Storms, Silent Cities And Superhumans: 2020’s Most Liked Photos On Lovin Malta’s Instagram 📸
Let’s face it; 2020 was a ride and a half. From spectacular feats of nature to terrifying global pandemics, civilisation has really been tested on the first year of the new decade. But now that we’re on the other side looking back, it all feels even more impressive.
Remembering the fabulous, the scary and the hopeful, here are the 12 most liked photos on Lovin Malta’s Instagram in the last 12 months. Buckle up!
12. A September storm brings lightning to our shores.
As mid-September brought with it slightly colder temperatures and wet spells, thunder was there for one impressive light show.
And photographer Neil Bugeja was there to capture the incoming storm from the highest point of Malta in a great shot that’s equal parts ominous and glorious.
View this post on Instagram
11. A shot at Xrobb l-Għaġin that looks more like a painting.
This beautiful photo taken in one of the island’s southern tips looks downright delicious thanks to its colour combinations, and we’ve got Mother Nature and Dejan Mallia to thank for the complimentary colours and perfect alignment.
View this post on Instagram
10. Double rainbow all the way!
When a rogue storm hit Malta towards the end of last May, there was only one way the next would unfurl.
Dramatic grey clouds, undercut with piercing blue skies… and a couple of beautiful rainbows, of course!
Kaya Calleja was there in Sliema to capture it all.
View this post on Instagram
9. Venice wasn’t the only place dolphins returned to this year…
With fewer people taking to the outdoors even as COVID-19 restrictions were slowly being lifted, animals all around the world were venturing into usually populated areas.
Back in Malta, that meant a summer of awesome dolphin spotting around the islands, most notably in the Gozo Channel.
Adam Ashur shot these awesome clips of dolphins coming super close to people on boats and jet skis around the same time as the May storm.
View this post on Instagram
8. Valletta is red… and green, and blue, and yellow.
Becca Galea’s series of shots around Malta’s capital captured the many colours of Valletta, from the iconic red windows to the traditional signs that have stood the test of time.
This was also in the midst of #LovinÄ ewwa during the first wave of COVID-19, so we’re willing to bet people were even more eager to drool at the shots of quiet Valletta, counting down the days (or weeks) to be able to visit once more.
View this post on Instagram
7. When Valletta became the second Silent City
Within days of the first COVID-19 case in Malta, shops, clubs and everywhere else closed their doors, and as people took to the shelter of their homes, once-bustling cities became eerily quiet.
That’s exactly what happened to our tiny-but-busy Valletta, which pretty much became Mdina’s main competitor as Malta’s Silent City by mid-March.
Check out these beautiful – but saddening – shots by Emma Tranter!
View this post on Instagram
6. The skies turn black for Halloween.
Malta might not have had a whole lot of rain for the first part of the colder season, but Halloween was as dark and gloomy as they get.
Days ahead of the spooky holiday, the skies over Malta went dark as an approaching storm made for some impressive shots like this one by Elias, who was in Senglea on 27th October.
View this post on Instagram
5. This one’s for all the real heroes of 2020
By May, the whole world knew very well who we all had to thank for getting us through this toughest of storms – the healthcare workers and frontliners risking their lives to protect the most vulnerable.
In Żabbar, popular tattoist and graffiti artist JustInk took to the streets to show his appreciation wth this imposing and perfectly place mural.
View this post on Instagram
4. Summer 2020 might’ve been tough, but we still tried to make the most of it.
Endless blue skies, even bluer seas, and a watermelon. You can’t get more Maltese than that.
Well, it turns out you can, by literally carving out “Malta” in said watermelon.
Here’s to mid-August, the last relatively normal span we got before the second wave of COVID-19 hit.
We’ll avenge you come 2021, promise.
View this post on Instagram
3. Waterspouts, waterfalls and thunderstorms? Welcome to September in Malta.
We might have Mediterranean weather for most of the year, but in Malta, when it rains, it pours.
Actually, it does more than pour, as these photos and videos taken in mid-September show.
Trailing lightning bolts, scary waterspouts, and cascading waterfalls? We had it all.
View this post on Instagram
2. Right place, right time, right city.
Mdina will never not be gorgeous, but add a full moon placed right behind the top of the cathedral on a perfectly calm night, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for beauty.
Oswaldo Borg couldn’t have capture this shot from a better angle or at a better time.
View this post on Instagram
1. Is it a fish? Is it a boat?
Nope, it’s Neil Agius!
Our most liked post – courtesy of Jeremy Debattista – is deservingly so a set of shots taken the moment Malta’s very own superhuman swimmer Neil Agius managed to complete the insane task of swimming the 100 kilometres between Sicily and Malta.
Oh, and he actually managed to finish it all six hours ahead of schedule. Because, you know, being superhuman just isn’t enough.
View this post on Instagram
Tag someone who needs to check these photos out!
READ NEXT: WATCH: A Nutcase Year In A Nutshell! Lovin Malta's Latest TikTok Series Summarises 2020 In Seconds
