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Top 10 Places to be Photographed in Malta
By: David
1. First of all it's the Malta money-shot, the Azure Window on the island of Gozo. Countless photos have been taken of tourists framed by the giant arch which has been hewn out of the rock by the sea. Problem is that erosion just keeps on eroding, and the Maltese Ministry for the Environment are keeping an apprehensive watch on the Window, as bits of it have been falling off in the past couple of years. It should be around for a while, but don't put off visiting it for too long.
2. Next up, the 'O' of the Love statue in Sliema. If you're not familiar with this piece of street art, well it's basically the word 'love' spelled out in 3 metre tall stone letters. Twice. And it's spelled upside-down so that you see the word right way around only as a shadow, or a reflection on the harbour water below. You know what artists are like, they have to be tricksy. Anyhoo, on a pretty continuous basis it will occur to a passing tourist that their holiday will be incomplete and their life without meaning unless they get a picture of themselves standing in the O of the Love Statue. Yes, I've got one too.
3. Comino is one of those places which does Blue very, very well. It provides just the shades of blue sea against blue sky that will cause friends, acquaintances and people you couldn't pick out of a crowd to sigh enviously whilst glancing through your facebook updates. And that is pretty much all facebook is good for these days, isn't it? That and spying on your kids. So yeah, Comino is good.
4. The narrow winding streets of Mdina make for an atmospheric location. In truth many of the streets of Malta are uninspiring places, but there is definitely an ambience about the silent city that comes across well in photographic form.
5. Who can resist a photo with a lovely smiling dolphin? Well I can, but then I'm pretty tight with money and it costs well over a hundred euros. But if I was paddling around in the sea and a dolphin came along I'd definitely get somebody to take a photo of the two of us. If you want to improve your odds of getting the dolphin photo you can go down to the Malta Marine Park and pay well over a hundred euros to swim with one.
6. On a fairly regular basis, the people of any given town in Malta will commence to act in a rather odd manner. They will festoon the place with flags and banners, and at some stage a bunch of gentleman will appear and carry a heavy-looking statue of a saint around the streets, a nattily turned-out brass band marching in their wake.
7. Marsaxlok is a popular stopover on the tourist trail, for two principal reasons. One is the Sunday morning market, the other the array of brightly coloured "luzzu" (fishing) boats. Since the demise of the old yellow buses, these blue and yellow wooden boats have established themselves as the most photogenic mode of transport on the island.
8. The Palazzo Parisio in Naxaar is indeed decorated in the most palatial style. However I recommend the palace gardens as the backdrop for your photograph. Not quite Versailles, but such a contrast from the dusty dry streets of Maltese towns that it gets on my list.
9. It would be cruel and unusual to ignore the beautiful little medieval city of Valletta on photographic tour of the island. While there is competition from inside the Co-Cathedral and various vantage points around the town, my selection is the oases of green to be found in the Baraka Gardens. Not to mention the views provided from there overlooking the harbour.
10. A fake medieval stocks! What's not to like? There's one in Victoria in Gozo and another one outside the Dungeon in Mdina so with about a million and a half visitors a year you better go stick your head in one of them when you get the chance. This is always a winner... hey, come back! Don't shake your head in that disappointed way... it's Stocks!
About the author
David is an Irish expat living in Malta. Blog description: The Malta Survival Guide: How to live, work and holiday on the island of Malta.
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Olga@The EuropeanMama wrote 10
years ago:
We visited Malta twice- and loved it both times! Thanks for the reminder- I am all smiles right now, remembering all the great places we visited!
Mrs. Chasing The Donkey wrote 10
years ago:
Sounds wonderful, I had a friend living there and am still so mad I never visited. Good luck with the comp from me here in Croatia.
