Church bells at 5am and loud fireworks before 8am, you must be in Malta. The previous night you ate rabbit for dinner in a cellar in Valletta ,http://www.guzevalletta.com/, you must be in Malta. Later in the evening, a wine tasting on top of a stone fortress built by the Knights of Malta and fireworks lighting the sky in all directions, you must be in Malta.
The area of Malta that is our home base is referred to as the three cities: Valletta ( the capital of the island), Singlea and Vittoriosa. There is a ferry that connects them across the grand harbor. They are said to be the old cities, but at least for Singlea, it was pretty much flattened during the world war, so it is a mix of old remains and what was built after the war. We are staying in an Airbnb in Senglea, which is across the harbor from Valletta. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1293551 We love our view from the dining room table:
Neither one of us was quite sure about the exact location of Malta but the direct flights from Paris were cheap so we booked. I don’t know the actual stats on visitors to this island but I think 40% are British/Australian, 50% Italian and 10% rest of the world. Americans make up only 2% of visitors each year. When we were renting a boat, the owner after finding out where we were from, responded, “that’s really far away.”
“Don’t know much about history…” but we’ll try and shed a touch of light on Malta. If we go astray, please forgive us.
The Maltese Islands were inhabited by a society of excellent builders and some of their structures still stand today. The temples in Ggantija, Gozo are considered the oldest, surviving, free-standing monuments in the world and predate Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt. Their ancestral home was most likely Sicily. Their run ended around 2500 BC. See our post on Gozo & Comino for pics of these temples.
Around 750BC, the Phoenicians settled in Malta and used it as a base for their trade routes. The Carthaginians rule of Malta started around 480BC and was eventually ended with the Romans seizing the islands in 218BC. In 60AD St Paul was shipwrecked on the island while on his way to Rome and brought Christianity to Malta. In 870AD the Arabs took over the islands turning most of the remain population into slaves, and using the islands as a useful outpost to Sicily. Next up for ruling Malta was the Normans, who freed the slaves.
The Knights of St John (aka Knights of Malta, aka the Knights Hospitallers of St. John) who ruled Malta for 250 years delivered the country its architecture of forts, bastions, watch towers, aqueducts, churches and cathedrals, the country’s 8 pointed star flag (aka the Maltese Cross), etc. Eventually France took over the islands in 1798 AD; only to lose it to the British. The effect of British rule from 1814 until Malta’s independence in 1964 is very evident today, English named pubs, the English language (although the Maltese language is still used as well), driving on the left-hand side of the road, etc. (And nasty style British Baked Beans and under-cooked rashers of bacon for breakfast- ugh.)
There you have it, centuries of history in three brief, somewhat correct, paragraphs.
Malta is about 95% Roman Catholic and may be the most Catholic country in the world. There are 64 Catholic parishes and 313 churches on the main island of Malta and 15 parishes and 46 Catholic churches on Gozo. The main period of church building in Malta took place after the arrival of the Knights of St. John in the 16th, 17th, & 18th centuries. Divorce wasn’t legal here until 2011! Under Maltese constitution, Catholicism is the official state religion and must be taught in state schools.
A traditional breakfast is a hot pastizzi- a pastry filled with ricotta cheese or mush peas…yuk! This sounds like a British thang. The food has a strong Italian or Mediterranean influence with lots of fresh seafood. But Rabbit is the national dish and it is delish! It is a very common Sunday lunch and is available on just about every menu. Octopus in garlic sauce would be the second most common thing. Douglas has been eating rabbit at least every other day!
We’ve also had excellent fish soup and stuffed calamari, the famous Maltese plate + lots of Italian style pizza.
Some of the sunset photos are from the annual wine tasting festival. Malta makes some excellent red wines- our favorite was the Syrah. Malta has some grape varieties that are unique, here is a link to a NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/07/dining/maltese-wines-are-a-long-way-from-the-wine-shop.html?_r=0
The architecture on the island is beautiful. You have prehistoric temples along with gilded baroque cathedrals and Italian Renaissance style homes. The unique style of balcony you see all over the island is Italian and called a ‘gallarija’. It was originally an open balcony where women would go to chat with their neighbors and eventually everyone added lower panels to close in the balcony creating more living space.
On just about every corner in Valetta is some sort of statue or religious monument. When the Knights of St. John planned Valetta, they issued an order stating that all capitol (corners) had to be embellished with statues or niches.
St. John’s Cathedral looks like a fortress from the outside but the inside is impressive with Maltese gold baroque. It’s most famous painting is of the beheading of St. John the Baptist by Caravaggio.
When the Knights of St. John arrived in Malta in the 16th century, they began building forts in the village of Vittoriosa which is across the harbor from Senglea. In addition to forts, they also constructed elaborate auberges or homes where members of the Order lived.
Fort St. Angelo, (original fort for Knights of St. John) and Mari-time museum.
Singlea, our AirBnB home base, has taught us a few things about Malta living. Firstly, it is hot in the middle of the day and most locals are out of sight, perhaps taking a nap. On good days, we follow their suit. Singlea in the heat of the day:
At night, everyone opens the windows of their homes to let the cooler night air in and head to the harbor to relax, eat & drink, and socialize. There is so much going on in the harbor between small restaurants with hired DJs playing 70s & 80s pop rock outside our apartment, other restaurants playing the football match on harbor facing TVs to our ‘favorite’…BINGO! Yes, from about 9pm until 11pm or midnight, you can hear, ‘six and three, sixty-three, <insert Maltese language version>. It is all so sweet and beautiful in the cool night air along the grand harbor.
Yep, everyone is playing Pokeman Go these days…
On our last night we attended the Malta Jazz Festival held on the Grand Harbor with Jason Marsalis on drums. This music is making us miss NOLA and family.
Back on the ferry to catch a ride to the airport…Good bye Malta! Next adventure…Marrakesh.
