Last Day

I wanted to include a picture of their typical houses. They have these punched out boxes on most of their houses & most of the houses are like rowhouses. They are very few free-standing houses.

Well- today's journey was to a small village of artisans. They had little studios for making pottery, glass, leather, & iron pieces. It was in a very quiet area where buses run infrequently. I waited an nearly 45 minutes for my bus to come & the buses run like the trains in Italy- seemingly on their own personal schedule sometimes!!! One thing I noticed is how dry the land is at this time of year. Their wet season starts in the Fall & ends around March. They never get snow or ice. But sometimes, sandstorms come across from Africa & actually on our first day- it was quite overcast for a few hours & the people said that it was the remnants of sandstorm from Africa.

I spent the afternoon talking with a woman from the town of Rabat- central Malta. Malta, being so Catholic, has some pretty strict rules. They recently had a referendum & the people just to make divorce LEGAL!!! They are now waiting for their President to sign this into law. Abortion is still illegal here so many women travel to Britian or Sicily to have a procedure. The government has decided to get rid of the buses- another sore point with the people who are attached to them & they are VERY cheap to ride. The people of Malta said that joining the EU made all their living expenses go up. I have to say that they are very welcoming & eager to tell you all about their country. They are very proud of their heritage & feel as though they liove in a special place- much as we do.

This evening- Bob is now in Rome, awaiting a flight to Dubai....I can see how travel can be tiring for him.

Sacred Temples & Fishing Villages

I had an unbelievable day- I went to see some of the ancient Malta Temples. The Maltese temples are the oldest freestanding structures in the world. They were built before the Egyptian pyramids & even before stonehedge. They reminded me of stonehedge due to the positionof the slabs of stone standing up in a row. They were constructed out of limestone about 2,500-3,000BC- that's 5,000 yrs ago! They are older than old..... They are located on the southern coast of Malta- really, there is not much of anything else nearby & it was so very serene. You look out over the Mediterrean Sea. Magnificent. And it was really neat to just be able to walk all around this area of the island. I found it hard to believe that so few people were here- which was great for me. The pictures are of both Haqar Qim Temple & Mnajdra.

Later that day, I visited a fishing village called Marsaxlokk where one can see their brightly colored boats called luzzus. They are blue with different colored strips depending on where they go. On the prow of each boat is the ancient eye for protection. There were fish cafes & craft stands with lots of handmade lace tableclothes etc. I had a cappucino & a bowl of freshly sauteed shrimp with maltese bread for lunch- yummy.

The rest of the day, I enjoyed a ride throughout the whole island on the top floor of an open air bus.

Valletta- the capital

I ventured out on the city buses yesterday & found myself in the capital. The buses cost less than a Euro & you pay each time you get on & off- no such things as transfers, but they are quite easy to get around with on this island. Did I tell you that the buses are quite special- they are colorful yellow with stripes & sayings on them- and the front of the bus is round. Apparently, they will all be gone sometime in July for the new fleet of buses that will replace them. The people are very upset- I am told that the president or government made the decision- no vote was taken by the people & they like their "old" buses as they are historical...

Valletta is quite pretty- overlooking the water. Their streets are quite steep in places reminding me of San Francisco. I visited a church where St Paul prayed after he was shipwrecked on the island of Malta....and also I went to St John's co-Cathedral where a famous painting of Carravaggio can be seen- thre Beheading of St John the Baptist- what an amazing picture- sad but a beautiful masterpiece.

It was our anniversary so that night- after Bob finished at the hospital- we walked to the harbour for an outside Maltese "italian" dinner- priceless....

Culinary Delights...

So, I thought it would be fun to tell you a little about the food. Being an island- seafood is a big commodity. So the other night I had octopus, snails, mussels, & anchovies which actually were the best yet. The anchovies were dipped in egg, lightly floured, & quick sauteed. They were sweet & melted in your mouth!
Also- the main meat dish is rabbit! Yep- the "bunny tail" dish sans fluffy tail is served as a "cassoulet"- it tasted really like a light poultry- turkey comes to mind-I found it very tasty. Bob wasn't interested in much of my plate offerings!

Tomatoes & potatoes are 2 of their main exports. They said that they supply most of the potatoes in Holland- go figure....

Maltese bread is amazing- very hard crust- served with lots of olive oil, and eaten much like a toast with mozzarella & tomaotes on it. Basil too. I see olive trees here on the island- they make olive oil...but not alot.

I had some of their desserts last night- using lots of almond, & they like anisette. Also- they make their honey which is in desserts too.

Last but not least- WINE!!!! They apparently are "finally" making some good wine. Many years ago- they just had 1 grape- now they have branched out- it is cheap & pretty delicious.

Day one- A look about the island

We arrived on Malta at noon & were happy to spend the day exploring the island. We had a private tour guide for our group for 3 hrs to drive us & just point out some significant places.The above picture probably reminds you of Turkey as it does for me. What we first noticed is that the color scheme is very monochromic- the island is really a big chunk of limestone & that is the main color here. Past that thought, there is so much detail of color with the sea, which has amazing shades of blue which I hope to show you later.

The island language is based in Arabic with Latin influence. Their are 700,000 people on this roughly 28 mile (drawing a straight line) island. It is about 95% Caholic & the driver said that there is about 400 churches on the island, each little town has it's own church.

During World War II- Malta was the most bombed place in the world....The picture of the church above in Mosta is special for 2 reasons.This church is in Mosta. It's dome is the third largest in the world & it is believed that a miracle took place here. During WWII, a bomb pierced the dome during mass & when it landed, skidding across the floor, it did not explode.

We also visited the city of Mdina, Malta's ancient capital. This is a beautiful walled city of many interesting sites. There you will find St Paul's Cathedral- one of the most beautiful on the island. St. Paul is believed to have lived here- yes, the disciple of Christ....pretty amazing stuff! You really feel the history here!