the biggest wildcard during my vacation was definitely malta.  i like to go somewhere i have never seen before on each trip, and since i was fortunate to travel around italy with my family while in college, we added malta to the itinerary.

though i didn’t love the location of our hotel (st.julian’s bay), the abandoned beaches, dusty and romantic landscapes, and those stunningly blue waters made me forget all about that.  we were also very lucky to spend an afternoon on a private boat visiting the sister islands and going through caves.