Thursday, November 10, 2016

Annie and Blue visit Malta

Can you find Malta on a map?  It is in the Mediterranean Sea south
of Italy.  The island is very historic.  It was a crossroad for trading when the best and fastest way to get around was by water.  The first settlers arrived about 7000 years ago and since then many groups of people have visited, conquered, and lived there. Malta was once a colony of England just like the United States.  Malta gained its independence in 1964. Like most of the colonies of England the people speak English which made it easy for us to travel around.

Malta is an archipelago which means Malta is made up of several islands. The main island is called Malta.  We visit St. John’s Cathedral in the capital of Valletta. It was beautiful with gold-covered pillars and painted ceilings. At one time the wealthy people were buried in the floor of the church.  The names of those buried under the floor were carved in marble.

We thought the many colorful balconies on the buildings that line
the streets were very attractive. We loved visiting Casa Rocca Piccola. It is a house/museum. The people still live in part of the house and the rest is open as a museum. When we visited the lady of the house was taking tickets and her husband, the Ninth Baron of Budach, was showing some of his family historical papers to visitors. He can trace his family back to the 1600s. How far can you trace your family back?  Times were not always so calm and peaceful in Malta. During WW II Malta was heavily bombed.  In April 1942 there was an average of 15 bombing raids a day. We went down into their bomb shelter where the family sought safety during bombings.

Today Malta is one of the safest countries but it wasn’t always like that.  We saw a presentation at the fort on Gozo. When the fort was attacked in 1551 one of the soldiers saw that the invaders were winning. He didn’t want his family to be captured and made slaves so he killed them and then fought to his death. Over 3000 people did become slaves.  What a hard decision to make.

Gozo is a 20-minute ferry ride from the main island.  It is smaller
with less people and many interesting sites.  Many movies have been made in Malta.  The set for the movie “Popeye” is now a theme park. There is a cave where they say Ulysses, a Greek god, lived for many years on his long voyage. The Azure Window is a 164-foot
high rock arch with a hole in it showing the blue (azure means blue) sea and sky. People have lived on Gozo for 7000 years.  We visited one of the temples they built. Many of the stones used to build it were gigantic. Some weighed 50 tons. The average car weighs two ton.  We wondered how they moved these huge stones and shaped them to fit without the tools and machines we have today. 

It is fun to visit new places.  When we travel we like to try new food.  Malta is an island so seafood is very popular.  The chef where we stayed, Ramla Resort, showed us how to make a local favorite – pan-seared octopus Maltese style. Have you ever eaten octopus?  We had not.  We both tried it.  One of us loved it.  The other liked the flavor but thought the octopus was too chewy. The favorite dessert is the deep-fried date pastries served warm with homemade ice cream. We both loved that. Happy travels.