Malta - Day Two

The Fading Hours

We walked up and down the side streets and we did not see a restaurant available for our evening feeding. Aside from a couple of cafés offering desserts and coffee, everything seemed to be shut down. I'm not sure at what hours Malta normally dines, but it seems to be any hour when an American does not. Whether or not this is an intentional decision can be left to your own imaginations.

Valletta winds down for the day.

With the side streets kaput, we went up the main drag for some more promising prospects and, after some hemming, some hawing, some concern over the phrase "Tourists Welcome", some backtracking and changing our minds, then a quick discovery, we ended up in a tavern for dinner. For the life of me, I cannot remember the name, which rather disappoints me, as I rather liked the place. I want to say it was the Valletta Tavern, but I could easily be mistaken.

A bit of a cross between a greasy spoon diner, a local hangout and a 3-D computer model, it was striking in its down-home good nature and its 30 foot-high ceilings that soared up to a balcony that looked as though it might have once housed apartments. This second atrium dining experience made me wonder if this was a common occurrence in other locales, such as someplace like Italy. However, Chris informed me that, in her travels in Italy, she had never seen anyplace like this. So it seems that the tall, narrow atrium restaurant seems to be at least one thing that we can call uniquely Maltese.

All the while, the bar and restaurant area on the first floor distinctly reminded me of Key West, of all places. I told you this is a hard place to characterize.

It should also be noted that it was at this tavern that I had my first experience with a beer called Cisk. And it was good. I would be coming back to the Cisk frequently during this trip.

Cisk: Malta's Gift to Western Civilization

I would describe Cisk as a nicely flavored lager of the European style that provides a good, rich taste without trying too hard -- as many American microbrews do. Not as complex as, say, a Samuel Adams, Cisk is a beer that can be enjoyed one at a time, but would not become overbearing eight beers into the evening. I may be looking for it here, if only for the memories I associate with it.

Side note: Thanks to a miracle that I can only attribute to divine intervention, I discovered a local carryout that knew a distributor who carried the stuff... and now the carryout does too. The wife and I are currently able to drink Cisk every Friday upon coming home from work, and do so with relish. I'll get to the story of finding Cisk sometime or another.

Completing our dinner, it was time to head back to the hotel. We had several busses to choose from and we knew exactly where to pick one up, fortunately. Or at least we had the general location. The specifics would not be quite as easy.