Malta and Gozo

The reason we chose Malta was simple.  We were chasing the sun.  The UK had been predictably autumnal (read cool/damp) and we were sure that the summer sun lingered somewhere in the Mediterranean.  We figured that Malta's rich history, about which we knew very little, together with its sunshine and warm sea temperatures would provide a perfect combination for a 10 day visit.

The date of our departure from Paris Orly to Malta coincided with the end-date of our 6 month lease of Cecile de France, our lovely and reliable Citroen DS3. And it was two somewhat sad faces that delivered her to the Citroen dealer adjacent to Orly airport just prior to our Malta Air flight.   Cecile was not quite the same vehicle that we had collected in Paris six months earlier.  She had been on a grand adventure and had developed character as the odometer dial on her round dashboard face spun around 40.000 times; she had a small chip in her broad smiling windscreen (courtesy of a particularly bad Polish road); a minor scratch on her right side external mirror (collected when an unnamed driver steered her just a little too close to a 500 year old stone wall while trying to avoid an on-coming truck in an exceedingly narrow Italian village along the shores of Lake Como); she wore European footwear from three nations - one Greek replacement tyre, one Spanish replacement tyre and two original French ones.  She had carried two of us, sometimes three of us, and sometimes even four of us and our luggage safely through 17 countries. 'She was a good little car, that one!'  Au revoir, Cecile.

We found summer again in Malta.  From the moment the plane touched down and for the next 10 days it was sunny and hot.   Malta is an island of stone and rock.  Not a pretty island by an means, however it has a raw and rustic beauty together with a somewhat dilapidated charm. Its creamy yellow stone and rock sits in stark contrast to its sparkling blue surrounds. This tiny group of islands has a fascinating history.  Its strategic position, virtually in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea, means that it has had a tough life over the centuries.  It has been home to the Greeks, Romans, French, Normans, Arabs and most recently British.  When we read the quote "nothing is more well known that the seige of Malta' we thought we'd embark on a intensive history lesson.

In the early 1500s the Knights of St John of Jerusalem were 'given' the islands of Malta by Charles V of Spain. The Knights were a group of militant Christians made up of men from many European nations and they had been living on the island of Rhodes until Suleiman the Magnificent (the great Ottoman Sultan whose marble bathroom senor and I bathed in during our visit to Istanbul in June) sent his great galleys to invade Rhodes and drive them from the island.  A few decades later Suleiman decided that the little island of Malta should be his as it would provide him a convenient stepping stone to Italy and then all of southern Europe. So again he sent his galleys to drive the Knights from Malta.  The battle that ensued - the Great Siege when the Knights defended their little island against the might of the Ottoman empire - provided us with a rollicking good read and a fascinating insight into the history of Malta and its people.

An entertaining welcome of traditional music and instruments
 in the arrivals hall of Malta's Valetta airport.  A few nights
later senor and I were relaxing after dinner when we heard
the rousing sound of bagpipes.  I headed out to investigate and
found a wedding underway in a nearby garden.  There, in full
Scottish kit a bagpipe band was welcoming the bride and groom.
Turns out it was the same group that played at the airport when
we arrived.  They're called Jackson Family, and Edmond Jackson's
story to revive the traditional Maltese bagpipe - the zaqq - is
an interesting one.  I never through that we would hear bagpipes in  Malta!

Valetta is Europe's smallest capital city. It was built after the
great seige of 1565, and as a planned city was built in a perfect
grid of straight streets, designed to confuse any future invaders.
Sun on one side, shade on the other.

These overhanging, enclosed balconies are the iconic feature
of Maltese architecture - the Maltese balcony.

....the range of colours, styles and features seems limitless.

..and we took literally dozens of photos of them.

here are just a few more....

I love them.

Atop the bastion walls of the old noble city, Mdina.  We sat
at this cafe and watched Malta's annual air show

From Mdina, this is Malta

Mosta Dome from Mdina. 

We stayed in the garden apartment of Maria and Roger's beautiful
villa.  From their extensive garden they provided us with olives,
sun dried tomatoes, peach jam, pomegranates, olive oil and herbs.
Coincidentally, their next door neighbour is...

....the Australian High Commission!  How nice to see that flag
flying every day.

We spent a day on this wonderful Turkish gullet sailing around
and swimming in the coves and inlets of Malta and the islet of
Comino. Glorious swimming.  That's Gozo in the distance.

Swiss Airforce were in town for the Malta Airshow 2011

Swimming in San Pawl il-Bahar - St Paul's Bay.  It is believed that
this is where St Paul was shipwrecked, and where the foundations
of Christianity  began in Malta.

Valletta sits on a rocky finger of headland with a harbour on
either side.  These are the city walls, dome of the Carmelite Church
and St Paul's Anglican church spire.

Sliema harbour

Just a few minutes walk from our accommodation is the
grand Palazzo Paradiso and gardens - once the palatial home of
Maltese nobility.  We visited a number of times - dinner in the garden
on a warm Saturday night was a highlight. 

Shady lunch in Gozo's Square, St George's Basilica

Senor's favourite fish salad in all the Mediterranean.

Gozo from the bastion of the Citadel, Victoria, Gozo.

Dwejra Point, west coast of Gozo. Amazing
geological formations.

The Azure Window, Gozo

Pretty in pots, however the prickly pear cactus is rampant all over
Malta.  It some places it has taken over to the extent that
farmers use it as fencing between their paddocks - great long
'walls' of it.

Piazza Regina and National Library Biblioteca, Valetta.

The beautiful chandelier and vaulted ceiling of Caffe Cordina,
established in 1837.

Malta vintage bus.  These buses have only just been retired by
Malta's bus system and replaced with new modern buses, similar
to those seen in any city.  What a shame, although considering
 the condition of Malta's roads, how ever did they last so long?

During our stay with Maria and Roger they
harvested their olives, and this is the result.
Their green/gold  olive oil is just a few hours old -
unbelievably good!

Peaking through the clouds on our flight back to Paris is
Sicily's Mount Etna.