A week in my Malta life

Looks like San Diego but it is Malta.

The day after our return from London, Wednesday, April 2^st we overslept as we forgot to set our clock ahead.  (Guess that trip to Greenwich was quickly forgotten). Andrew rushed out of the flat headed for the bus and his 8am class.  I went in to campus a few hours later to hear another visiting colleague’s talk on Economic models to determine if Malta is over or under populated. (Sucker title—of course the economist’s answer, “It depends.”) That afternoon, we met our Malta National Geographic for a hike near Siggiewi.  The steady walk up from the fields to the cliffs overlooking the sea included fancy country homes, fields of wheat and long views of the sea.  We bused back towards Valletta but jumped off and connected to a different bus ( Number 12) at the Bombi 2 transfer station.  We dined in the restaurant located downstairs from Debby and Tim’s (our Fulbright friends) oceanfront flat in Sliema.  We shared Maltese Beef Olive (basically meatloaf) and Rabbit Stew. I enjoyed the rabbit as it tasted like an intermediary between pork chops and chicken thighs.  I am partial to my mom’s own meatloaf.  

Our hiking group headed up this road and around the hill.

The next day after Andrew’s teaching duties, we took off by bus to grocery shop in Sliema.  Debby had shown us all her grocery haunts.  She is feeding 3 teenage boys so she knows where to shop.  Once we returned with 2 big recyclable bags of groceries, we headed out that same way for dinner at our friends Jan and Ellen’s flat in St. Julian.  Their flat is a typical Maltese flat, a 3 bedroom” bowling alley” as Jan describes it; long, narrow and richly appointed. We dined and talked about our different travels until close to midnight.  It was a memorable evening.

Me, not paying attention as I was trying to curl the silver thread.

Friday, I was up early to catch the bus with Debby to Mdina where we were enrolled in a silver filigree class.  Silver filigree jewelry is a Maltese handicraft.  The filigree craftsmen I have talked to learned the craft from their grandfather or father.  In our three hour class, we made a pendant called The Sleeping Woman.  This was a contemporary interpretation of the famous 5000 year old Maltese Sleeping Lady figurine,  found at the Hypogeum.  The Hypogeum  was placed  on my afternoon calendar 3 weeks ago, when I first arrived.  This is an archeological site that requires advanced booking as seven times a day groups of 10 can enter the underground megalith.  The crowds, light and carbon dioxide are kept to a minimum in order to preserve the limestone structure.  Tickets are pricey, 30 euros.  To give you an idea a week bus pass costs 6.20 euros, a day pass 1.50 euros, a postcard stamp .51 euros, postcard .25 euros, fresh quart of strawberries 3 euros, other Heritage Malta sites 5 euros.  I raced back across the country to our flat and caught a different bus to a neighborhood near the working docks.  The Hypogeum was discovered when housing units were being built in 1902 for the dockhands in Paola. We were able to see ochre writings on the ceiling, round rocks thought to move the large rocks into place  and some rock roof over one of the chambers or aspes.  Thousands of skeleton remains were found in the chambers.  After the tour, we walked to see another megalith temple, 3 blocks away. The Tarxien Temples are above ground.  The carving on the limestone are timeless designs.

Andrew at the Tarxien Temples

Gorgeous limestone designs from 3000 BC

Saturday was laundry day. Our washer takes 1 hour and 50 minutes to run.  The dryer is a bit faster. The day was rainy on and off.  So after my run, I hibernated in the flat. We watched the final episode of the second season of the American version of House of Cards.  The main character, Francis Underwood tells you the audience “The road to power is paved with hypocrisy and casualties.” That about sums up the action in this US Executive Office and Congressional drama.   That evening we dined with Dominic and Francine at Ambrosia, a little restaurant in Valletta.  I had warm chicken livers and orange salad.  Dominic had a month long appointment in the Economic Department.  He is French and U Penn educated.  Francine is Canadian-French.  They live in Perth now.  They had spent the month living on a 40 foot sailboat in one of the marinas close to campus.  They have 2 children in their 30s which seems unlikely as they both look like they are in their 40s.  I marvel at how nice it is to walk 3-4 short blocks from our flat to a quaint restaurant. 

Lilly's Troop

Marching Band Troop

Sunday after working out, we met Andrew’s colleague, Marie and her husband, Stefano on Republic Street. Lilly, their 5 year old, was participating in the Scouts parade.  We met Lilly’s godmother, Eilis, who is from Ireland.  She had lived in our flat in Valletta and knew our Galway neighborhood (We lived in Galway for a semester on Andrew’s first sabbatical.) 

Hungry girls

I made Andrew buy two of them.  Yum.

 After the parade, we caught a ride back to their village of Ghargur for the Dairy Festival.  Apparently, the two dairymen invited to attend had a falling out and neither one showed with cows but that did not dampen the festivities.  We met “the other” Iowa family.  Rachel and John are here for the semester with Luther College.   Each Spring Semester Luther College offers an abroad program here in Malta.  John was acting as the dean for 17 students. Rachel and John have two daughters, another 5 year old Lilly and Sylvie who is 7.  As we walked the half block to the festival, Nathan, a 9 year old neighbor, gave us a thorough tour of an air raid shelter.  This shelter was longer than the one we toured in Briggu at the War Museum.  The chamber ran underneath the street and had access stairs from inside a number of houses. Once at the festival, we all had fun eating fresh made cheese, crepes, and Sniker Pie, a delicious Maltese treat that includes Snicker Bars in the recipe.  We watched the kids in the jumpy house, milk a simulated cow and get a ride in a mini racing cart with a pony.   The day was so pure, uncommercial and neighborly.  We were the only 6 tourists there. Marie said we really stuck out but we didn’t feel like we did. We walked out to the main road as all the town streets were closed off to traffic and caught the bus back to Valletta.

Marie and Andrew

Ghargur Band.  I like the wood instrument that makes sound when the ends are knocked together.

Andrew showing how to flag a bus down.

Monday, after a morning with our computers, we took off on the bus to Villa Bologna.  The estate was built in 1745 and owned by Lord Strickland, who was our flat owner, Jasper’s great grandfather.  It is the largest private property, 8 acres, I have seen in Malta. It rivals the footprint of either of the hotels here in Valletta (Turns out that Jasper’s family built one of the hotels, the Phonecia.) We toured the Baroque and Mediterranean gardens thinking our artist neighbors in San Diego, Mark and Anne would love to paint the fountains, ponds, and pergolas around the citrus orchards (in blossom and smelling sweet) and vegetable gardens.  A watercolor artist, Jeni Caruana, has been doing just that. Jasper’s great grandfather was the 4th Prime Minister of Malta.  His grandmother, set up a pottery on the estate, Ceramika Maltija.  Our flat has a variety of mugs, bowls, and dishes from Ceramika Maltija that I like. As a result, we headed home on the bus with two bags of pottery in hand.  It will be a trick to carry the pieces home to San Diego but worth it! 

Villa Bologna Fountain

My favorite fountain piece.

Tuesday came out warm and sunny. You never know what is going to float by your harbor window.  I am used to the cruise ships but not this- a drilling rig.  

Oil Rig passing through the Grand Harbour.

That afternoon we headed to the other side of the island to the village of Zurrieq.  We walked 2 miles to the Blue Grotto and then another 2 miles to Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Temples.  The west side of the island is less inhabited and filled with terraced fields of broad beans, onions, daisy fields, red clover and wheat. We did a lot of elevation gains walking down to the water back up to one temple, down to another and back up to catch the bus. The temples, dated around 3000 BC so 5000 years old, are similar in structure to the Tarxien Temples. The limestone is carved out to form windows and doorways.  The two temples are 600m apart, one located down the slope and closer to the water.  I keep asking myself, “What was it like to live 5000 years ago in rock structures?”  I know that the Flintstones had the architecture wrong.  The rock shelters were rectangular shaped with rounded ends. This allowed rocks to be layered on the roof to make a dome top contrary to the big flat stone roof of Fred and Wilma’s abode. In side these temples, were rock tables or altars and rock statues.   

Turquoise Blue Grotto

Model of Hager Qim. Other temples have similar chamber shapes.

Doorway cut out in limestone.

The style for tables 5000 years ago.

Me and Hagar Qim rocks.  Cover protects the rocks from the elements.

Model of how the roof would look if intact.

Wednesday, I took off on bus 54 for Attard with Debby.  We walked through the President’s Gardens, San Anton, which is located next to Villa Bologna. A new president, Mary Louise Coleiro Preca was sworn in just last weekend.  Her role is more of stateswoman for the country.  The Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat, is the head of the government and cabinet. His residence, Girgenti Palace, is located near our Wednesday hike in Siggiewi.  Both have offices 2 blocks from our flat. The gardens reminded me of Balboa Park/San Diego Zoo.  The vegetation was familiar as was the calls from the resident peacocks.  I showed Debby Ceramika Maltija which was next door. We then headed towards Ta Qali Crafts Village. We made some wrong turns and followed a secondary road that ended in a field.  Being from Iowa, Debby was ready to head across the fields. But, I saw a few stone walls standing in the path and knew Debby doesn’t see many of those in Iowa as she had just told me how precious stones are in Iowa. So we back tracked.  Eventually, we arrived at the craft village (if all else fails, look for the big white tourist buses) which is located near the US Embassy (a formidable structure).  The walk turned out to be more fun than the crafts.  We did get to watch the Maltese Medina Glass being blown.  Neither of us fancy it though as it is too colorful and mod for our tastes.  When I arrived back to the flat, Andrew and I took off for the grocery store.  Hauling our 2 bags of goods is a good workout for Andrew.  It has gotten a bit easier now that we get our drinking water from a closet size shop 5 blocks away in Valletta. 

Wisteria and water at San Anton Gardens.

                              What a week, full of exploration, new experiences and sights. 

Mdina from the fields before we walked back to the street.