Drew and Meg's Malta Holiday

They're here!!!

Drew graduated from USC, moved out of his apartment, dealt with a bike reflector ticket and caught a flight to Dulles (with assistance from his grandparents) where Meg met him, as she arrived from Hartford after finishing her sophomore year finals, saying goodbye to Wesleyan friends (some graduating seniors) and moved out of her single dorm room (with assistance from Aunt Nancy).  Together, they flew to Munich and down to Malta.  Andrew and I were at the Luqa Airport waiting for them to be expelled from the arrival’s sliding doors and into our arms. 

For 12 days, Drew and Meg recovered from their semesters’, (Meg arrived with a cough, cut up foot and pink eye.  But I don’t think walking the night before her departure in the pouring rain had any impact on her health. Right.) and followed their parent’s Malta history tours. Best of all, they reclined in a variety of Malta's edgewaters.

Hypogeum domed rock ceiling of chamber on deepest level. Photo from Heritage Malta website as no cameras are allowed.

Sleeping Lady Statue (about 5 inches long.)

As for Malta’s history tour, the Hypogeum with its Golden Tourist Ticket (booked a month out but Andrew had ordered tickets in March) was appropriately their first stop. The underground rock-cut burial chambers are set in three levels.  The oldest and top level dates back to 4000 BC, with the deepest level dated 2500 BC.   From this ossuary, 7,000 human remains were excavated. The site was found in 1902 as the cistern for a residential block was being excavated. (For a tour go to: http://heritagemalta.org/museums-sites/hal-saflieni-hypogeum/.)  Highlights of the site are the red ochre (ochre material from Sicily) spiral designs, the domed solid rock ceiling on a chamber in the deepest level, and the small statue of the Sleeping Lady found in the middle level.  

Walking in Tarxien.

Tarxien Temples.

After the hour long guided and audio headset tour with 6 other visitors, we walked from Paola to Tarxien to the 4 temples built in 3600 BC to 2500 BC.  The Tarxien Temples were found in 1913 by farmers tilling the field and consists of megalithic (big rocks) housing structures with a number of apses (chambers) off the central area. In addition to the raised board walk that allows you to look down on the megalithic walled structures, the self-guided tour includes carved rock designs, coupled holes in the rock that were likely used to hinge doors in openings, large skirted women statues and a number of spherical rocks that were  used to move the large rock walls into place. (http://heritagemalta.org/museums-sites/tarxien-temples/.)

Streets of Mdina.

We then jumped Drew and Meg in to Malta’s Medieval period with tours of the walled city of Mdina and the Palazzo Falson, which was built in the early 13^th century and presents historical objets d’art (my favorite is a neff- a sterling silver model ship/galleon that is placed on the dining table that contains salt and other condiments)  attractively presented  with a high technology head set that describe each room with a click to a transmitter.  (http://www.patrimonju.org/Gallery.aspx?id=114407&subId=114405.)

Interior of St. John's Co-Cathedral.

Marble mosaics tombstone flooring.

We walked a few blocks up the steps from our flat on Battery Street to the Co-Cathedral in Valletta and presented the Knights of St. John’s domination in Malta (1530-1798 AD). The interior of this monument to the Knights, especially their Grand Masters, overwhelmed me again.  The ceiling and many of the chapel paintings by Mattia Preti, the baroque details, the marble mosaic tombstone floor are unexpected after walking around the exterior of this so plain limestone building.  And then of course, there is the coveted Caravaggio painting of the beheading of St. John the Baptist.  

Gruesome Caravaggio painting of the beheading of St. John the Baptist.

As a family, we attended a talk on the French occupation of Malta in 1798-1800 (Napoleon stayed a block away from our flat during his 1 week stay on the island) which presented an economic collapse that unified all classes of Maltese, resulting in cannons firing on the Valletta forts occupied by the French. To wrap up the tour, we took many strolls along the Valletta fortress walls that still contain the World War 2 machine guns supports and bunkers and the ceiling less bombed out Opera House.

Ferry Landing in Gozo.

As for the water’s edge lounging, we borrowed a car from our Irish Maltese friend, Eilis, and caught the ferry to Gozo, another island in this 3 island nation.  Andrew had rented a 3 bedroom villa or farmhouse as they are called, with a pool overlooking a terraced canyon for 3 nights.

Rambling around the Citadel in Victoria, Gozo.

Meg acting up!

Dwerjra  Bay in Gozo.

Drew poolside at Dar-it-Tina Villa.

Meg on Ramla Beach.

We visited the Citadel located in the heart of the island, walked a few beaches (San Blas and Ramla),  but basically had family time with movies and poolside meals.  

Swimming to Cominotto from Comino.

Blue Lagoon, Comino.

View of the Blue Lagoon.

We caught a water taxi on a very rough Sunday over to the third island, Comino. Here we jumped in to the clear waters (but a bit chilly water).  Comino is number 31 on of the clearest waters in the world to swim before you die list.  Take a look at where number 30 is on the list! (http://dailynewsdig.com/35-clearest-waters-world-swim-die/.)

Peter's Pool.

Getting warmed up to jump back into Peter's Pool.

Once back in Valletta, we hit a beach on the far southeast edge of Malta, Peter’s Pool.  We went to the northwest end of the island the following day to celebrate Memorial Day ( a few days late) with our Iowa friends' at their Radisson suite in Golden Bay.

The Memorial Day Picnic Spot.

Drew and Meg left this afternoon on their journey to Torch Lake, to their grandparents and to their camp counselor summer jobs.

Through security and off to Torch Lake.

Andrew and I will gather up and head out Monday night for a few weeks in the Greek Islands.

Green Grocer in Valletta.

PAVI shopping trip.

As our time in Malta is drawing to a close, I feel we are just now starting to really figure out our lifestyle here. We are finding and using the green grocer, butcher and little grocery shops in Valletta. We now know about the express “X “  buses that save us from going through Hamrun on our trips to the airport or Pavi shopping center. We are getting used to living with less (even the 3 foot high refrigerator with 5 inches of freezer space.) And, we are not missing" the more" (although it would be nice to find some stationery on this island).

Our frig and bottled water, for drinking.

But, I am beginning to crave getting in a car and driving (on the right side) of the freeway up the coast to Laguna Beach for the experience of freedom, control, and the familiar (and independent of bus schedules.)

Memorial Day Hike in Malta.

A taste of Sicily

Sunset shot in Sicily.

We took-off for a 4 day weekend in early May to get a taste of Sicily. After the 30 minute flight from Malta to Catania, we rented a car (they drive on the right side of the road there—well kind-of.  It seems the Sicilian drivers like to stay a little bit in both lanes) with manual gear shift (they have up-dated manuals, you now have to pull a toggle up on the stick to get in reverse) and made a little triangle around the northeast leg of Sicily.  The points of our triangle included Taormina, Patti (in the Milazzo port area), Cefalù and through the Enna region on our way back to Catania. It has been a few months since either one of us has driven a car.  It was great to experience the control and freedom of driving again.  Tolls on two segments of the triangle cost us about 20 Euros, parking another 15 Euros, half a tank of diesel 65 Euros, not to mention the daily cost of renting the car, 60 Euros. Car travel is a bit more expensive here than in the States.  (Exchange rate 1 Euro equals about $1.40 USD.)

Looking down on Taormina.

We arrived in Taorimino just as the light in the sky disappeared. Thus, we followed one of our travel rules. Rule 3: Arrive before sunset to new places as it is easier to get unlost and to find your hotel in the daylight. After this trip I want to enact a new rule.  Rule 12: Do not travel without a navigation system or City Maps To Go app. Once checked into Hotel Condor and the manager kindly parked our car in a space that looked smaller than the car, we walked (ever so relieved not to be driving the narrow two way switchback cliff clinging roads) down to town and grabbed a gelato and wandered the pedestrian streets.  Walkways charmingly flowed in to intimate palazzis with outdoor cafes, fountains, and quiet corners.

Hiking up and up to Castelmola.

Still going up with Castelmola in the upper right of the picture.

Ohh, so there is Mt. Etna.

In the morning, we hiked from Taormina (656 ft above sea level) up to Castelmola, a steep 3 mile ascent.  When we arrived 1000 ft above Taormina, we found Mt. Etna.  We missed her on the drive up as we were so intent on finding road signs and figuring out exits, tolls and one way roads. We walked back down to Taormina and wandered through the public garden designed by a Scottish woman, Florence Trevelyan Cacciola in the late 1880s.  She married a local professor after being “invited” to leave England after a romantic liaison with the future king Edward VII. We then climbed around the 2C AD Greek theater with the best view in the world not only of Mt. Etna but also the coastline to the south. An incredible venue for a concert.  We completed all of this before noon and so enjoyed a well-deserved lemon granita (slurpee-like icy treat.)

Fountain in the public garden.

Grandest concert venue.

We then jumped in the car and headed north to Messina and then west towards Milazzo. We arrived at our Rural Tourism (not to be confused with the Agricultural Tourism program) Villa Pica’s stonehouse in the early afternoon. We read with a beer and glass of wine until dinner time while smelling the fragrance of citrus blossoms.  We felt like we had rolled back to our Santa Barbara days. The foothills, ocean and island views were reminiscent of Andrew’s doctoral education days.

View from Villa Pica.

Approaching Villa Rica near Patti.

We were up early for a day trip on Sunday to two of the Ionian Islands, Lipari and Vulcano.  We felt like we were headed to Mackinac Island, MI as we watched hydrofoil ferries head out to the Aeolian Islands (minus the rooster tail feature).  The sea was calm and enjoyable to be on.

Lipari town.

Reminiscent of our biking trip in 1988 through Europe.

Our cobbled beach.

A beach house on Lipari Island.

Black sand beach on Vulcano Island with namesake in the background.

Gelato-er

 We rented bikes in Lipari, pedaling a mile or so to a beach. Then, we enjoyed lemon granitas. On the island of Vulcano, we walked to the black sand beach and took a quick dip in the sea.  Then, treated ourselves to a gelato. In Michigan island visitors are called “fudgies” as they come over and eat fudge. We assume we were gelato-ers! That evening we took a Mother’s Day stroll with rest of the city, down the waterfront promenade in Milazzo.

What are we doing up here with a beach like that down there?

After a morning hike around Villa Rica, we headed for Tindari to view a cathedral and Roman ruins. We parked, climbed the hill passing 6 tour buses and were 10 feet from the cathedral entrance when we looked down at this spit of beach sand. We looked at each other and started back downhill. The empty beach, Capo Tindari, pulled us down like a magnet. We passed on getting cultured for some water time. We found our way through the little town of Oliveri and walked 20 minutes to get to our own strip of the Tyrrhenian coast.  It was wonderful. We took quick dips and long walks along the shore.  Andrew collected sea glass and me, rocks, including heart shaped rocks.

Come on, this way.

Yes, this is much better than being  up on the hill.

We left reluctantly and headed west towards Cefalù and Villa Palamara 1868, a converted convent situated along the coast. After cleaning up, we headed into Cefalù for cannolis and gelato. Nothing like having dessert for dinner. We wandered the town and the boardwalk.  We did not attempt to summit La Rocca, a fortressed crag that shoulders the town.  We had done enough hill work that first day in Taormino. In the morning, I swam laps in the Villa’s perfect pool and ate loquats from the tree over hanging the pool.

 

In front of the Duoma in Cefalù.

Cefalù

We headed southeast towards Enna and Piazza Armenrina.  Outside of town in a wooded valley, we toured the Villa Romana del Casale, a 3-4C AD Imperial Roman Villa.  The summer home was hidden under mud for 700 years and excavated in the 1950s to reveal over 12,000 sq ft of floor mosaics. Of note is the bikini girl mosaics. This artwork was inspiring.

 

Mosaics of bikini girls playing volleyball?

We pulled into the airport car rental place 5 hours before for our flight.  We spent the time in the terminal eating cannolis and gelato, whatelse?