Our Adventures

Sunday was a bright sunny day. A beautiful 2-mast sailing yacht had come into the bay Saturday night. We saw only the illuminated masts. This morning we could see the fantastic yacht.

As the morning wore on, more and more boats moored in the bay. We love checking out all the boats with our binoculars to see what’s going on.

I wanted to get into the sea one more time before leaving on Tuesday. We tended to things around the apartment and lounged until the afternoon. Then we suited up and went across the street to the rocks where we’ve swum a lot in the past. Christine found it easier to get in the water there than at the little beach we tried earlier in our stay.

I think the sea is a couple of degrees cooler than two weeks ago, but nevertheless, it was heavenly to be in the sea. Per usual, I just floated around and enjoyed every minute. Christine did a couple of laps up and down, but she also enjoyed just floating. She also likes to twirl around in the water, and there was plenty of that going on.

After we cleaned up, we met Tony for a drink and dinner at Peppi’s. We talked mostly about the properties still owned by the Caruanas and how difficult it has been over the years to get any good information from the attorney who has handled them for many years. Tony and his sister Marianne will be taking over from Gloria the responsibility of working with the attorney to sort out what’s what. Tony has an appointment with the attorney tomorrow.

It was pretty amazing to be with Tony here in Malta. I never would have expected that. Tony misses home and he is a bit bewildered with all the noise and crowds in Malta. The Aussies will be here until November 12.

After our dinner with Tony, Christine and I got a gelato and headed back to the apartment.

Monday is our final day in Malta. My phone rang at about 8:30 with Carol inviting us for a coffee at 10:30. She has been so good to us during our stays, but we’ve really seen much more of her this trip and it has been a delight. She is full of stories and loves telling all about her life in Malta.

We walked over to Dingli Circle. The first couple of days of our stay we had purchased some mums and a cyclamen to brighten up the apartment. The mums bit the dust pretty quickly, but the cyclamen was doing well. Christine wanted to pass it on to Carol. We went up to her apartment with the plant and Carol’s eyes lit up. She was thrilled to receive it and it immediately went into a ceramic pot that she had on her coffee table. I’m happy that Christine thought of giving it to her and that Carol appreciated it.

We then walked up a block or two to a renovated theater that has a nice coffee bar. On the way, we walked by an antique car, which I think was a Morris Minor. I thought of Bob Weslar and his collection of wonderful car photos and snapped a picture of the Minor for him. It was in beautiful condition.

Teatru Salesjan, established in 1908, is Sliema’s oldest theater and a cornerstone of Malta’s cultural heritage. It’s advertising says, “blending historical architecture with modern amenities, it serves as a vibrant community hub for performances, workshops, and artistic expression.” Carol has a membership and goes to a lot of shows there. She also frequents the coffee bar and I’m glad that she gets out to these kinds of events. The theater has been beautifully restored. We had an enjoyable time at the coffee bar.

We walked Carol back to her apartment and said our goodbyes. Carol has been such a good friend to us and it’s been great getting to know her so much better.

On the way home, we stopped in our market to get a couple of carrots. We still had hummus in the frig and we’re trying to eat everything we have. Carrots and hummus were Christine’s lunch along with some chips. I’m having a PB&J sandwich to use up the bread and jelly we have. For the most part, we’ve done well with food, eating mostly in, with a few dinners at Peppi’s and once at Raffael’s.

So now we’re starting to pack, always bittersweet. I’m ready to be home, but we’re going to miss our bay view. It’s very windy today and the sea is full of whitecaps. We were very fortunate with our weather this trip. Other than a lot of very windy days and one full day of rain, we’ve had lovely weather, mostly sunny and in the mid-70s.

So, good bye Malta. We’ve loved being here. We don’t know when we’ll see you again, but we’ll take you with us in our hearts.

Carol called Friday morning to ask if we wanted to go for coffee with her and John. Of course, the answer was yes. It has been so nice of Carol to include us in her outings with John. And I’m glad they have each other as friends. It’s good for both of them to stay active.

We walked over to Dingli Circus where Carol lives to meet them. There was a bit of a disagreement on where we would go. John wanted to drive all the way north to Golden Bay, but Carol nixed that, so we went to Bahar ic-Caghaq just a little way up the coast. This is where we tried to go that first Sunday and it was so crowded that there was no place to park. On a Friday, it was doable.

There is a lovely little restaurant right on the beach called Las Palmas. We took a table outside. Fortunately, the wind was not bad and the building provided shade. We all had brunch, including Carol, who after some haggling that John did, got an omelet that wasn’t on the menu. I think Carol probably gets what she wants most of the time. At any rate, it was a lovely spot and we enjoyed each other’s company. John was more talkative, which is nice. I think he has difficulty getting a word in when Carol is with him. The restaurant, in addition to lots of outdoor seating on both sides, has two nice indoor areas. A terrace is under a giant carob tree that Carol said is rare to find in Malta these days.

We spent the rest of the day lounging around and then went to Peppi’s for dinner. Christine didn’t like what she ordered, a salmon salad, that was so salty she couldn’t eat much of it. That was unfortunate.

On Saturday, we went to San Anton Gardens. We skipped the bus and went by taxi, which I’m really getting used to. Christine remembers San Anton Gardens from her childhood. We also visited the gardens when we were here in 2016.

San Anton Palace was built by one of the Grand Masters as his summer residence in the early 17th century. The gardens were created and expanded over the years. During British occupation, the palace was the home of the governor. San Anton Palace is now the official home of the President of Malta. I read that Queen Elizabeth stayed at the palace during royal visits in 1954, 1967 and 2005. It amazes me that anyone can walk right up to the home of the Maltese President. Except for a small guard checkpoint at the entrance to the private drive, there was no evidence of any other security, although I’m sure that there were surveillance cameras around. At any rate, the palace is surrounded by walls and is quite protected.

San Anton Gardens are laid out in a formal manner, with graceful walkways, sculptures, ornamental ponds with ducks and turtles, and a small aviary where there are peahens and peacocks which roam freely around the garden. The gardens contain a number of fountains and there are benches and places to sit in the shade and enjoy the sounds of the garden.

The gardens contain a large variety of trees and flowers from around the world, including a variety of palm trees, cypress, jacarandas, araucarias, and other exotic plants, some of them over three centuries old. For many years it has been customary for visiting heads of state to plant a tree in memory of their stay in Malta. The gardens also contain an orangery and it was once the practice of incumbent governors to give baskets of oranges grown in the palace gardens as gifts at Christmas time. I helped myself to an orange from one of the trees. It was a navel orange and was quite tart. Christine enjoyed it more than I did.

There weren’t many flowers blooming still, but there were splashes of color here and there.

And we came across a couple of cats lounging near the palace. Malta has lots of cats which are taken care of by an army of volunteers. Walking along the streets you’ll see water dishes, some food dishes and cardboard boxes for shelter. Cats are beloved in Malta. There was even a movie made a couple of years ago titled The Cats of Malta.

We really enjoyed our time at San Anton. There were lots of families with young children enjoying the gardens, which was nice to see. It was a calming and beautiful environment, providing a real haven from the hustle, bustle and noise of this over-touristed island.

We thought we’d find a place near the gardens for a late lunch. Not seeing anything noticeable, we walked across the street to the 5-star luxury hotel, the Corinthia Palace Hotel. Although we saw people eating in the lobby area, when we sat down thinking a server would come by, no one did. After 10 minutes, we got up and left. We ordered a cab and went back to our flat and had lunch there.

Later that evening, we ordered a pizza from the place next door and ate in. So two days of enjoyable, relaxed time in Malta. Our time is coming to an end, which is surprising that nearly 4 weeks have passed. We don’t have anything big planned, so we’ll take our time and just enjoy being here the next couple of days.

On Wednesday Christine started the day with some awesome sunrise photos.

Later in the morning we got a call from Carol Farrugia saying that she was at a local cafe having an orange juice and would we like to join her. Truth be told, we were just lounging around in our nighties having a leisurely morning, but after her call, we quickly dressed and set out for the 5 minute walk to il-Torri, the St. Julian’s watchtower just around the curve of our bay. Carol picks this spot on warm, sunny days because the cafe is right on the seafront and you get a lovely view of the sea. Carol entertained us for quite a long time with stories of her family and relatives. She’s very funny and we enjoy listening to her.

After meeting Carol, we walked back home and had some lunch. We had arranged a 4:00pm meeting with the Aussies for a drink. We met them at the corner. Because Tony has difficulty walking, we jumped on the bus and rode a few stops down Tower Road. We got off at Ghadir and stopped into il-Gabbana, a restaurant on the Promenade, for a drink. It’s another nice spot overlooking the sea. Afterwards, since we were just across the street from Stella Maris Street, Christine wanted to walk up the block to show Tony and Linda where her grandmother Rosina lived. After that, Christine and I walked home and Tony and Linda went back down to Tower Road to catch a bus to their flat.

Thursday, we met up with the Aussies for a trip to the Esplora Science Center in Kalkara. Dion had figured out we could take a boat from Sliema to Esplora. We hopped on a bus to the ferries side of Sliema, and with a little effort, found where the boat was that would take us to Esplora in Kalkara. The boat was a large traditional Maltese boat called a luzzu. There was only two other people on the boat, so it was like our own private luzzu.

The boat crossed Marsamxett Harbor then headed around Fort St. Elmo at the end of Valletta, entered into the Grand Harbor under the Fort St. Elmo Footbridge, across the Grand Harbor below Bighi and into the Kalkara Marina. It was a beautiful, relatively short 20 minute boat ride offering fabulous views of all the historic sights around Valletta, Birgu and Kalkara.

The Esplora Science Center is housed in a very historic building, Bighi, which was built by one of the Grand Masters as his retirement palace. Then, the British Navy needed a location for a hospital and Bighi became the British Naval Hospital early in the 19th century.

During the first World War, Malta became known as the Nurse of the Mediterranean. Thousands of wounded sailors and soldiers were brought to the 25 hospitals in Malta, the largest being Bighi. The British Naval Hospital was very advanced in its medical practices, including in infectious diseases and treatment of mental health issues including PTSD. The Cot Lift, above, was especially built for the movement of wounded soldiers from ship to medical ward. It is the second oldest lift in Malta after the Barrakka lift.

Esplora Science Center is a hands on museum full of interesting science-related exhibits. Things related to pulleys, airplane wings, water and air pressure workings, etc., were all available to try out. Dion said it made him a kid again and he tried out everything. Lots of families with children were visiting and it was fun to watch and listen to the kids try out some of the experiments.

Christine attached herself to a group hearing about the history of Bighi. After the tour, she spent a long time talking to the tour guide, Charmaine Bugeja. Christine has an old photo of herself as a baby with her Aussie cousin Michael born 9 days ahead of her, both moms, grandmother Rosina, Uncle Joe and the 3 oldest Caruana children, on the balcony of what she thinks is the British Naval Hospital.

We asked Charmaine if she recognized the part of the building visible in the photo. She said that it couldn’t be Bighi because it did not have a maternity unit. It could be the Naval Hospital in Mtarfa, but Charmaine thinks it was taken at a church. She thought maybe it was Ta Pinu in Gozo, but I find that hard to believe. But the possibility that it is at a church makes some sense because it might have been a christening of both babies. At any rate, Christine and Charmaine talked a very long time swapping stories about growing up in Malta and their respective families.

One of the interesting things Charmaine pointed out is the etchings done in the pillars of Bighi. Soldiers as far back as the late 18th century would carve names, dates, and other things, into the limestone. Charmaine thought that she had seen an etching with the name Tyrrell, but she couldn’t locate it on the many pillars in just part of the building we viewed.

Esplora has a planetarium and we all went to the showing. The topic was the International Space Station which I thought would be interesting, but in reality, it was an animated kids’ movie projected onto the planetarium ceiling. One thing I didn’t know is that the ISS has been up in space for 25 years. It will be in operation another 5 years, and then it will be decommissioned. I don’t know what happens to it then.

After the show, we enjoyed views around Kalkara, Birgu and across the harbor to Valletta. It was a beautiful day.

Then it was back on the luzzu to return to Sliema. Again, we had beautiful views around the harbor.

Once back in Sliema, the Aussies went to Valletta. Tony is trying to see the attorney handling the properties the Caruanas have. It is quite a complicated story of property, ownership, who’s in line to inherit, and even how can the properties by sold.

We returned to our apartment for a rest. We then went to Peppi’s for dinner and had gelato for dessert from our favorite gelato shop 3 door down from our flat. Yummy! I really liked the Bighi building. The science museum was okay, but talking with Charmaine about both the history of Bighi and having Christine swap stories with her was the real treat of the day.

We’ve been to the historic Silent City of Mdina many times, but its “suburb” Rabat was on my list of places to visit. Rabat is also historic. Mdina and Rabat were built on top of the ancient Roman city of Melite. There are catacombs in Rabat that I wanted to visit.

We got off to a bad start with the bus. My plan was to take a bus into Valletta so we could get on a bus to Rabat starting empty from Valletta in order to get a good seat. Unfortunately, bus after bus to Valletta were full and didn’t stop to pick up any passengers. We waited as several completely full buses flew by. Then we crossed back to wait for the bus to Rabat. I knew it would be full and possibly we’d have to stand for an hour. We waited over an hour as two buses that were supposed to come, didn’t. It was frustrating. As expected, when a bus did arrive, the bus was full, but someone offered Christine a seat, albeit an uncomfortable one. This bus went all over the place, making the trip to Rabat very long. But, we did get to Rabat.

We wandered around for a while. Many of the streets in the old city are very quaint. Hard to believe that cars drive down most of the narrow alleyways.

Rabat really is a charming city and not as crowded as Mdina.

One of the popular tourist sites is the Basilica Church of St. Paul’s. There must be 100 churches in Malta named after St. Paul. He was shipwrecked in Malta and stayed for 3 months while preaching Christianity. In the basement of the Basilica is St. Paul’s Grotto, a very sacred space visited by the faithful and is thought to be the earliest center of Christianity in Malta. We didn’t go into the church or the grotto as Christine was having some difficulty walking.

Down the street past Cataldus Chapel was the St. Paul’s Catacombs. St. Paul’s catacombs are part of a large cemetery once located outside the walls of the ancient Roman city of Melite. Several catacombs run together in a vast underground network of various types of burial chambers. There are over 30 hypogea, or underground temples/tombs is the whole complex. Romans thought that burying bodies in the city was unhygenic, so outside the city, they dug down into the limestone to create networks of chambers for bodies.

Since Christine wasn’t walking well, and had seen the catacombs when she was a child. I left her in the visitor center and headed down to the catacombs. It was quite difficult to navigate around as it was pretty dark and any signage that was there wasn’t readable in the dark. I was glad that Christine opted not to go down into the catacombs. The are several entrances down to various burial plots, each containing many different types of dug out places where bodies were stored. All of the burial plots were carved out of the limestone. I can’t imagine how much work it was to make these resting places for dead bodies.

After my visit to the catacombs, we walked back towards St. Paul’s Basilica where a town square is and looked for a place for lunch. He had a nice pesto pasta salad and a cold drink and felt much rejuvenated. We even had sufficient leftovers to take home for dinner. We then walked across the square to a famous shop selling traditional Maltese pastries, Publius Parruccan Confectionery. We each got a chocolate Maltese kannoli. They were huge, so after eating half, we wrapped them back up to have after dinner. Maltese kannoli are slightly different than Sicilian cannoli, so I learned. But any kannoli/cannoli is yummy.

After our hectic bus ride this morning and Christine’s leg cramps, we did the sensible thing and ordered a taxi to take us home. Within minutes we were on our way back to Sliema. We got back home in just under 30 minutes, whereas the bus would have taken an hour-and-a-half. I’m getting used to hiring a cab!

We were both quite tired when we got home. This is me after our day in Rabat.

Can’t believe I posted that picture!

We enjoyed our pasta salad, augmented with chicken, for dinner and certainly enjoyed the rest of our kannolis. It was a tiring day, but I ticked another thing off my “to do” list. I think we’ll have a quiet day tomorrow. I can’t believe we’re down to a handful of days remaining for this trip. It’s going by quickly.

The Aussies were headed to Mellieha today. Bernadette’s partner David volunteers for Heritage Malta and he had a shift at the Red Tower so he invited them to visit him at the Tower. We weren’t sure we would go, but later in the morning we decided to hook up with the Aussies at 1:30 at the Tower.

We got the bus to Mellieha. My plan was to find a cafe or restaurant on the bay and have lunch, then get a cab up to the Tower. We got off the bus towards the bottom of the hill before getting to Ghadira Bay. The Parish Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, Mellieha’s Parish Church is a striking building that stands out all over northern Malta. Much of Mellieha sits at the top of the several hills. I always forget how hilly Malta is. In the field across the road were several small farm plots. Much of the agriculture in Malta is done on small plots worked by Maltese families.

We made our way to Mellieha Bay and had a nice view across the water. You can see the Red Tower on the hill across the bay.

Ghadira Bay offers the largest sand beach in Malta. Christine remembers coming here to swim as a child. Her Auntie Tessie and Uncle Walter had a place in Mellieha. It’s an especially good place for families as the water remains quite shallow for a long way out into the bay making it fairly safe for children.

Of course, the sand beach is full of loungers and umbrellas for rent.

We found a little restaurant near the blue and white umbrellas in the shade and enjoyed a light lunch and had a cold drink.

We definitely did not want to walk up to the Tower, so we ordered a taxi. Within minutes, we were picked up and whisked up the hill to the Tower. We wandered around the perimeter of the Red Tower awaiting the Aussie’s arrival. The views from the ridge were spectacular, and even better once on the Tower’s top deck.

Saint Agatha’s tower, better known as the Red Tower, formed part of a vast coastal defense system of fortifications and watch towers built by the Knights of the Order of St. John during the 17th and 18th centuries to protect the coastline from incursions by the Ottoman Turks and Barbary Corsairs from North Africa. The Red Tower was built over 2 years in 1648-49.

Here’s a map showing all the fortifications and watch towers that were built around the Maltese Islands.

The fortified tower is situated on the commanding heights of Marfa Ridge above Ghadira Bay and overlooks the small island of Comino and the Gozo Channel. One of the Grand Master had built a very similar tower on Comino, St. Mary’s Tower. St. Mary’s Tower and the Red Tower could each blast cannonballs into the Gozo Channel thus sinking invading ships in the crossfire. You can see St. Mary’s Tower on Comino in the photo below on the lower right. Across the channel is the island of Gozo.

The Red Tower was comprised of 4 levels, including a very large cistern below the tower that captured rainwater from the roof. The cistern held 53,000 liters of water, enough to supply 50 soldiers for some 40 days. The second level was the main hall comprised of two vaults where the garrison lived. On this level was a niche with a small altar dedicated to the Tower’s patron, St. Agatha. St. Agatha was an early Christian martyr. Her story is really quite gruesome.

Here’s the crew watching a video about the history of the Knights and the Red Tower.

Tony was hurting because he, Linda and Dion walked up to the Tower up a very steep hill from the bus stop. Linda said that he has been having difficulty walking and so I had great sympathy for him having done that difficult climb.

The third level of the Tower was sleeping space for additional soldiers sent to defend when there were sightings of Turks or Corsairs. The final level is the roof. The levels are accessible by a spiral staircase.

The square roof is flanked by 4 turrets. The turrets provided shelter for the guards and were also used to store gunpowder and weapons. And the views were stunning. The map below shows whats visible from the Tower.

I am happy to have finally visited the Red Tower. I’ve been intrigued by it on all our visits, sitting proudly up on that ridge. So, another check mark on my list of Maltese things to do.

We didn’t want to walk down the hill to the bus stop, and I didn’t want Tony to have to do that either. So I called an Uber, which is mostly served by the Bolt taxi service. Tony, Christine and I piled into the cab leaving Linda and Dion to walk to the bus stop (that’s what they wanted to do). It’s about a 45 minute drive back to Sliema and we were happy not to be on a crowded bus. I think Tony was really appreciative for the ride.

We had another night in and had a light dinner and watched TV.

One of the fun things we did in Athens in 2018 when Eve came to join us was to go to a Greek dance show that included a dinner. Eve had arranged it for her mother and it was a terrific evening. Well, I saw an advertisement for a Folklore Dinner Show at a Traditional Restaurant and signed us up. I was hoping that it would be a fun experience. It was held at Ta Marija Restaurant in Mosta which is advertised as Your Gastro Maltese Kitchen since 1964. A couple of nights per week they put on these dinner shows of traditional Maltese dancing. The nice thing was that the tickets included transport to and from Mosta and we got picked up right across the street from our apartment.

The van ride was quite an excursion. The van ultimately picked up 10 passengers from 4 different locations. Except for us, everyone else was in either Paceville or the north side of St. George’s Bay. The traffic at 7:00pm through all these narrow streets where all the big hotels are located, and the major shopping area of St. Julian’s, was just awful. We couldn’t believe what our van driver had to put up with weaving his way around all the construction roadblocks and up and down the busy streets. But eventually, all 10 of us were on board and we made our way to the restaurant in Mosta, about a 30 minute drive.

The 10 of us were shown to our table. Many other vans had also arrived with their passengers and we were kind of squeezed into a very full restaurant. At our table were 2 couples from Greece, a Romanian couple, two women from Texas, and us. Fortunately, our table was close to the dance floor so I thought we would be able to see the dancer pretty well. The dance floor was very small.

The menu was all traditional Maltese food. We could pick a starter and a first course, and then a main course. Christine and I began with Arancina Maltija which was a ball containing Maltese sausage, goat cheese, pistachios, and arborio rice with beans. That was very good. Then for our first course we both picked Ravjul bil Gobon tat-tursina u Zalza tal-Faqqiegh, which was Gorgonzola filled ravioli with creamy button mushroom and truffle oil sauce. The ravioli was really good. By now, we’re already stuffed, but our main course came shortly thereafter. We both selected Fenek Mimli b’Zalza tal-Port which was baked boneless rabbit stuffed with rabbit liver, herbs and rice with fruity port wine sauce with walnuts, sultanas and apricots. Fenek (rabbit) is Malta’s national dish and so we thought we should try it. Carol Farrugia had cooked a rabbit dish for us back in 2016 and we enjoyed it. Even though we were both kind of full, we dug into our rabbit and really enjoyed it. The sauce really made the dish.

All the while we were eating, two guitar players were playing numbers from the great American songbook and people around the restaurant would sing along. One of the musicians liked to imitate Louis Armstrong and he sang a couple of his famous numbers and they ended with What a Wonderful World. The singer did sound like Louis Armstrong.

The dessert came while the dancers were getting set up. It was a vanilla custard, sponge with almond liqueur, berries, Savoiardi biscuits, cream and crushed nuts. That was more than we could handle and after a few bites of the very sweet dessert, we’d had enough.

It was now showtime. The emcee for the evening was the son of the Marija for whom the restaurant is named. He went around the room asking where everyone was from. Lots of eastern Europeans were there. Our table had the only Americans. And of course, birthdays and anniversaries were recognized. One table of Poles were celebrating an engagement that happened that evening.

The dancers finally arrived on the small dance floor. The emcee explained what each dance was about. One was about the ghonnella, the traditional black headgear that women used to wear in Malta.

One of the dance numbers was about doing the washing. It was funny with the dancers scrubbing white cloths and they shared the chore comparing cloths.

There were other themed dances, including one about getting water and vegetables and another about a recently engaged young girl and how the women of the village helped her to prepare.

After the Maltese folklore dancing was over, the emcee announced that transport home wouldn’t be for another 30 minutes, so until that time, he opened up the dance floor for all to dance to music from the 60s, 70s and 80s. And surprisingly, there was a rush to the dance floor. Christine was one of the first up, and then lots of people came onto the dance floor.

It was actually quite fun to see everyone enjoying themselves. The music was joyful. One of the servers was cajoling folks to the dance floor and getting couples to strut their stuff with the group looking on. We mostly watched, because the dance floor, which was kind of like illuminated panels in the floor, seemed to be bouncing a lot and gave us a weird sensation that didn’t feel safe. But we did enjoy the evening.

At 10:30pm, our group of 10 went in search of our van and headed back home. As we were walking down the street to the van, I took the photo below of the side of the famous Mosta Rotunda. It’s a beautiful church, one of our favorites.

Christine and I were fortunate that we were the first to be dropped off and didn’t have to go through all the Paceville traffic. We got home at just a little after 11:00pm. We were glad to be home, but also glad that we had the experience of the folklore dinner show.

The 46th edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race started in the Grand Harbor between Valletta and Birgu. We hooked up with Tony, Linda and Dion in Valletta. We didn’t quite make it to the bus stop across the street on time, so they were a little ahead of us, but with WhatsApp, we coordinated our meeting and found each other just outside of Valletta where all the buses dump their passengers.

I thought a good vantage point to see the race would be around the Siege Bell and the War Veterans Memorial. I knew Upper Barrakka Gardens would be very crowded so an alternative was necessary. We hopped on a minibus to get to that area. The big Malta Transport bus would never make it around Valletta, so this one was small enough to manage the tight streets. We got off before we wanted to, only to find out that the Siege Bell and Memorial are being renovated and the entire area was blocked off. Oh well, best laid plans. We walked down the street past the construction area and found a place where we could sit on a rock ledge to see the race. Christine took a seat a bit away, but she was next to a guy who worked in aviation, so Christine had a good time talking with him about flight simulators.

We had a bit of a wait for the start of the race, but we had a nice view of the harbor and over to Fort St. Angelo, Kalkara Bay, and Bighi. Bernadette was asked to participate in a sponsored event to take photos of the race. She got to try out some Canon camera, so she was thrilled to have the opportunity.

There were 119 yachts entered into the race. There were 7 different groupings with starting times 10 minutes apart. An airhorn sounded as a 5 minute warning and then a canon from the Saluting Battery fired for the start. I jumped every time the canon fired.

The yachts were various types, single hull and mult-hulls. Surprisingly, most of the sails were black. I learned that new sails are now made mostly of carbon fiber and that black sails are more aerodynamic, so it is the color of choice for most yachts. Truth be told, though, it made for a boring watch – no colorful sails to see. And even the boats themselves were not very colorful. The ones that were, a yellow one and a red one, stood out.

For an hour we watched each group of boats, as few as 8 and as many as 14, cross the starting line and head towards the harbor entrance. The race course is from Malta, around the island of Sicily, to Lapedusa (a tiny island south of Sicily and west of Malta), and back to Malta. The course is 610 nautical miles (702 land miles). The fastest winner did the course in 33 hours 29 minutes in a multihulled boat. The fastest time for a single hull boat was 40 hours and some minutes.

There were some American boats entered, but I didn’t notice which ones. Many countries had entries from all over the world, including the first ever representing China. Our Aussie’s shouted out an Oi, Oi, Oi when this boat sailed by.

After an hour sitting on the rock ledge, I was ready to get up and move around. The Aussie were off to have their own adventure. Christine and I walked back through Valletta to the bus station. Along the way, we saw a parade of men in period costumes marching down Republic Street.

We rested for the afternoon until time for dinner. We had arranged a 7:00pm meet up at Peppi’s with the Aussies. I sent Bernadette a message asking her to join us. She and her partner David accepted the invitation.

It was a lovely evening with everyone together. Lots of stories were told, photos shown, and we laughed a lot. It was a great way to end the day.

October 15, Wednesday, we were feeling better but here’s what the day’s weather brought us.

The weather was awful all day, giving us another day of rest. There have been significant downpours all over Malta and Gozo causing considerable flooding. Malta and Gozo are very hilly and especially the streets are conduits for water running downhill and pooling at all the intersections. We’ve seen lots of videos on Facebook about flooding. In some places, especially Gozo, the flooding is pushing cars down streets towards the sea. Not a good situation. So Wednesday, we stayed in and watched the lightening and clouds from our window.

Thursday was a nice sunny day. I thought we just had to get out of the apartment and do something. We hopped on the bus and rode over to the Strand, which is the ferry side of Sliema. We strolled along the Strand and just enjoyed the views and being out in the nice weather.

The water between Sliema and Valletta is called Marsamxett Harbour. Along the waterfront is where all the sightseeing boats are moored and walking along the Strand one gets hawked by all the vendors. We’ve probably done most of the various tours during our Malta visits.

You’ve read my comments on the overbuilding in Malta. Along the Strand are lots and lots of high-rise buildings, condos and hotels. I think a significant number of tourists book into places along the Strand. The only thing that would make me stay on this side of Sliema would be the view of Valletta at night. With the fortress walls illuminated, it is a very pretty sight. But otherwise, it has no appeal to us. But we see examples of old Maltese homes that have refused to sell among the high-rise buildings. And you’ll note that many of the high-rise buildings are only as wide as the original house. The photo of the lovely Maltese balconies is only a block from the main road. Those types of buildings were all torn down to make room for all the high-rises. It infuriates me. The real Malta is slowly disappearing and it is sad.

We stopped for lunch at a very nice restaurant in Gzira, the town next to Sliema at the end of the Strand. The restaurant, Punto, was right on the water and offered a very pleasant atmosphere for relaxing and having a nice meal. Christine had a wonderful salmon salad. After lunch, she actually went to the kitchen to tell the chef how great her meal was.

After lunch we hopped back on the bus and returned home for a rest. Carol Farrugia sent us a message telling us to be at Dingli Circus (location of her apartment) at 10:30 the next morning and we would go somewhere for a meal. We stayed in for the evening, eating chicken and salad and watching BBC shows on TV.

Friday, October 17, we reported as requested at Carol’s. We piled into John’s car and were off. Carol said we would go to Qawra, which is in the northern part of the island and is a section of St. Paul’s Bay. It also is very touristy with many hotels and apartment buildings. Carol said that many ex-pats and immigrants live there because rent is cheaper than in Sliema. John is an excellent driver and manages the crazy traffic. He likes exploring and knows routes that are less traveled. It was nice of him to take us around pointing out things.

We went to a very nice spot referred to as Fra Ben Beach, also known as Qawra Point Beach. We had a nice view over the water and enjoyed a lovely late breakfast.

John drove around a bit pointing out places.

The watch towers were built by the Knights of St. John. I think there are about 13 remaining on Malta. Various Grand Masters of the Knights had them built and each Grand Master had a different design. During the years these towers were built, Malta was being raided by pirates. The purpose of the towers were to spot pirates and then build fires at the top of the tower to communicate with the towers up and down the line. Each tower was built within eyesight of the tower on either side of it. Most of the towers were large enough to accommodate a few soldiers within and when a signal fire was seen, soldiers were dispatched to fight off the invading pirates. I think the remaining towers are carefully maintained as it is such a significant landmark of Maltese history. Glad that something is being maintained of old Malta.

The Aussie’s arrived early this morning and we heard from them mid-day. We agreed to meet up later and Christine and I rested in the afternoon awaiting a call from Tony about timing of our gathering. In the meantime, Carol called saying that she and John were across the street at Peppi’s having a drink and invited us to join them. We went over and sat down with them. Within a few minutes, a call from Tony came in. He said they were across the street from Peppi’s and would that be a convenient place to meet. We said we were already there and to come over.

I met Linda, Dion and Tony at the entrance. It was grand seeing them. We went in and rearranged the tables at Peppi’s so we could all sit together. The Aussies had not met either Carol or John so we took some time figuring out the family connections and then we all talked with each other. I love Linda, she is so much fun. Her sense of humor is great. I don’t know Dion all that well, but he seems like a very nice guy. It was great seeing Tony. He has been so good to us on our visit to his place in Nana Glen. He named his place after his 3 children, Kristen, Shane and Linda. Krishanda is what his gorgeous property is called. Louis and Margaret have made sure that we drive the 8 hours north in Australia to visit Tony and Liz.

It was great fun having everyone there. The only one missing was Bernadette, who was apparently working this evening. I’m sure we’ll catch up with her again.

The Aussies came up to see our apartment. They like our view (so do we!). They are dead on their feet and so we sent them around the corner to their apartment so they could get some sleep. Their flights totaled about 25 hours and none of them slept much on the plane.

Tomorrow is the start of the Rolex Middle Sea Yacht Race. The race starts in the Grand Harbor and the yachts sail around Sicily and back to Malta. The fastest time sailing the course was 40 hours for a mono-hulled yacht. We plan to get into Valletta and find a good viewing spot along the waterfront for the start of the race. There are 119 yachts entered in the race so it should be something to see.

So you’ve probably been wondering what we’ve been doing for the last few days.

Sunday was a recovery day from our Birgu Fest adventure. We did need to pick up a few groceries so we walked over to a different market on Dingli St. We went down Gorg Borg street. That is where the Caruana family (Aussies)lived and had property. I didn’t find the number 49 yet where they lived, but I believe number 48 is their investment property. I’ll have to see what Louis has to say about the photo below and whether it is their property.

We always like this corner house with its pretty bougainvillea and bright blue paint.

Sunday evening we walked over to Spinola Bay to have dinner at Raffael’s. Christine always gets the Timpani, a favorite Maltese dish. I had pasta and seafood. It was a nice evening sitting out on the terrace enjoying the lights reflecting in the water.

Monday I woke up not feeling well. I had some sort of a gastrointestinal issue, so I went back to bed. Soon thereafter, the “you know what” hit. Let’s just say that it wasn’t pleasant. Actually, it was pretty awful. I went back to bed, but not for long. Let’s just say that the 24-hour bug (or food poisoning) was active for 24-hours. During the afternoon, we needed water. We certainly don’t drink the tap water here (especially after our water fiasco in 2016). Christine went up to the store to buy water. She got a pack of 6 really large bottles that were super heavy. She struggled down the street with them until a nice woman asked if she could help her. She carried the pack of water down around the corner and to our building’s entrance. That was very nice of her. I definitely wasn’t able to be of any assistance at that point. But it was good to have fresh water, which is all I was able to keep down. It was a real accomplishment for Christine to have done that task.

Tuesday, I was feeling better enough to be up out of bed. Midday I even ate something. Then Christine had a bit of a spell, losing her breakfast. So, I guess it was a 24-hour bug. She remained logy all day. Feeling better, I needed to move around a bit and get outside. I walked along our rocks and around Exile Point. On the way home, I stopped in our market for a few things. By the time I got home, I was hot and exhausted. Guess I did too much. But I took a couple of nice photos.

And now it’s Wednesday. I’m up and dressed, but I think Christine may not be 100% yet, although her bug doesn’t seem to be as bad as mine was. It has put a damper on our activities, though. Hopefully, we both will be recovered sufficiently to some sort of excursion on Thursday. Here’s hoping!

Thursday, October 9, we laid low and I have nothing to report. Friday, October 10, we had arranged a coffee date with Bernadette Carabott which turned into a 4 hour gab fest. Let me try to explain our connection to Bernadette. Her mother, Olga, was the sister of Bice, Louis’s (our Aussie cousin) mother. In other words, Christine’s Uncle Joe was married to Bernadette’s Aunt Bice. So I guess that makes Christine a cousin by marriage. At any rate, we met Bernadette last year quite by accident at a party we attended given by the brother of one of Christine’s playmates back when we lived here as a child. She is a lovely women and we talked and talked. At one point, as we were talking about Louis, she pulled out her phone and we video called Louis. That was a blast. I’m sure he was totally surprised to hear from us.

Bernadette shared her stories and photos of her recent trip to Turkey. She loved Turkey and recommends a visit, but by tour, not on one’s own. She did a balloon ride there and had some amazing photos from that. She is advancing as a photographer and has entered some of her photos in an exhibition here. She’ll hear soon whether she was awarded a prize in the competition.

Bernadette walked with us down Tower Road to explain where she lived as a child and where others in the family lived. She was interested hearing that Christine lived in that lovely building just down from where she lived. It was a lovely time with Bernadette and we will catch up with here again when Tony (cousin from Australia) arrives later this month.

Friday evening we got a takeout pizza and enjoyed the view.

We were treated to a fireworks display over behind the hotel to the right of the Portomaso Tower.

Saturday, October 11, was a big day. It’s the Birgu Fest and I have been very enthralled by photos of this event. Birgu, one of the 3 Cities across the Grand Harbor from Valletta, lights its streets with candles. The photos I’ve seen of this are breathtaking, so I wanted to attend. We decided to go fairly early and spend the day in Birgu.

We bussed to Valletta, walked to Barrakka Gardens, and took the Barrakka lift down to the water level. We didn’t really want to risk getting into one of the dgħajsas that ferry tourists across, which is quite wobbly, so we opted for the regular ferry.

The ferry docks down the Dockyard Creek, the body of water between Birgu (also known as Vittoriosa) and Senglea (also known as L-Isla). At the end of Dockyard Creek is Cospicua (also known as Bormla). These cities combined are known as the 3 Cities. The first thing we did after arriving is find a nice outdoor cafe for a drink and snack. It was noon-ish when we arrived and it was going to be a long day, so we wanted to just take our time and enjoy.

We then walked to the old section of Birgu and wandered the small, beautiful streets. These are the street that will be lined with candles.

One of the things that is part of Birgu Fest is that some of the museums, churches, and Fort St. Angelo, not usually open, are open to the public. We took advantage of that and went to visit St. Lawrence Church. This was the first church the Knights dedicated and was their conventional church until the Knights moved from Birgu to Valletta.

The dome of the church, with its red stained glass windows, gives the church a nice pinkish hue as the light shines through. It was a lovely church.

After visiting the church, we sat on a bench in the shade watching the goings on. I then spotted a little train ride that goes around the 3 cities. It’s not a train, but is made to look like one. It’s a vehicle made to look like a locomotive that pulls two cars. Since we had a lot of time before dark, I thought it would be good to do the 30-minute tour. Part of the ride was to Kalkara, which we have yet to explore, so I wanted to see what was there. It was interesting since Cospicua and Senglea are really old cities and lots of Maltese people live there. Old Malta is disappearing so it was fun to ride through real city neighborhoods. Here’s a couple of photos.

Grant, I took the film studio shot for you. This is where several films were made like Gladiator, Game of Thrones. Malta is becoming famous for this film studio.

After our tour ride, we found a restaurant along the Birgu waterfront and had a drink and a light meal. It was nice to rest for a bit out of the sun.

We then walked down the marina where the big yachts are anchored. It’s unbelievable the cost of some of these vessels. I read where one could be rented for 790,000 euros per week. The largest yachts were 76 and 77 meters long.

At 6:00pm Fort St. Angelo opened. We wanted to see the view from there so we hiked up to the fort. It was supposed to be free, but we ended up paying an admission fee. The entire fort was to be outlined in candlelight. We were there just a little early to take in the full effect, but the views were spectacular.

It was darker coming back out of the fort and it was pretty tricky in the dim light. Fortunately, most of the steps down had handrails. We used the phone flashlight to help us in places.

We walked back along the marina. By this time, we both were really tired. I still wanted to take in some of the candlelit streets. Christine didn’t, so I parked her on a bench in front of the church and made my way into the throngs of people. There were thousands of people in Birgu making it nearly impossible to walk anywhere. It was a real party atmosphere with a concert going in the town square and lots of food truck and stalls. I headed to a couple of streets that I thought would be good, but it was really tricky to get through the crowds. There were lots of candles, but more people. One of the cool things, though, is that some of the residents along these streets opened their doors showing candles adorning their living rooms. It was kind of fun to navigate the streets, but in the dark, there were too many trip hazards for me to do much meandering. I got my fill of the Birgu Fest pretty quickly.

I picked up Christine and we headed for the ferry terminal. I thought we would be one of hundreds waiting for the ferry. Just as we got to the terminal, a ferry was pulling out. The schedule said the next one was due in 30 minutes, but we would be at the front of the line. Surprisingly, another ferry arrived immediately, so we lucked out. The ride back to Valletta was beautiful with all the light.

When we got off the ferry in Valletta, there were hundreds of people all queued up waiting to go to Birgu by ferry. Many would be waiting a long time. I’m glad we decided to go early and come home early. We walked back to the Barrakka lift and up we went. We took in the view of the Grand Harbor, another glorious view.

Passing by Castille Palace, where the Prime Minister works, with few tourists around meant I just had to take a photo.

Then on to the bus. Again, we were very lucky. A bus we could take was right there with almost no line. It was pretty full and we didn’t get seats. Halfway through the ride, a young man looked up and saw Christine swinging from the handrail and he jumped up and gave her his seat. That was nice of him.

As we returned home, I told Christine that she got a prize for being a real trooper today. We walked a lot and did a lot of things. Her prize was a stop at the gelato shop just 3 shops down from our place. We both enjoyed a nice gelato after a long, tiring day.

So, two good days. I think we’ll need a rest tomorrow.