, and uh definitely chill out. That is all for now for Go, but definitely more coming.

[00:38:00]See you.

[00:38:11]Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat.