Opening hours, activity level, etc

It's pumping!!
Seriously, if you don't enjoy the night life on Malta/Gozo, then you are beyond medical assistance. It is fantastic!!! Whatever your particular tastes.

It all depends on the location and time of year. Most places are dead in winter(that's Oct-Mar). If you're happy in Madrid it wouldn't be wise to come here.

I think nightlife has been covered by other people, but one thing I should mention is that the shops normally close between 2pm and 4pm, and are open to 7pm or a bit later. Also basically everything except bars are closed on Sundays.

I came from Holland where the shops shut at 6pm on the dot every day, most places were closed until the afternoon on Mondays, so the later opening times are amazing for me! Also I now have to get into the habit of making sure that I've got everything I need for Sundays.

Here, in Madrid, what we have is:

Shops open at 10am, close at 2pm; reopen at 5pm, close around 9pm. On Saturday / Sunday, they all close very early but the big shops, malls, etc.

Bars close at 2am... in theory, but many places stay open longer, till 3-4am and clubs close at 7am. Spain has a VERY strong bar / eating out culture.

There is a crowd out every night, the city's never quiet, even on week days.

Because before coming here I spent a year in Quebec where everything closes early (shops closing at 5pm on some days, etc), I really want to make sure I'm not stepping in a similar nightmare where, when I get out of the office, everyone's going home to watch TV.

I lived in Hawaii, so I am familiar with island issues (shipping anything was crazy expensive, some food impossible to find, you see the same faces every day), etc but this doesn't bother me.

Sounds very similar to Madrid, in this respect, for the summer period, at least. What's Madrid like during the colder months?

It's much more quiet when it is cold. It's funny to see that the moment there is a ray of sun, bars set up outside terraces to remove them 2 hours later when the sun is gone.

I have 3 restaurants in front of my place re-arrange sitting, umbrellas, etc all through the day as the clouds are passing by!

But, yes, it's definitely much slower when it is cold. When it is hot, it is too hot to stay inside, so people go sit in the streets, drink beer and eat sunflower seeds.

It is a very social city, you can meet people daily without problem, they're all hanging out chatting, etc and this is really the one thing I am afraid of losing. Otherwise, the job in Malta looks great, so I am very excited by this prospect, so it's a bit complicated, which is why I am on this forum

Too many, commas, in that last, post.

it's like talking without taking a breath

My personal opinion is that you will experience a very similar atmosphere in Malta. Of course, you may feel different -- caveat emptor -- but it will definitely be a different experience to Quebec.

The company is located next to the Msida skate park. Is that a good area to live as well?
I always lived right downtown when all the hustle and bustle is happening; where would that be?

You should consider living in Sliema or St Julians. Both these towns are well connected to Msida by public transport. Don't expect much activity on week days in winter.

What about the St Julian area? from what I read it is the most lively place? on the map it seems just 5km away from the skate park.

Right now I have to go downstairs in order to do night life, so I'm looking for exactly the same, but not too far from the skate park.

Yeah St Julians is quite close to the park but not close enough to walk to/from work every single day. You'd still have to get a bus or a car. St Julians is a lively place but it can still be quiet on winter week days. You will always find some restaurants open but don't expect bars to be busy (if they're open).

How 'flat' is the land? is it practical to have a bicycle?


Considering that I like to live right in the center of nightlife, what would be the ideal spot?

also, I walk about 1:30 to work daily right now (45 min each way), so if it's in the same ballpark, not a problem.

The land isn't flat at all, the roads are narrow, we get a lot of strong winds and drivers are inconsiderate. In other words, it's not practical to cycle here at all.

If you're used to walking 45mins to work each day then you can do that here too. Be aware that you'll have to walk in busy main roads not through parks.

St Julian's is the best place to stay if you want nightlife. Rent can be a bit expensive there though.

Adding to this, I'm absolutely not used to the left hand side driving... Each time I went to the UK I almost got run over quite a few times :S

And if I get a car, how is parking? here in Madrid, it is very complex to find an apartment with parking. People rely on the street or some parking places that you have to walk to, so I elected to not have one here.

Parking in St Julian's can be very difficult especially at weekends. Don't bother getting a car unless you have a garage. You should be able to get by without a car if you live in St Julians and work in Msida. You can always rent one for a weekend when you want to tour the island.

ok, great. thanks for all the info!

There is certainly life and night life in the island after work but I do not think there are many countries in the world where life ends as late as in Spain. You just need to see at what time people in Spain have lunch and at what time people have dinner, at what time the workday is over, at what time TV prime time is (from 10:15pm to 01:00am), at what time many football matches usually end in Spain (around 11:50pm). I even remember a domestic league game where around 90,000 people were at the Camp Nou in a match against Sevilla in a game that started at 00:05 in a weekday (Ronaldinho scored a brilliant goal around 01:30am http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELMMDXMVGp4 ).

It seems that you are looking for something like where you currently are. If you are really interested in night life, life ending late in the night, etc. why not just stay in Madrid or, if you can, move to another Spanish city?

I really like Spain, but i miss the water and, also, I would leave a job I don't like for one I want to do; the job is really the main factor; i didn't even know where Malta was on the map before I got this opportunity

ThomasD3 wrote:

I really like Spain, but i miss the water

Well as you know you have both Atlantic and Mediterranean water around Spain, but Madrid is not the best option for that (although you can always get the AVE to Valencia).

ThomasD3 wrote:

I would leave a job I don't like for one I want to do; the job is really the main factor;

Considering this fact and what you have said in your previous posts, Malta sounds good for you then.

Just curious, may I ask what is the job about?

I spent a lot of my life by the water, so it's a bit hard to be completely inland. I realized that I took the ocean for granted and didn't care, but when you don't have it, you really miss it

It's tech related, I manage computer projects.

ThomasD3 wrote:

It's tech related

I thought so. That's good for you because IT related jobs in Malta are good paid in comparison with most of the jobs; so you can probably have here a salary much higher than the average cost of living in comparison with Madrid.

Looks like I'll be there in 2-3 weeks, so it's happening fast!

it's unfortunate that Google doesn't have the street view in Malta; the satellite view doesn't tell me much about the areas, etc