EuroTrip: Days 38-44-Malta + Heading Home

We got a taxi to drop us off at the train station by 8am on Sunday to catch the shuttle bus to the Naples airport. It all went off without a hitch. The bus ride was a nice 1 and a half hour tour along the hilly coast on a coach bus.. with air conditioning. All for €10 each. We arrived at the airport by 10am and checked in.

The flight to Malta was less than 2 hours. We had to show our covid test results at their passport control, and then we had a ride arranged to the hotel. Literally from the time we walked off the plane to the time we got in the car, a whole 9 minutes had passed-total. It was impressive.
The hotel has more of a resort feel to it. 5 pools, 9 restaurants, a spa and a gym, plus beach access. We were right on the bay and everything was beautiful. During our 4 days there, we literally swam at the pools, laid in the sun, sipped drinks and ate food. We’d leave the resort every evening for dinner some where else, but honestly, we just wanted to relax and take it easy.

We didn’t do any excursions or tours, while I would have enjoyed exploring this country more, we just needed the relaxation time. Mom even scheduled me a 90 minute massage on our last full day.. incredible, and so appreciated.
I did end up having my second best meal in Malta. A lobster risotto that at first I was terrified of. They put the whole thing on top of the risotto. Little beady eyes and all.. but when I flipped him over, all the meat was already falling off.. perfect! No work required at all! Just like I like it. It ended up being so dang delicious!

On our second night we liked the food so much at this one restaurant, that we came back the 3rd night after going somewhere else first and deciding we’d rather our last dinner be back at the other place instead. Eh, we like what we like!I did get different meals though, the first one was spaghetti carbonara.. delicious, the next night was-you guessed it, risotto. Believe it or not, I still wanna eat at Mezza Luna when I get back home.. maybe *after* I lose the 15-95 pounds of pasta and bread weight I’ve gained this last 6 weeks..

On Thursday morning, we ate room service breakfast (smoked salmon and eggs on toast for me) and then packed up our stuff. We took a taxi to the airport around 12:30, and the cabbie let me have my Prosecco in a to go cup in his car, lol. I couldn’t chug it and he got there so fast. We boarded our flight to Paris and found it funny that no one seemed to check anything or ask any questions at any of these gates.

I was happy I decided to book us a night in Paris instead of trying to make a close connecting flight the same day to NYC, because our flight ran long, we didn’t land until 6:30 and the flight to NYC leaves daily at 6:45pm.. AND we still had to take our proctored covid tests to get back into the states. We got off our flight, went through customs and took the tram 3 stops and got off right in front of our hotel.

We checked in, did our covid tests-got negative results, and then went to have dinner in the restaurant attached to the hotel. The hotel is very nice and set up almost like a destination in itself. There was the restaurant and bar, plus tons of lounging spaces. We ended up watching a movie in our room until after 1am.. then slept in.
With our flight being at 6:45pm, we lounged in the room until check out, at noon, then had lunch in the restaurant. While I ran, and then proceeded to just walk around awhile to get my steps, mom relaxed in the lounge. At 3, we made our way back to the tram and to the airport. It was good that we got there early, because the lines for the baggage drop were nuts.. thankfully security was a breeze.

Our flight was 8 hours long, and it felt like 45 years. I watched movies, I read, I tried and failed to sleep. When I finally did-they turned the lights on and announced (in French and then English) that the flight attendants were coming through the aisles with perfumes and other things for sale.. for a good deal.. talk about irritating. Otherwise, it really was a comfortable flight, just long.

We time traveled backwards during this flight, so while we left at 6:45pm, we landed in Newark New Jersey at 9pm the same day. Weird.. it was 3am to us but the sun was still out. We went through all the customs and stuff, got our luggage, got a Lyft and made it to the hotel for the night.. by 10:30pm. I tried to door dash Taco Bell (because for some unknown reason, I love that stupid crap food), but my order got canceled. Heartbreak. So, we got food from the restaurant at the hotel before they closed and ate it in the room.. I passed out shortly there after.
When we woke up this morning, we showered and basked in the glory of large American showers and the perfection of fluffy full sized beds. Ridiculous, yes, but it’s nice to miss “home.”

We ate chic fil a for breakfast and took the shuttle to the airport. Now, I’m sitting on my delta flight to atlanta-our 44 day European adventure now coming to an end. It feels so surreal. I really can’t believe all of the places we’ve seen and all of the experiences we’ve had. It has been so magical, and to share all of these memories with my favorite person on top of that, it’s priceless. Mom and I will surely remanence over this trip for the rest of our lives, even after we make new memories in new places.

I know Covid took its toll on all of us, but I’m also grateful that I was able to have something wonderful come out of something so tragic. In 2020 I worked my ass off fighting to save lives of those suffering from this contagion.. and because I was working so much in hot spots across the country, I saved my money. I completed my dream of hiking the Appalachian trail last year, and now I can say I completed my other dream of taking my mom on the trip of a lifetime. I’ll never take having her here with me for granted. (And now, I need to take my butt back to work, as my puny savings account keeps reminding me).

Anyway, I think that’s all for now. My next post will have the breakdown and information of our itinerary.. probably in the next few days or so. Haha. Time to get home and enjoy being with family, friends, and that boyfriend I get to call mine 😉