A Tourist, a Sailor, and a Cat Drive a Karozzin to the Moon

When Tourists Hijack a Karozzin

One sunny day in bustling Valletta, as tourists flocked to the town, a peculiar incident unrolled that left the locals in a mix of bewilderment and hysterics. It all started with a klutzy tourist named Klaus, a German chap whose love for Maltese pastizzi could rival the locals’. With his Malta guidebook in one hand and a greasy pastizz in the other, he wandered around the narrow streets, enamored by everything distinctly Maltese.

But this wasn’t to be any ordinary sightseeing venture. Klaus, in his unbounding enthusiasm, mistook a parked karozzin (a traditional horse-drawn carriage) for an unorthodox Uber ride. Without batting an eye, he shooed away the perplexed but obliging horse and grabbed the reins himself. “To the Blue Grotto, my fine steed!” he hollered, engaging what he thought was full horsepower.

The Sailor Who Swapped Seas for Streets

Add to this mayhem a sailor named Rikardu, who had grown tired of the sea’s tumult and decided to swap his vessel for solid ground. Rikardu, a native of Mdina with an impressive mustache that waved like the Maltese flag, happened upon Klaus by chance. Inspired by a few too many shots of local liqueur, Rikardu took it upon himself to be Klaus’s navigator. “Y’all swab the deck, I’ll steer this ship ashore!” he slurred while pointing in a random direction.

As the pair of unlikely comrades embarked on their unintentional tour through Valletta, locals watched in confusion, and tourists took to social media to document the spectacle. #KarozzinKaos trended on the Maltese networks as the carriage careened down the roads.

“Is the Transport Malta aware that we’ve got a karozzin riding loose on the capital’s streets? #OnlyInMalta #KarozzinKaos,” tweeted an amused passerby.

A Cat with an Agenda

The third musketeer in this fiasco was a streetwise Maltese cat named Ċensu – a feline with an uncanny ability to sniff out fish from a mile away. Typically known for lounging in the sun-drenched squares or prowling the fish market in Gozo, Ċensu decided it was about time for a grand adventure.

Hopping onto the karozzin like a shadowy stowaway, Ċensu whispered into Klaus’s ear, “Take us to the moon, silly human! For there’s where the best tuna swirls amongst the stars.” Klaus, who didn’t understand ‘cat’ but was oddly charmed by the furry creature, interpreted the meowing as a sign of feline approval for his impromptu navigation skills.

The Twist No One Saw Coming

As Klaus, Rikardu, and Ċensu approached the iconic fortifications of Valletta, legend has it that the karozzin suddenly lifted off the ground! “Uwejja, we’re flying!” Rikardu cheered, his voice trailing off into the Mediterranean breeze. With a mischievous glint in his whiskered countenance, Ċensu revealed himself to be an ancient Maltese cat-god, using his supernatural feline powers to launch the unlikely spacecraft karozzin towards the celestial tuna-rich playground.

Now, with everyone in disbelief and #FlyingKarozzin overshadowing #KarozzinKaos, the story unfolded on live TV, where a mockumentary crew interviewed awestruck witnesses.

Interviewer: “Can you describe what you just saw?”
Local Ħobż biż-Żejt Vendor: “Dak xi ħaġa mela! Never saw a karozzin turn into a rocket before…but hey, the cat looked like it knew what it was doing.”
Interviewer: “And where do you think they’re heading?”
Local Ħobż biż-Żejt Vendor: “Kollox possibli with these tourists, but Ċensu the cat-god? I’d say straight for the moon’s ħelwa!”

The whimsical tale of Klaus, Rikardu, and Ċensu traversing the skies in a transformed Maltese karozzin, seeking cosmic delicacies, became the stuff of legend. Till this very day, on clear full-moon nights, children gaze up, hoping to catch a glimpse of the celestial karozzin as their parents tuck into their nighttime snack of ħobż biż-żejt and reminisce about the day tourism in Malta took one giant leap.

And back on earth, the karozzin drivers of Valletta would share the tale with their patrons, ending with a wink and a nudge, “Kemmuna (how about it), shall we take a trip to the stars? Just hold on tight, and don’t forget to feed the cat!”

Mela, whether or not this far-fetched fable was a figment of collective imagination or an actual event, one thing is certain: it’ll go down in the annals of Maltese folklore as the most otherworldly spin on tourism ever. After all, in the colorful and captivating lands of Malta, the extraordinary seems part of everyday life. So buckle up, dear reader, the next karozzin ride you take could well be out of this world!