Arrival in Malta

We had been to Malta on a previous trip so chose not to stay near the capital, Valletta. Instead, we opted for a fishing village called Marsax(sh)lokk. It was very quaint. The suite was lovely although there was no drawers for clothes, and breakfast was provided.

Tim was up early to take pictures of the port and capital city in the dawn. The sun turns the stone pink. There are 7 forts - most facing the harbour. It is a very spectacular entry point. We disembarked from our home of 14 days, found our driver and proceeded to our lodging where we dropped off our bags at The South Wind suites. Rooms were named after various Mediterranean winds - the Mistral, the Sirocco, etc.

After exploring the tourist market, replete with every kind of trinket, shirt, hat flavour of cornetti and more, we boarded the #81 bus to Valletta. It was a busy day: first stop St. John’s Co-Cathedral with Caravaggio’s painting of the beheading of John the Baptist. This church and most of the city was built by the Knights of the Order of St. John who were critical in the repelling of the Muslims under Suileman in 1565 after a 4-month siege. This battle marked a turning point in the Ottoman Empire and the leaders of many European countries gifted the Knights with a lot of money. Secondly, we went to the Hall of the Grand Master. Very opulent with an impressive display of weaponry and armour. After coffee and lunch we wandered around and finally took the bus back to the fishing village.

There was a delightful array of traditionally painted fishing boats all along the harbour. We had supper on the harbour. The entire harbour was full of tables and chairs which were set up by the restaurants after the market vendors packed up their stalls in the early afternoon. It is a peaceful place and it was nice to stroll along the harbour in the dark listening to various people visiting with one another.In the suite, we tried to pass time watching T.V. But with 3 controllers we had trouble figuring it out. We could not log in to our Apple or U-Tube accounts so we decided to go to sleep.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Athens - Day 1

Image
Yesterday was busy. We had a delicious breakfast at a quaint restaurant directly across from our hotel. It looks small, but there was seating inside, outside and around the corner. The street looked like a lane, but every so often a car or motorcycle would barrel down the street! We then headed off to the Acropolis where we purchased tickets for 5:00 p.m. Everyone wants to go there but it is better to wait til later as it is 31 degrees! We elected to go to the Acropolis Museum - air conditioned of course. Lots to see! Many of the pieces were collected and reconstructed. The Acropolis itself was built as a place of worship and, in fact, the entire hill was filled with temples. In 1867, the Turks bombed it and it was virtually destroyed. Later Lord Byron spent time in Greece and took some pieces back to the British Museum. Although they were lying on the ground, for some reason the Greeks are still upset. The building above is the museum. After the museum we went back to ou...
Read more

The First Days

Image
We drove to Calgary on Saturday morning with a short diversion to the family farm near Pine Lake. On the way we passed a large poster with the family name! We took a picture of the family to enjoy. Then we stopped at the grave of Tim’s parents. In Calgary we visited with old friends - TIm has known them for 70 years, when they all attended a private kindergarten in Medicine Hat. On Sunday morning Bob delivered us safely to the airport. The long flight transported us to Paris and we are now in the middle of a 7 hour layover which we are spending in a lounge. At 7:00 p.m. the flight leaves for Athens where a driver will be waiting to deliver us to our hotel. It’s hard to believe Tim, Bob and Anne are all 75 and that next year we will celebrate 50 years of marriage! How time flies!
Read more

Athens - Day 2

Image
Our second day in Athens began at a delightful restaurant named “Picky”. It spills out onto the shared walkway and road! All the lovely people seem to be there. The staff and food are lovely. We then headed off to explore the Agora or ancient market where the Apostle Paul would have preached to the Greeks! The two story building has been turned into the Museum of the Agora and stands under the shadow of the Acropolis. We passed some very extravagant baking in a coffee shop but resisted! We went back to the hotel for a shower and rest and then had an ice cream as we explored the shops. Planning a bus tour we went out for a “quick” dinner - gyro for Marija and gyro dinner for Tim! By the time we finished we had missed the last bus! Oh well, a wander in the shade of the evening through the busy Flea Market, and passing by more eateries with live music. Finally, we retired for an early night only to be awoken by a phone call at about 12:30 a.m. which one of you called?
Read more