Change Made Good

 " I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to reach my destination" (Jimmy Dean)

With the weather throwing us another curveball, we made yet one more change to our planned driving route. A one night stop beside the Russian River turned into a 4 night stop when a cold front and rain moved into the U.S. NW, including northern California. The weather remained nice, low 20's, where we were so it was an easy decision. It also allowed us to play a well designed golf course amongst the redwoods that was a treat. Another day was spent on a coastal visit to Jenner where we walked along the harbour area and enjoyed some clam chowder. When the weather improved we headed further north to spend a full day in the excellent Humboldt Redwoods State Park. We drove the 31 mile Avenue of the Giants with multiple stops to walk some of the many trails within the large park. It was a magnificent day walking amongst the majestic giants. Perhaps we have found the Fountain of Youth.....with the 1500-2500 year old trees making us feel like kids again. We discovered the massive redwoods are very thirsty creatures. A single redwood tree requires almost 1900 litres (500 gallons) per day, facilitated in the non rainy season by the coastal fog (absorbed through their leaves). It is apparent we are not drinking enough water if we wish to replicate their growth and longevity!

The following day we drove to Grants Pass, Oregon, an oasis surrounded by mountains. Mid-20's temperature allowed us to think we were back in southern California. We enjoyed dinner at the lovely Taprock Grill restaurant on the banks of the Rogue River where we had a nice view. Then it was on to Salem in the heart of the Willamette Valley wine region, known primarily for their Pinot Noir. A visit to the spacious and busy Willamette Valley Vineyard provided us with confirmation that the valley had earned their reputation. We were surprised to find alternative farming of fescue and hazelnuts (99% of U.S. production) going on in the area. From Salem we drove a bit further north along the backroads to Portland, arriving on schedule for pre-booked Stephen Kellogg concert in the 1883 preserved Old Church Concert Hall. SK is an old favourite of ours whom we first discovered when he opened up for John Prine, another favourite no longer with us. It was another wonderful perfomance, enhanced with many funny stories explaining the roots of his personalized songwriting talent.

With cold and rain moving back into Portland and the U.S. northeast we contemplated changing our plans once again. We even considered heading home early but after checking the weather we realized it was much colder back home. One of the warmest and driest spots in Washington was hunted down and we settled on Kennewick where the sun was starting to reappear with daily highs of 10-12C.....making the best of being dealt a bad hand. The weather in Kennewick didn't turn out to be as dry or warm as the forecasters promised, so we decided to head further north to one of the warmest places in Canada, Osoyoos, at the south end of the Okanagan Valley. Before arriving we made a one night stop in Oroville, a few miles south of the border, to consume some of our suddenly excess alcohol. It also allowed us to walk 6 km along the well marked Similkameen Trail which follows the Similkameen River. We planned to walk a bit further along the trail but found it closed just before the Enlow Dam which is undergoing some much needed work. It seems the dam no longer produces any energy but it does do an excellent job of preventing the salmon from moving upstream. Hopefully they can fis both issues before too long, which would also allow the scenic hiking trail to be reopened to it's full length.

We are now back in Canada, and yet another wine region, making it the 5th such experience on this 2 month trip, when only Paso Robles was included in the original plan. When weather throws you lemons, drink wine! We settled in Oliver, BC, just north of Osoyoos. The weather was still cool but nice enough to golf twice, visit a favourite winery in Keremeos (Clos du Soleil), and visit with friends who started their own vineyard 5 years ago and are ready to open up this year. As soon as the snow melts back home, we will call an end to this journey and start planning the next one. Life is good.

The beautiful Northwood Golf Course, designed by Alistair McKenzie, famous for his designs of Augusta National, Cypress Point and the Royal Melbourne. He carved 9 lovely holes amongst the towering redwoods in the Russian River area. We played it twice on the same day.

While walking trails in Humboldt Redwoods State park we came across the enormous Founders Tree (in the background). It is taller than a football field and still growing.

On another trail in Humboldt Redwoods SP while driving along the impressive 31 mile Avenue of the Giants, we came across the remains of the Dyersville Giant. At 362 feet, it was formerly the tallest tree in the park until it fell down in a storm. 

We routed our campervan through Portland so that we could take in our 4th Stephen Kellogg concert, this time at the Old Church Concert Hall. We first discovered him opening up for John Prine and have been fans ever since. He is a terrific songwriter, as was John Prine, another artist we would always track down.

While driving through the Willamette Valley we stopped into the Willamette Valley Vineyard. They had a very large tasting room, also used for dining. They had "Pinot and Pie" on the menu so we decided to forego the tasting in order to enjoy a nice bottle of Pinot Noir and a large wild mushroom, butternut squash pizza.

We knew it was time to leave Portland when there was cold and rain in the forecast, but we sure didn't expect to wake up to snow on our departure morning. It didn't get any better as we drove slowly further inland to the warmer Tri Cities in Washington.

While in Oroville, just south of the Canadian border and Osoyoos, BC, we hiked along the Similkameen Trail. The trail had interpretive signs and also painted rocks along the path, courtesy of a local school.

While in Oliver, we stopped into the recently developed District Wine Village. In the middle was an amphitheatre which can accommodate 600 people for music concerts on summer weekends. It is a relatively new concept, and the first of its kind in Canada.

These are a few of the 13 winery tasting rooms that surround the amphitheatre in the District Wine Village. There is also a craft brewery occupying another spot int he circle. One stop shopping for wine tastings but you don't get to enjoy the vineyard experience and time with the owners and winemaker.

A view of our good friend's vineyard in Okanagan Falls, just south of Penticton, with Skaha Lake in the background. Once their "Code Wines" labels are printed their wines will go on sale and start to occupy space in our home. Their 2020 Syrah is already a favourite of ours.

Paso Pause

 From Temecula we drove north to Paso Robles, a favourite region for us leading to our 4th visit in the past 12 years. With over 200 wineries, specializing in Rhone-style wines, a handful of nice golf courses and many nearby towns and small cities to visit, including close proximity to the Pacific Ocean, it is a place that has kept us interested over the years. All of our previous visits had been during the fall harvest, but this time we were fortunate to arrive just before the Spring Release Festival where almost all the wineries had special week-end events going on, including a big tasting party at our RV Park. With week-end live music at many of the wineries we decided to pick one winery for the day, tasting wine, purchasing a bottle to sip on and then sitting back, listening to good music on patios. At the Locatelli Winery we rediscovered an old favourite, Jill Knight, a musician we first encountered at Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco 20 years ago. We had a good chat with her between sets.

On weekdays we played some golf, lazed around the pool, and made day trips to nearby places. In San Luis Obispo we came across another unusual sight, Bubblegum Alley (picture below), while a visit to the SLO Mission (founded in 1772) was a more traditional experience. Another day we drove over to Morro Bay where we walked along the seaside Embarcadero and enjoyed fresh seafood. There were numerous sea otters close to shore, and some with their newborn babies on their abdomens while resting in the water. Later on, we made some purchases at the Atascadero Farmer's Market which took place at the small town's lovely Sunken Gardens downtown park. Another day trip to Cambria offered a walk along their 2 km seaside boardwalk, listening to the waves crash and viewing the sprouting wildflowers. While there we discovered Nitt Witt Ridge, a rather unusual hilltop home overlooking the Pacific.

Following a two week stay in Paso Robles, we drove back over to the coast to continue our slow drive north. The Elephant Seal Rookery captured our attention while driving along coastal highway #1, with hundreds of seals relaxing on the beach and waddling back into the water when hungry. We spent one night at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and another at Carmel by the River RV Park, and at both places our small motorhome seemed very tiny when surrounded by the huge California coastal redwoods. We are now in an RV park just east of Santa Cruz, near Felton, where even more redwoods exist. Yesterday we toured around beautiful Santa Cruz, watching experienced surfers deal with large waves, and walking along the massive wharf where groups of (mostly male) sea lions feasted on schools of small fish, while others lazed away on the wharf timbers. Today we played an April Fool's joke on ourselves. We showed up at the Roaring Camp Railway for a ride up a small mountain through a redwood forest, only to find out that our reservation was for yesterday. In spite of the trip being sold out, the friendly staff fortunately managed to accommodate us. The one hour ride took 250 tourists through the towering redwoods up to a summit and back with the steam engine working overtime. Following the train ride we moved over to nearby Henry Cowell Redwoods SP where we walked along a 1.5 km loop trail feeling like dwarfs. A short visit to a local winery patio capped off a great day.

Tomorrow we will head further north along the coast, bypassing San Francisco which we have visited several times before, in search of new discoveries.

Welcome to Bubblegum Alley in San Luis Obispo. The wall on the opposite side looked the same, with brighter colours meaning fresher gum. The city has cleared the walls several times but I suspect they have now given up and accepted it as a tourist attraction.

Our Paso Robles RV Park brought in 6 wineries to provide free wine tastings for the park guests. It was a nice way to kick-off the start of the Spring Wine Release Festival in the wine region. 

The spring wildflowers were in full view everywhere we walked. This colourful scene greeted us while strolling along the Cambria boardwalk.

While visiting the Maritime Museum in Cambria, we came across this submersible. It was built to rescue personnel from submarines trapped below the sea. Up until 1970 the U.S. Navy realized it had no other means to save underwater navy lives, so several of these were built.

The Elephant Seal Rookery, close to San Simeon and Hearst Castle. The seals generally come ashore to breed with bull's having small harems. We must have caught them after a heavy workout, because they all seemed very tired!

The Lone Cypress Tree at Cypress Point. It is the emblem used for all of Pebble Beach Golf Club's merchandise.

Since we usually plan only a few days ahead while on trips, we ended up playing at the poor man's Pebble Beach, the Pacific Grove Golf Links. My partner was in fine form, undeterred by the nearby ocean hazard.

Our site amongst the overpowering redwoods at the Santa Cruz Redwoods RV Park where we are currently staying.

While walking along the Santa Cruz seafront we came across these sea lions resting on the bottom pilings of the 823 metre long wharf. There was a marine reserve around the wharf area so we observed hundreds of them, either relaxing or feeding on the many schools of small fish.

While walking in Henry Cowell Redwoods SP we came across the popular Fremont Tree. I took this shot while inside the opening at the base. To give you a better idea of how large the inside of this massive redwood tree really is, watch the following video......    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_BhJwi0Qu0

Nearby Felton had one winery in town, the Hallcrest Vineyard. After being in the shade of the redwoods all day we craved sunshine and enjoyed a bottle of their Estate Zinfandel on their patio.

Best Laid Plans

 We flew down to Mazatlan, Mexico at the beginning of January and spent a wonderful month there, joined by family. We stayed in a lovely Airbnb condo across the street from the Pacific, with kilometres of beach spreading out in front of our balcony. We had tough decisions to make very day.......beach or pool?

Upon our return home we did manage a successful ski day but our tanned bodies demanded more, so we retrieved our motorhome from storage with California dreams in mind. We waited for a two day forecast declaring a sunny drive southwest and headed out. Our first day went well, making it all the way south to Pocatello, Idaho following an early morning start. Day 2 didn't go quite as well, with Mother Nature reminding the weather forecasters that she was the one in charge. After turning west along Interstate 80 we encountered a snowstorm 20 minutes later. With dark skies ahead, and the knowledge that we had to pass through the higher Sierra Nevada mountains, we made a U-turn and headed back to Salt Lake City and the I-15 South. Unfortunately, the snowstorm kept following us and we had to drive on snowy roads until late afternoon. We passed many accidents on the slippery roads and did contemplate pulling off and calling it a day, but we heard on the radio that more snow was coming overnight. We proceeded cautiously, hoping the snow would turn to rain around the next bend, but that was not to be until we made it to St. George, near the southern border of Utah. From there we continued on to Las Vegas, which was still feeling the effects of the southwest U.S. cold spell with single digit temperatures. We spent 3 extra days there, de-winterizing the campervan, stocking up with groceries and finding a golf course to restart our season. 

At that point we decided to throw out the original plan so that we could still visit many of the planned places but in reverse order. We drove from Las Vegas to Palm Springs where we caught up with several friends from back home, including a 4 night stay in a lovely La Quinta winter home. Lots of good times ensued, reacquainting ourselves with some of our favourite places and meals with different friends, with warm weather keeping us outdoors most of the time. With another cold spell heading in we ventured further south to the small town of El Centro, near the California - Mexico border, which had a more positive forecast. Along the way we stopped for an interesting visit to Salvation Mountain, on the east side of the Salton Sea (which is finally getting some much needed attention due to a recent lithium discovery and environmental concerns). The quirky Salvation Mountain, a man made 3 story mountain covered in latex paint, was a testament to one man's personal focus, and perhaps some hope for those living in the depressed Slab City (a squatter's paradise) and the overall depressed Salton Sea area.

We are now in Temecula, northeast of San Diego, another former destination where we enjoyed ourselves over 10 years ago. We chose the beautiful Pechanga RV Resort for our stay, which had a pool and hot tub close to our large site. Several games of golf, a wine tasting at Wiens (good but overpriced wine), an old town walkabout and tickets to Cinderella at the Community Theatre kept us in good spirits for the week.

We will now start driving further north, heading towards Paso Robles, where we had originally planned to start our California travels.......unless we hit another snowstorm along the way!

The massive front deck at our Mazatlan Airbnb condo stay in January. The condo was half way between the Old Town (visible at the end of the bay) and the resort area looking the opposite way. A nice walk to either and a bit quieter at night. We could also see beautiful sunsets in the evening.

Watching the sun disappear at Pancho's, one of our evening go-to spots. It was a nice 2 km stroll along the malecon (waterfront promenade) which stretched for 8 km's.

Another favourite hangout was Sinoloense, where I kept returning for my seared tuna meal. At less than $10 and with $2 cerveza's, it was an easy call.

Back to reality and gas at $5-6 per gallon, we came across the Seven Magic Mountains just south of Las Vegas beside Interstate 15. Created in 2016 by a Swedish artist and commissioned for a 2 year run, it is still going strong today with close to 100 people coming and going when we stopped by.

We spent four days in Palm Springs, staying at the lovely winter home of Calgary friends, D & P. The backyard patio was a popular spot in both the mornings and evenings.

While driving from Palm Springs to Temecula, we stopped in to visit Salvation Mountain. Using adobe mud and latex paint, this 28 year creation of Leonard Knight is a testament to his faith. Our panoramic shot does not include the various abandoned vehicles at the site, each painted colourfully with messages of love.

On our drive through the mountains to Temecula we came across many spots where locals and their young children were out enjoying tobogganing wherever there was a clear slope. less than 100 km's north of the Mexico border, this scene didn't likely play out very often.

We returned to Temecula because we had previously enjoyed their golf courses and winery visits. While the wine was still good, the cost of tastings has risen to $20 pp and we felt their wines were now overpriced. Hopefully Paso Robles won't have also jumped on the cost of goods bandwagon.

From Mountains to Mountains

We had a fantastic finish to our 2 month adventure. Our Swiss daughter and partner planned a week-end trip to the mountain village of Zermatt in the southern part of the country, close to the Italian border. The 2 bedroom apartment they booked had a direct view, from our spacious living room, to the pointed peak of the Matterhorn (4478 Metres). On Saturday morning we departed early to catch the cog wheel train, used for steep gradients, from Zermatt to Gornergrat (3135 metre peak). With the weather forecast calling for a cloudy afternoon, we got off the train at the Rotenboden station (2815 metres) one stop before the top. The blue sky allowed for some great views of the Matterhorn and many of the other 28 Swiss Alps peaks that were within sight and over 4,000 metres in height. We walked down to a small valley and frozen lake that offered mirror views of the Matterhorn during the summer. After returning to the station, Pocahontas opted for the next train to the top, while the rest of us hiked our way up along a steep, snow path. The views at the top offered a full 360 degree view that was impressive but the clouds were starting to roll in and the Matterhorn peak was slowly disappearing, to the chagrin of other travellers who opted to sleep in that day. While waiting for the next train down the mountain, we visited a small museum that offered a 3D, virtual paragliding flight to the Matterhorn and back, while sitting in a swinging chair off the ground. It was a fun experience and the new attraction was being offered for free till the end of the year, so our timing was fortunate.

Once we were back in Zermatt, we wandered around the town that had many similarities to Whistler with it's pedestrian-friendly streets. Shops and restaurants were at street level and rooms for accommodation above, not to mention the early-season skiers walking to or from the lifts with their gear. We found a nice spot for lunch and then walked uphill to our apartment, where we enjoyed 30 minutes in a sauna and then relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. Another evening surprise awaited. A dinner reservation had been made prior to our w/e trip at one of the nicest restaurants in Zermatt, Brassiere Uno. Once there we were treated to a 7 course meal with wine pairings. The food was excellent, with artistic presentation, and appropriate sizing so that every course could be enjoyed. It was a glorious finish to an outstanding day, and to our time overseas.

We are now safely back in Canada, but it didn't come without some apprehension. Our pre-flight Covid tests both came back negative late on Sunday night, but my bride's confirmation was provided using her maiden name which obviously did not match her passport name. Our hugs were exchanged Monday morning and we headed to the airport early not knowing if we were going to be allowed to board our flights. Fortunately, the Covid test lab at the airport was open and they re-issued the correct document and we were on our way. We had also decided to purchase a Covid home-testing kit to bring back with us so that post-flights we could ensure we were still healthy in between visits with family and friends.

Hopefully, we won't have to deal with all the Covid-induced travel requirements next time around but if we do we will certainly be experienced with the routine! 

After arriving in Zermatt at night, the next morning we woke up to a beautiful view of the Matterhorn from our apartment window. It doesn't look like an easy climb but 3,000 fit trekkers do the technically challenging climb annually. Unfortunately, over 500 others have perished along the way.

Our pack leader checking out the surrounding views on our way up to the Gornergrat peak. There were a few spots like this with rock showing which was easier to navigate than the snow covered uphill path.

The view down to the Gornergrat hotel from the peak, with the cog wheel train stop further below. The impressive Matterhorn peak was no longer visible for the rest of the day, so our early start paid dividends.

Our daughter taking her turn enjoying the 3D virtual reality paragliding experience around the Matterhorn and back, on one of the 3 suspended chairs available. It was a unique activity for us, and a safer option! With limited crowds earlier in the day we were able to try the second option which was a 3D panoramic paraglide trip.

Walking along the pedestrian-friendly streets in Zermatt. It reminded us of Whistler Village which copied the successful street plans from the Swiss Alps towns and villages.

While wandering around Zermatt we came across this interesting tree art. Look carefully at the design, would you drink from this water source?

The view of the Zermatt village while walking back to our apartment. Notice the green taxi vehicle coming up behind us. Zermatt is a car-free town and the only vehicles allowed are electric taxi's and a few battery driven buses, making it a quiet and clean place to be. The taxis are larger than normal to accommodate ski equipment and up to six people squeezed in to the two bench seats facing each other. Anyone visiting Zermatt with a car, needs to park in a village 5 km's away and then take a train, taxi or shuttle bus to Zermatt.

This was how our dinner at Brassiere Uno started out, and this was only one of the two first course sharing platters delivered to our table. With two more servings on the second platter, one might have thought our advertised 5 course meal was sitting in front of us.....but 6 more courses followed in order.
This particular platter featured a stuffed mushroom, corn salad and baba ghanoush filled pastry.

A Dose of Vitamin D

Our Swiss daughter arrived safely in Malta and we found a quiet, relaxing seaside apartment to rent for the week in Marsaskala. With a private pool and patio facing the Mediterranean, it was indeed a respite listening to the waves crash against the rocky shoreline less than 100 metres away. We spent 3 lazy days in the large apartment, only venturing out for short walks, groceries, and a few meals. Our only distant outing was a bus trip for a short visit to the fishing village of Marsaxlokk where we walked alongside the harbour admiring the luzzu's, small colourfully painted rowboats, with the Eye of Osiris painted at the front of the bow for "protection" while out at sea. We also enjoyed a fresh seafood lunch of swordfish and sea bream.

Re-energized, the next day we took a Bolt taxi, similar to Uber, over to the west coast to check out the Blue Grotto. The large waterside arch was picturesque but the windy day precluded small boats taking us out on the water and inside the small caves to view the blue hues in the water. Undeterred, we walked 1.5 km's slightly uphill to visit the coastal megalithic temples of Hagar Qim and nearby Mnajdra. Built between 3000-3500 BC, using massive limestone slabs, including one weighing over 20 tonnes, one wondered how the temples were assembled using manual labour only. Carbon dating has determined that these temples were built prior to both Stonehenge and the Pyramids. From there we took a bus to Valletta so that we could provide our daughter with a quick tour of the busy city, followed by a small boat ride over to Birgu to enjoy dinner at one of our favourite seaside restaurants in Malta (Cargo).

On another day we took a taxi from the south end of the island to the north end (40 minutes) and then a short ferry to the pedestrian only island of Comino (3.5 sq. km's). The major attraction there is the Blue Lagoon where a small, shallow, sandy beach with Caribbean-like blue hues stretching out into a sheltered bay made for heavenly views. Those views continued on our walk around the island visiting other bays and steep cliffs on the opposite side where weather induced rock formations ruled. Our final Malta day trip was to the small town of Tarxien, home of some additional megalithic temples, a continued theme to help us feel much younger than our passport dictates. Tarxien was also home of the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, a complex underground cavern dating back to the 3000-3600 BC times. The Hypogeum was carved out by hand and used to hold the bodies of over 7000 humans. It was discovered only when a cistern was being dug in the early 1900's. Because of the fragility of the find, it is kept climate-controlled, no pictures are allowed and only 80 visitors are allowed every day. It was amazing to experience the creations from so long ago, made without the tools of today.

We are now back in Basel, Switzerland, nearing the end of our 2 month trip. One more Swiss overnight trip is planned before flying back home, which will be a nice farewell with our daughter and her partner. 

The patio area for our 8 night stay in Marsaskala. Our 'sea view' apartment didn't match the one on the website, which would have been taken from the apartment above us, but it was still relaxing to hear the waves crashing against the rocky shore below.

The harbour area in nearby Marsaxlokk. The colourful luzzu's were a drawing attraction in this small fishing town.

Our seaside lunch in Marsaxlokk. My freshly caught Sea Bream is in the forefront and my bride's swordfish on the opposite side. Our daughter's vegetarian dish didn't make the day's headline. The Mediterranean tide reaches one metre and by the end of our lunch the water was starting to roll in under our table.

Our day trip over to the Blue Grotto on the west side of the island. This shot was taken from the viewpoint at the top and a combination of the waves crashing and no rowboats with tourists in sight we realized our hopes of visiting the small caves were dashed. Some nearby megalithic temples still made the venture worthwhile.

A special point of interest inside the South Temple of Hagar Qim, uphill from the Blue Grotto.

Notice the small hole at the back wall, where at summer solstice the sun would shine directly through onto a shrine in the chamber.......amazing technology for the time.

One of the many pedestrian and restaurant friendly streets in Valletta. This particular one was adorned with lampshades overhead.

After enjoying a harbourside dinner in Birgu, we were able to enjoy the night lights in the area.

The beautiful blue hues and limestone cliffs visible when walking around Comino Island. Looking at the almost treeless and rock coated island.....Gozo is in the far background.....it was easy to understand why the full-time population currently stood at 2 people. Due to it's history and the beautiful Blue Lagoon several hundred tourists still visited the day we went and thousands a day in the summer.

The South Temple at the Tarxien finding. Like most of the other megalithic complexes, the remaining limestone slabs were covered overhead with a protective shield against nature's elements, allowing future generations to enjoy the discovery. All of the more fragile artifacts (statues, utensils, etc.) have been moved to museums for additional protection.

While strolling from the Tarxien Temples to the Hypogeum underground cavern we came across this street view of the Paola Parish Church. The Maltese balconies enhanced the sighting.

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.