Malta

It's been mighty cold here in Central Italy so I decided I wanted some sun. Therefore, I went online a few weeks ago and found the cheapest flight I could find to a place somewhere south of Rome and I landed in Malta. The country of Malta consists of two inhabited islands and one small one in between them that isn't populated. The country is 90 km south of Sicily and is at the crossroads between East-West and North-South. Being one of the few islands in the Mediterranean, it has been fought over for centuries. It was a former colony of England (they drive on the left) and is now part of the European Union. The language? Maltese which is some mash-up of Italian and ????. I could understand some stuff, but some of it just sounded outright strange.

The capital is Valletta, which is a peninsula around which are two harbors. Here's the opening to the main industrial harbor.

The harbor is fortified on all sides and the bastions now ceremonial, but they do fire the cannons once a day.

The old city of Valletta reminds me of San Francisco with the hilly streets at right angles to each other and the bay windows overhanging.

Once you leave the old city of Valletta, much of the main island of Malta looks like Miami Beach, with the high rises along the beach. In the distance is St. Julian's Bay, the home of a casino (right there at the point) and all the posh hotels and clubs. Yes, I did walk around to verify the "Eurotrash club" scene, but I did not participate.

Although known for it's seafood, I ate meat pies for most every meal. You can get them for under a Euro and are TASTY!

Where do the old buses from around the world end up? MALTA. The buses are converted to diesel, repainted and put into service here. The country has set up a fantastic bus system and you can get everywhere on the bus.

Here's the inside of a bus, with the old benches and cord along the ceiling to ring the bell. I did notice that if you sat in the back and had to get out fast, the only exit being at the front is a potential fire hazard. Probably why these buses have been retired from service in other parts of the world.

Based on reading a blog recommended by Julie F., I got myself to the more rural island of Gozo. The island is charming and beautiful. This is the citadel in the middle of the island. In the 1500's because the island was so vulnerable to attack, all residents of the island were required to sleep in the citadel each evening.

In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus was held in a cave by Calypso. That island is supposedly Gozo, and here's her beach.

I'm not sure where the actual cave is supposed to be, but I'll just say it's somewhere down there.

Ta' Pinu Basilica and Gordan Lighthouse near the town of Gharb on the NW coast of Gozo.

At the far western end of Gozo is the beautiful Azure Window.

The rock in the foreground is called....Fungus Rock. Why? No idea.

The morning before I flew back to Italy, I attended a reenactment of a 1500's parade that demonstrated a fort's readiness. These were the spearmen.

I gather this is a Maltese Falcon. However, it was purely decorative as it did nothing but sit on the man's hand the entire time.

The general waving goodbye to the troops and his approval the the troops were battle ready.

Would I go back to Malta? Probably not. It seems like a wonderful place to live, Gozo I'm speaking of, but to visit, really not much to do. Once was enough.