Life is Like a Box of Chocolates

We flew from Italy to Malta more than a week ago on a ridiculously cheap Ryanair flight, one of many we have taken advantage of while in Europe over the years. Malta is such a small island country that we decided to return to normal public transportation, our usual mode of travel abroad......and an easy way to avoid driving on the left hand side of the road, with a right side steering wheel, while maneuvering around roundabouts. Between buses and ferries it is fairly quick to get anywhere around the country which is less than 30 km's in length and 15 km's in width.

We started off with one night in the busier than expected tourist city of Valletta, and then took a 10 minute ferry ride across the large harbour to the quieter and closely knit Three Cities side where we rented an Airbnb apartment for the week to use as our base. Before departing Valletta we, along with thousands of other interested observers, were able to watch the start of the Middle Sea Sailing Race, a prestigious race with boats from around the world attempting to be the first to return to the Grand Harbour after sailing around Sicily and back. To avoid congestion at the start, the 114 sail boats, ranging in size from 9 to 43 metres, departed in groups of 15 or so, with a cannon blast from the fort above signaling the start for each class. We returned to the harbour 2 mornings later hoping to see the winning boat arrive and break the 47 hour time record, which they did in favourable wind conditions, but while we were sleeping. While checking out the sites in the Three Cities for the next few days we observed the boats being cleaned up in the marinas, and the young, athletic crews celebrating not following off their sailboats in the middle of a race and being left behind to swim to shore (my interpretation).

Malta has an incredible history, which we have learned more about everywhere we go. Being in the middle of the Mediterranean, every mainland country around them has taken their turn of ruling the island, right up until 1964 when they gained their independence from the UK. As a result forts were built everywhere by different rulers, and renovated following extensive WWII damage (Malta was the only Allied country surrounded by Axis countries.) for those of us wishing to visit and understand the past. We toured some underground WWII tunnels below the Valletta fort which were quickly built to relocate troops and house radar tracking and strategy rooms where the key decisions were made. Medieval castles and palaces also exist, making for interesting walks every day. St. John's Co-Cathedral, the crown jewel of Valletta, was a sight to behold with it's immaculately decorated interior that included marble floors, ceiling paintings and baroque art that extended to the 9 side chapels as well. We encountered the first rainy days of our trip so we postponed our visits to the other parts of the country. With no flight booked to leave Malta, that flexibility worked to our advantage once again.

We received some exciting news that our Swiss daughter was going to come and join us here for a week so that she could get some rest........does that mean she thinks we move around very slowly? With that in mind we moved on from the Three Cities to Sliema, just north of Valletta across another ferry accessible bay to spend a few days in another area while waiting for our daughter to arrive. The Sliema area was much busier than Birgu, one of the Three Cities, where we stayed previously. Waterfront promenades connected several towns, making for a leisurely walk over to the neighbour town of St. Julian's. We also made two day trips, the first was inland to the original capital of Mdina, with a walled pedestrian friendly Old Town, where we learned more about the Knights of Malta and their Grand Master leaders (1530 to 1798 with some time outs in between). The second trip was to the island of Gozo, accessible by a 20 minute ferry ride. Our highlights there included a visit to some megalithic temples (Ggantija, 3500 BC) and to the Ta'Pinu Shrine where small miracles are documented on the walls from the grateful recipients. Sadly, our request to continue enjoying travel for another 50 years would have been classified as "non-urgent", and will likely never make its way to the top of the pile. 

Addiju.

With Valletta positioned on a small peninsula, from the small hilltop centre everything sloped down to water on both sides. That didn't deter outdoor dining where wide steps facilitated chairs and single stem tables. The Bars also used large cushions for their patrons to sit on leaving just enough room for pedestrians to get through. 

The start for one of the smaller monohull segments in the Mid Sea Sailboat Race following the official cannon blast. In the background is Fort St. Angelo at the tip of the Birgu peninsula that we visited while staying on that side. There were marinas with beautiful boats on both sides and a promenade allowing dreams to take shape.

While visiting Marsaskala on the southern coast we came across some salt pans, just one of many around the island. A lot of them are still being used with harvest season lasting from May to September.

A typical side street in the older part of towns. This was was taken in Birgu while making our way to the Cathedral in the background. Note the colourful Maltese balconies that were prominent on the island.

This shot was taken from the top of Fort St. Angelo in Birgu, looking down towards the luxurious boats parked in the marina. The superyacht on the left had a small pool and a helicopter pad on top. The sailboat beside it was the Skorpios monohull that came second in it's division of the Mid Sea Sailboat Race.

The majestic St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta. This was one of 9 side chapels in the Cathedral, with each one of them artistically designed and none that looked alike. Audio guides provided excellent descriptions of the works in front of us.

While taking a guided tour of the WWII War Tunnels of this top secret area....at the time, we were able to see many of the war rooms where high level decisions were made. In this case radar tracking, not nearly as sophisticated as it is today, was then conveyed to officers in other rooms that we visited.

We saw this entrepreneurial venture while walking along the promenade in Valletta. My gelato-loving bride would love to convert our camper van into something similar, with no intent on selling any product. It would be primarily for personal consumption, and perhaps sharing with some close friends.

On our way to the Ta'Pinu Shrine (background) on the island of Gozo, we came across this piece of art. It was composed of recycled plastic bottles (bottom end showing) and came with a dire warning of the harm plastic was doing to our planet.

Inside the Ta'Pinu church we saw several side rooms adorned with thank you notes on the walls for small miracles asked for and received. It was heartening to read some of them.

The remains (and re-work) of a small section of the North Temple at the Ggantija ruins in the town of Xaghra on Gozo island. This World Heritage site was built prior to both Stonehenge and the Pyramids, sometime around 3600 BC. An attached museum provided models of the original layout  and the tools used back then, based on the findings of archeologists.