{"country":{"title":"Malta","name":"Malta","slug":"malta","flag":"🇲🇹","subtitle":"","summary":"","prose":["Malta punched above its weight. For a tiny island nation, it somehow stays off most travelers' lists—but it shouldn't.","We based ourselves in Mdina, the old walled capital perched on a hilltop. The Xara Palace sat inside the fortifications, its courtyard strung with vines and potted plants, the kind of place where breakfast feels like stepping into another century. The town itself was walkable end to end in twenty minutes. Arched doorways, narrow streets, limestone everywhere. Rabat spilled out just beyond the walls—less polished, more lived-in, better for dinner.","Getting on the water made the trip. We took a catamaran out of Marina Kalkara and threaded through Valletta Harbour, past bastions and fortresses that have watched over the Mediterranean for centuries. The boat slid past smaller islands, blue water so clear you could see the anchor chain all the way down. By the time the sun dropped, we understood why people keep coming back."],"pop":"520k","lang":"Maltese, English","adv":1,"vis":2.9,"rar":60,"daysOnGround":3,"mapsUrl":"https://maps.app.goo.gl/7WcHhYCB6CZu6XFH8","countedDate":"30 Apr 2023","countryNo":32,"firstArrival":{"date":"2023-04-28","airport":"MLA","from":"IST","carrier":"THY","num":"1371","duration":"1h 1m"},"hero":"1683012951555-LPSSPYWSY6FVWVPXOIMC/maxandhailey_travel-malta-mdina-rabat-valleta+-+12.jpeg","art":"malta"},"ui":{"words":{"signoffTop":"Narak","signoffEm":"dalwaqt.","signoffGloss":"Until next time."},"copy":{"recap":"Malta punched above its weight. Based at the Xara Palace inside Mdina's fortifications — breakfast in the vine-strung courtyard felt like stepping into another century — we walked the old capital end to end in twenty minutes and crossed into Rabat, less polished and better for dinner. Four Michelin stars in two nights didn't hurt. Best of all: a catamaran out of Marina Kalkara through Valletta Harbour, the water so clear we watched the anchor chain all the way down. By sunset we understood why people keep coming back."},"facts":[{"idx":"≈3600 BC","h":"Older than the Pyramids","p":"Malta's megalithic temples — Ġgantija first among them — went up around 3600 BC, centuries before Stonehenge and a full millennium before the Pyramids of Giza. 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