04-10-2016: Festa Frawli!!

Festa Frawli is Strawberry Festival.  When we heard about this local festival, we knew we wanted to go.  It is held in the farming village of Mgarr in the northwestern part of the island.

We planned our bus route and headed out at 9:30 this morning.  Coming out of our building, there was the 13 bus heading to Valletta, so we raced across the street and hopped on.  Then we identified our stop near Msida where we needed to change to the 44 bus to Mgarr (pronounced Ma-jar).  Shortly, the 44 bus came along, but didn’t stop to pick up the flock of people waiting for it.  That was because the bus was totally full.  We thought we’d be smart and walk down the street to the stop before so that it would be just 2 of us flagging down the next bus.  We figured the bus didn’t stop because there were 20 people waiting at the stop and clearly didn’t have room for all of them.  So we wanted to get a jump on the crowd.  Well, the next 44 came along, but didn’t stop for just 2 of us because it was totally full. Clearly, the bus to Mgarr was a popular bus due to the lure of Festa Frawli.

We then decided that we needed to go into Valletta to the bus terminus there and get on the 44 at the start of the route, so we went back across the street and got on a bus heading to Valletta.  The Valletta bus terminus is a confusing place and we haven’t yet experienced it enough to know the lay of the land.  We saw a 44 bus and headed to it, but it was unmanned and empty.  We did see the driver coming our way.  He took pity on us and told us he wasn’t supposed to let us on the bus in that area, but he said we looked like we could use some help as we looked lost.  Perfect!  On the bus we went and he drove off to the bay where the 44 bus starts.  There were 50 people there waiting to get on the bus.  We’re so glad the driver took pity on us while we sat in our seats and waited for the crowd to board.

So off to Mgarr we went.  All along the 40 minute ride, most of the stops were passed by because our bus was totally full.  We had great empathy for all the people shaking their fists at the bus that was not stopping.

Mgarr is a very rural village of about 3,500 and most of its residents are farmers or employed in some sort of agricultural work.  It is a very beautiful area, green and hilly, abundant with small farm fields bordered by ancient stone fences. Each year, the village puts on the Festa Frawli.  And wow, do they ever love their strawberries!  And so do we.  They are so delicious; big, fat, juicy, sweet berries.

All around the village were stands selling everything you could imagine to eat with strawberries in it – ravioli, cannoli, sandwiches, bread, cakes, smoothies, pancakes, waffles, sorbet – all kinds of stuff.  We sampled the waffles with strawberries.  Very yummy.  But the crowd was rather distressing to me as it was a free-for-all around all the vendor stalls, so I was less than happy to be standing in line trying to get some food.

The village is around the local parish church dedicated to the town’s patron saint, St. Mary.  This church was built in 1912 and is unique.  What amazes me in Malta is the predominance of churches.  Every town, village, and neighborhood has a very large Catholic church, and I mean large.  The one in Mgarr is noted for its oval, or egg-shaped dome.  It’s a beautiful structure and dominates the village from it’s position on a hill at the center of the village.

It’s interesting to note that eggs play another part, not just in the egg-shaped dome.  Apparently, the villagers raised the money for the church’s construction in 1912 by selling over 300,000 eggs, in addition to other farm animals and poultry.  (Keep selling those eggs, JoAnn!  No telling what you can build from the proceeds.)

It’s clear that the whole village gets involved in putting on this festival.  We walked past the elementary school.  All along the fence bordering the school was artwork done by the students.

What we really enjoyed was the music and dancing.  Performers and dancers were in traditional garb playing and dancing to a great many folk tunes.  It was fun to watch everyone respond to the music.

While I was off wandering around, Christine sat and listened to a young performer.  He was about 13 and he was an incredibly charismatic singer.  He had the crowd really involved and he sang all sorts of traditional Maltese tunes that had everyone singing and tapping their feet.  She really enjoyed him.

When we had our fill of the Festa Frawli, we headed back out of the village.  On our way out, we noticed a sign pointing to one of the ancient temples that was in Mgarr.  It was just down a side street out in a field.  This temple, Ta’ Hagrat, is actually 2 megalithic structures.  The largest has been dated to the Ggantija Phase (c. 3,600-3,200 BC).  It is made up of 3 semi-circular rooms surrounding a paved, rectangular court.  Ceramic material found at Ta’ Hagrat ranges from c. 5,000-4,300 BC up to the Tarxien Phase, c. 3,150-2,500 BC.  Archaeologists think there was activity on this site even before the temple period.

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Entrance to temple Ta’ Hagrat

Some of this just looks like a pile of rocks, but the signage showing the floor plan was helpful in visualizing what it might have looked like.  And of course, you wonder how they got that huge rock up on top to form a doorway.  We read that one of the other interesting things with this site is that there were constructed steps going up to the temple entrance, which apparently was not a known architectural detail before then.

We had originally planned to walk from Mgarr to Ghajn Tuffieha, a wonderful beach area that we both love.  However, we were a little tired and couldn’t decide whether or not to do that.  We agreed to go, but not by walking, so we hopped on the 101 bus.  Unfortunately, we missed the stop for Ghajn Tuffieha and went to the next beach, Golden Bay.  Both Ghajn Tuffieha and Golden Bay are half-circles surrounded by high cliffs, and both are really beautiful.  Golden Bay is the location of a big Radisson Hotel high on the cliff above the bay.  There is also an old watch tower high on the cliff that separates Ghajn Tuffieha and Golden Bay.

It was another windy day and there were windsurfers with their big kites out on the bay.  It was really rough surf and so the windsurfers were jumping the waves and were being carried a long way in the air.  It was fun to watch.

 

After watching the windsurfers for a bit, we went to a little café and had cappuccino (Christine) and Cisk (Linda).  Cisk is the local Maltese beer.  After our beverage, we walked back up the hill to the bus stop.  The 44 bus was waiting for us.  Christine sat next to a very nice woman, Rita, and chatted the entire way back to Msida, where we both got off the bus.  We then took the 13 bus back to Sliema.  We arrived home tired, slightly sunburned, and happy.  It was great fun going to Festa Frawli!  All the other things we did were a fantastic bonus.

 

3 thoughts on “04-10-2016: Festa Frawli!!”

  1. The strawberry fest sounds wonderful – a great combination of food & music. You’ll have to return to the beach when it warms up some more so you can enjoy the water.

  2. It looks like you had a wonderful day. I am so glad you went to the Ta Hagrat temples, could you feel the ancientness of the space? Did you get any insights?
    it was the first one I went to. I cherish my memories of it and so happy to see your memories of it as well.
    I didn’t go down to the Golden bay, the day I was there, I felt that I needed to get back on the bus, or it would get dark and I didn’t know my way around yet. It was beautiful even from a distance.
    I remember seeing a sign for Gia Organic, I didn’t make it there either. Did you see the sign? did you go there?
    Now I want to go and organize my pictures of Malta! So I can follow your trip, with my pictures as well. this is fun!

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