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Month: September 2022

Sailing Malta, August 23, 2022

Sailing Malta, August 23, 2022

After doing a bunch of research and watching some YouTube videos about The Blue Lagoon, I was completely turned off by going there via big tour expedition or trying to take a smaller boat to the place from a nearby beach. The place is beautiful, but extremely small and crowded, so I started to look for other options to see the Lagoon, and came across Sailing Charters Malta on Viator in order to book a private sail to the Blue…

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Noni Restaurant, Valletta, Malta, August 26, 2022

Noni Restaurant, Valletta, Malta, August 26, 2022

I was so excited to go to dinner at Noni, a one-star Michelin rated restaurant in Valletta, Malta. Not only was it going to be our daughter Anna’s first Michelin-starred experience, but it promised to be one of our nicest dinners for our entire trip. Noni easily lived up to my high expectations! Noni is located on Republic Street, which is the main thoroughfare running through the center of Valletta. It was towards the northern tip of Valletta and we…

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Belize, June, 2021, Part 2

Belize, June, 2021, Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of our amazing family getaway to Belize. If you haven’t read Part 1, check it out here! We started off at Blancaneaux Lodge, but this article is about our stay at the Turtle Inn, our second Coppola Hideaway resort. On our way from Blancaneaux to Turtle Inn, we booked an excursion to St. Herman’s Cave to do some cave river tubing. After hiking for about 5 minutes through a flat, grassy forest, we arrived at the…

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Belize, June, 2021, Part 1

Belize, June, 2021, Part 1

So we had a big giant trip to Paris planned with all four kids for the summer of 2020. COVID ruined those plans, but we were hopeful to rebook for 2021, which I did, and then I cancelled again since the rules were still weird about vaccines, etc. The summer of 2021 quite possibly may have been the last summer where we could snag all four kids and go on one vacation together since our oldest was starting college in…

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Gozo, Malta Itinerary, August, 2022

Gozo, Malta Itinerary, August, 2022

Gozo is Malta’s second-largest island. It’s known for a laid back “country” vibe, cool beaches, and scenery, so we decided to spend a day here while on our trip to Malta. We rented a car, so we got up super early in Valletta and drove about 45 minutes to the Ferry terminal at the northern tip of Malta. We put our car right on the ferry for the 15-20 minute ride across the channel to Gozo. The ferry itself is…

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Offbeat Malta Food Trails – Food Tour of Valletta, Malta, August 24, 2022

Offbeat Malta Food Trails – Food Tour of Valletta, Malta, August 24, 2022

It is pretty much impossible for me at this point to go to a city, especially in Europe, and not do a food tour.  As I’ve mentioned before in several articles, it’s a great way to get to know a city, try some traditional food, and find some hidden gems.  This time, I booked a private tour for three of us through Offbeat Malta Food Trails.  I would have done a regular tour of theirs, but at this time they…

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Domus Zamittello, Valletta, Malta, August 2022

Domus Zamittello, Valletta, Malta, August 2022

Domus Zamittello is a boutique hotel located just within the City Gate of Valletta in Malta.  We stayed there for eight nights from August 20-28, 2022. As you might know, I always prefer to stay in boutique hotels over big name chains, and honestly, in Valletta, there is pretty much only boutique hotels, so there were a ton to choose from.  Some of the surrounding cities like Sliema and St. Julians have Marriotts and Hiltons, but I am super glad…

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St. John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta, Malta, August, 2022

St. John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta, Malta, August, 2022

When our oldest decided to go to Malta for her graduation trip (one year delayed due to COVID), of course, the first thing we wondered was whether there were any Caravaggio paintings to be viewed there.  He did spend a year and a half in Malta and was even accepted into the Order of the Knights of St. John AKA the Knights of Malta.  This was, of course, until he killed the Knights’ organist, was thrown in prison, kicked out…

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