Wednesday, May 8th, Valletta, Malta

 

Greetings!

Today was our last tour day.  We spent it visiting some of the locations that we previously were not able to because they were closed.  We also went to a museum, and two outstanding temple and megalith sites.  Due to a mistake by the tour company, we were not able to visit one large megalith site, but did get to take a few photos before we were kicked out.  

It rained today, so our walks were done being careful not to slip on pathways not well designed for slick surfaces. 

This being the last post of the tour, and because I've taken photos of most of the site signs, I'm going to pass on identifying the sites in this narrative.  You'll see where we went in the photo album.  I do want to take the opportunity to thank everyone of the tour, travelers, tourguide, and drivers.  Malta was a great end of the tour, partly because it contained the oldest and largest ruins, and partly because it contained sites and experiences which illuminated the whole span of history.

We're flying home tomorrow, and getting in late.  The next day is an important fundraiser for good friends of our in Marin (Center for Domestic Peace).  Thanks to all at the Original World, and Supreme Travel..

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Wednesday, May 8th, Valletta, Malta.
  

Tuesday, May 7th, Valletta, Malta

Greetings!

It took us six hours to get to and from Goso today, an island one-third the size of Malta off the northern coast.  There have been proposals to build a bridge or a tunnel there, but all were discarded.  Much of the time was just getting through Malta's small towns between central Valletta and the coastal port at the town of Cirkewwa.  Ferries between there and the port of Mgarr on Gozo run every 25 minutes, and the round-trip fare is only about five Euros.  We had coachs on either end, and did experience a mechanical problem opening the coach door at one end. 

The first inhabitants of Gozo came from Sicily about 5,000 BC.  They were farmers, and only a thousand years earlier transitioned from hunter-gatherers to settled farmers.  Two of the structures (Ggantija) temples were erected more than 5500 years ago, before the pyramids of Egypt.  They are the second oldest existing manmade religious structures after Gobleki Teke in present day Turkey.  

The temples are built in the typical clover-leaf shape, with inner-facing blocks.  The space between the walls was filled with rubble.  A series of semi-circular apses is connected with a central passage covered by roofing.  The effort is a remarkable feat when considering the monuments were constructed when the wheel had not yet been introduced and no metal tools were available to the Maltese Islanders.   

An island trip wouldn't be complete without a visit to the cliffs edge.  We declined to take a ride in small boats out to an famous rock arch (the Azure Window) at Dwejra Bay which had collapsed recently.   Instead, we visited several really old windmills (1725), where millars called farmers to bring their grain by blowing through triton shells.

We ended the visit with a drive to the Roman Catholic Cathedral in the Cittadella of Victoria, the capital of Gozo.  The highest point on the island, its history epitomizes the many eras and architectural structures which have appeared.  Begun as a prehistoric settlement, then a Roman temple, it became a Christian and later a Byzantine church.  Recovered from early Arab destruction, a parish church was enlarged during the 15th and 16th centuries, then sacked by the Ottomans during the invasion of 1551.  Rebuilt once the island was retaken, it was damaged by an earthquake in 1693.  Finally, the present cathedral was begun in September of 1697.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Tuesday, May 7th, Valletta, Malta.

Monday, May 6th, Valletta, Malta

Greetings!

We began today by visiting the Sanctuary Basilica of the Assumption of Mosta, which has the third largest unsupported dome in the world, and is Malta's largest and most famous church.  The church narrowly avoided destruction during World War II, when on April 9, 1942 a German aerial bomb pierced the dome and fell into the church during Mass but failed to explode.  The event was interpreted by the Maltese as a miracle.

Then to a glass-making company, and a jewelry warehouse.  One of our travelers remarked that this practice of stopping by a business which clearly wanted us to buy something is a bit unusual for this tour company.  Pat and I confirmed that we shy away from tour companies which do so, but it's not unusual for tours to get payments from these businesses.

 

The Palazzo Parisio and Gardens in Naxxar was our next stop.  Begun as a hunting lodge in 1733, it has been expanded and now is described as "a miniature Versailles", and has been used as a wedding site, filming location, wine store, and an R.A.F. Office during WWI.  

Then we drove to Mdina and Rabat to walk through the streets of two of the island's oldest communities.  The Catacombs of St Paul and of St Agatha reminded us of the Hypogeum, except that they were built 2,000 years later.  Though simpler and smaller, the similarity of their design reinforces the notion that underground burials must have been a strong part of the culture for the last six thousand years.  Those who constructed the Catacombs had no idea that the Hypogeum existed, and was used so far in the past.

Finally, we ended up in a short hike at the Dingli Cliffs, the highest point on the island, for a view of the small island of Filfa.  

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Monday, May 6th, Valletta, Malta.

Sunday, May 5th, Valletta, Malta

Greetings!

I'm going to try to describe our adventures today without immediately jumping to the last thing we saw - the Hypogeum.  I hope I can convey to you the enormity of the experience well enough for you to understand the degree of self-restraint involved.

So first,  the Tarxien Temples.  I've never seen a ruin site better protected.  So forgive me for too many shots of the canopy constructed over it.  Steel cables forty yards long supporting a seriously impervious roof.  Not that it rains around here.  

And that walkway, what care to place it as close to the walls and rocks.  While I appreciate the work done through a grant from Norway to facilitate access and education, I found it a little too presentational.  Much of the site has been reconstructed, and the viewer isn't clear enough on where original rock remains.

Next, we drove to the three cities in which Vallettans live, and which provide the most insight into the character of its history.  Around the edges of the harbor, the fishing and merchant communities of Senglea, Cospicua, and Vittoriosa wind their way along the walls and waterfronts, to the palaces, churches, forts and bastions.  Viewing luxury yachts next to original rowboats, and kayakers enjoying a seemingly endless water course.  We stopped for lunch at another great restaurant, and Michael mixed Maltese language lessons with his ability to provide us with just the right meal for each of our needs and tastes.

Finally, we narrived at the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum at our purchased appointment time (3pm).  Fortunately, an unused surrendered ticket allowed us to include a member of our group without one, and we all descended into an entirely underground series of three levels of limestone, with its halls and chambers interconnected through a labyrinth series of steps, lintels, and doorways.  Here is another link to this outstanding travel destination,  I classify it as one of the top ten ruin experiences I have visited.

Carved after 4,000 BC with antlers, flint, chert, and obsidian, and used as a sanctuary and necropolis, it contained an estimated 7,000 individuals, intricately decorated pottery vessels, stone and clay beads, shell buttons, amulets, axe-heads, and carved figurines depicting humans and animals. One of the figurine, the Sleeping Lady, is thought to represent a mother goddess.  Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed in the visit.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Sunday, May 5th, Valletta, Malta.

 

Saturday, May 4th, Valletta, Malta

Greetings!

We gathered in the hotel after breakfast, met our guide (Michael from Original World), and introduced ourselves.  A very experienced group of travelers, all are here either after other stops this travel, or are going to other countries after this one, or both.  one of them is from nearby our home (Greenbrae), and knows a very close friend of ours.  Two are from Florida, and two from Tennessee.  All have had very interesting lives.

Our first of many stops today was Saint John's Co-Cathedral, where Michael introduced us to Malta by  walking us through the Maltese home of the Knights of Malta (Order).  Organized by the eight regions (Provence, France, Auvergne, Italy, Aragon, including Navarre, England, including Scotland and Ireland, Germany, and the kingdom of Castille, Leon, and Portugal), the Order's mission is to protect the Catholic faith.  From 1113 to 1530, its knights, led by sequential GrandMasters, battled against Barbary pirates and Ottoman forces.  After an important setback in Rhodes in 1522, King Charles V of Spain (Holy Roman Emporer) gave the Order Malta in exchange for a yearly falcon.  

As Michael led us through the Church, we saw that each of the regions had apses displaying the colors, heralds, statues of famous leaders, tribunary supporters who paid to be buried under magnificent floor crypts, and plenty of powerful paintings.   We continue to be amazed at the amount of mind-blowing art and tributes within churches throughout our travels.  Everywhere one looks is another wonderous contribution to the story-telling and tributes collected in service of the religion.

The Italian artist, Michelangelo Merisi, better known as Caravaggio, spent many years on the island, and his paintings "The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist" and "St Jerome Writing" are both displayed in the Cathedral.  Others of his are in the Lourve, and in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence.  His life, and works, struggle to reflect psycological realism, and a dramatic use of lighting.  Caravaggio vividly expressed crucial moments and scenes, often featuring violent struggles, torture, and death.  He worked rapidly with live models, preferring to work directly on canvas.   

After a stop at the Valletta Theateer for a 3D show of Malta history, we walked to the National Museum of Archeology.  It was another well-designed set of epic-themed displays, presenting evidence of the last 9,000 years of Malta's civilized cultures through tools, pottery, sculpture, and architecture.  

While my cell phone ran out of memory about the time we visited the GrandMaster's Palace and Armory, I have to say that both are well worth the visit, even as the brutal militaristic precision apparent in the weapons and armor confirmed the worst views of war.  

Michael timed our journey to end at the Upper Barrakka Gardens shortly before 4pm.  At that moment, one of the cannons established to defend the City, is fired each day to the recoil of the large crowd standing at the walls above the firing.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Saturday, May 4th, Valletta, Malta.
  

Friday, May 3rd, Valletta, Malta

Greetings!

Today, we flew Emirates (what a plush plane and service!) from Cyprus to Malta.  Even though it was only a two and a half hour flight, it took the whole day to drive to the rental car company, negotiate the payment for a slight bump that happened getting out of a parking space, get driven to the airport, wait for the flight, fly, get our luggage, get picked up and driven to the hotel, relax in the upgraded top floor suite, walk around our hotel area (wow), get dinner at a local restaurant, and come back and finish this blog.

In addition to being the best traveling buddy, making all of the arrangements for the travel itself, and keeping track of the rest of the world's activity (including our hometown), Pat is using some of her time getting very much smarter on the use of her IPhone and the Internet.  I am really impressed with her growing use of AI search tools.  With my Google knowledge, and her Apple and Meta knowledge, we've really become capable of learning.  

Tomorrow morning, we meet the other five members of our tour group, and begin six days of exploring Malta.  Our walk through the southern edge of the City's bayside fortress walls was almost overwhelming, and we can't wait to see what our tour company presents us for the rest of the trip.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Friday, May 3rd, Valletta, Malta.

 

Thursday, May 2nd, Larnaca, Cyprus

Greetings!

On our last full day in Cyprus, we decided to take the car east of Larnaca to the southeastern tip of the island (and of Europe) to where frequently it's necessary to use dune buggies and four-wheel drive vehicles.  We were not disappointed with the ocean views, the pearly white sands, and the rugged cliffs dropping into some of the bluest and clearest water I've seen.  

It wasn't surprising that the town of Ayia Napa has attracted a couple of high-rise buildings, and several resorts on the beachfronts.  Nearby one of them is a burial tomb site, constructed in Roman times with a dozen deep caves carved into the limestone rock.  Yea, if I was a rich Roman merchant, I'd want my last days and beyond to be yards from these beaches.  Rivals anything Malibu has to offer.

But the absolute topper for the day, as anyone following this blog will guess, is the Thalassa Municipal Museum.  It was founded and directed by the Pierides Foundation, the same family which brought the two Cyprus Museums in Larnaca and Nicosia (also Athens).  This is the first museum of its kind across the Mediterranean region to present the impact and significance of the sea upon the history of the island.  The museum incorporates seven levels within a three-story building made of marble, onyx, wood, metal, and other unique experiences appealing to all of our senses with its birds eye view.

Its paleontological, geological, archeological marine-life exhibits are presented in underground showcases, where visitors are able to walk and view from the all perspectives.  Pat and I found the descriptions in the cases some of the best explanations of the many important time periods which frame the last six thousand years of area history.  Definitely worth the trip out to this coast.

Tomorrow, we fly to Malta, to join a tour with five others hosted by a company from San Rafael in Northern California.  We'll be staying in a single hotel, and taking day-trips all over the island.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Thursday, May 2nd, Larnaca, Cyprus.

  

 

Wednesday, May 1st, Larnaca, Cyprus

Greetings!

Today was an international holiday, and I wish I could say that was the reason for a sparse travel day.  The truth is that we began early in the morning on our drive from Nicosio to Larnaca, and arrived around 11am.  Our hotel was willing to let us park in their lot, and provided a good buffet brunch.  Check-in time was still 2pm, so we walked from there down to the shorefront, and along the beach for a mile or two.  

The Viking cruise ship we spotted when we first arrived in the country three weeks ago was still there.  Pat's skill with AI has improved, and we learned that the ship is still being built, and won't be put into service for another year or two.  

Further down the beach, we encountered the mosque we had seen on our first visit.  Once again closed, we were disapointed to only see its beautiful outside.  

We were able to spend an hour inside the Church of Saint Lazuras.  Watching the many entrants honor their faith with ritual candles, prayers, and elaborate remonstrations was informative.  Pat provided me with some insights into what we were seeing from her Catholic background.

Returning to our hotel to check-in, we decided our need to visit Larnaca was almost complete.  Two days at the beginning of our trip, and a day planned for tomorrow to see something other than ruins was enough.  The rest of today was spent reading in our room, and watching "Springtime for Hitler" and "Rock of Ages" on television.  

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Wednesday, May 1st, Larnaca, Cyprus.