Malta: its being everything, and the desire to return
Difficult, honestly difficult, to imagine that such a small place can give so many different things all at once. This is the feeling we all felt a little bit leaving Malta after a week spent experiencing the island, this and the inevitable sadness that rises up inside you when you are leaving a place that has entered your heart. A breathless week surrounded by places that take your breath away.
Tales and memories of a retreat made with a group of team athletes who came to the island to ride but also to watch, observe, be surrounded by history and beauty. And to discover that Malta is perfect because it is always able to give you what you ask for. Roads on which to bike, as good for the professional who needs to train for a busy season as for the amateur cyclist. Trails on which to ride a mountain bike, to discover breathtaking corners and mix the sound of the wind with the sound of your heart beating in your throat. Routes for those who prefer to lace up their running shoes and grind out miles of running.
But at the same time a wonderful sea with unexpected colors, Caribbean beaches, silence and serenity. But at the same time the adventure and adrenaline that comes with tackling the most extreme activities. But at the same time all the past and history, the art, the past of a place that has seen peoples and people pass through. But at the same time the welcome of the people, sincere and without ulterior motives, typical of those who are happy to welcome you into their home.
Vincenzo Albanese remembers well, the days he spent in Malta: “We cycled on the island and I realized how good it is to toil in the midst of beauty, especially the island of Gozo: I would go back there even now, but to have a little vacation….”
And along with him, our own Alessandro Fancellu who was impressed by the history and culture: “We were privileged because we were guided on a unique, special, unexpected journey. Valletta overwhelmed me with its history that I honestly did not know and it was fascinating to discover, even cycling through it.”
Lorenzo Fortunato, the “King of Zoncolan,” winner of the most beautiful stage in the Giro d’Italia 2021, found time to see Malta from a different perspective: “Walking in nature, that’s something I like to do and do as soon as I can. My days in Malta were full of things, different things: the miles on the bike, of course, but also those landscapes that enticed me to set out on a walk and then lose track of time and space. One of those places that you feel like coming back to as soon as you left.”
And in this sentence, perhaps, is really the meaning of having been here. The desire to return, it is the most beautiful testimony to what one has experienced.
