Malta

Tony’s First Tattoo

Tony’s First Tattoo

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Yes, he did it. While we were in Malta. And it was the most romantic thing ever.

Because he did it on holiday, you might think that it was a spur of the moment (and possibly regrettable) decision. But he’s actually been planning and talking about this particular tattoo for years. So when he saw a snazzy looking tattoo shop just down the street from our AirBnB, he figured it was a sign. From the inside, the tattoo shop was even better. There’s so much of the weirdly wonderful going on here, from the guy sitting to the right–who is not a guy, but a ghost–to that piano/shrine/home bar with all the candles gloriously melted over it

Maybe all tattoo shops are this cool; I had never been in one before.… Read more

Malta – Postscript

Malta – Postscript

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

This is a post for some random interesting stuff from Malta. Such as the language. What Maltese sounded like to me was a mixture of Arabic and Italian. Which in fact it more or less is! It originally descended from the version of Arabic being spoken in Sicily around the turn of the previous millennium (9th to 12th centuries A.D.), and it’s still considered by linguists to be a variety of Arabic, although it’s written in Latin characters (with some lovely funky additions like an H with an extra bar) and only perhaps a third of the current vocabulary descends from Arabic.… Read more

Malta – Għar Dalam Cave and Hiking the Marfa Peninsula

Malta – Għar Dalam Cave and Hiking the Marfa Peninsula

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Our Malta trip was winding down, but we still had one item left on the sightseeing list: Għar Dalam Cave. I get the impression that this cave was probably always known to the inhabitants of Malta, but the first recorded mention of it was in 1647 in a text compiled by the historian of the Knights of St. John.

The place didn’t really get excavated until the 19th century, when paleontologists dug into the floor of the cave and discovered incredible numbers of fossils in it, of things like pygmy elephants, hippopotami, and deer, all of which have been extinct on the island for thousands of years.… Read more

Malta – Boating and Horseback Riding

Malta – Boating and Horseback Riding

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Malta abounds in natural beauty, and how better to see it than from a colourful Maltese fishing boat or the back of a horse?

When we first booked our tickets and started thinking about Malta, the two things the kids said they wanted to do were horseback riding and kayaking. Unfortunately, kayaking seems to be a summer activity in Malta, and we couldn’t find anyone who would take us during what to Maltese people is the dead of winter (yesterday it was a sunny 15 degrees outside, and we were listening to the radio weather person commiserating with her fellow Maltese about the bitterly cold temperatures, and exhorting them to bravery).… Read more

Malta – Mdina and Rabat

Malta – Mdina and Rabat

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Mdina and Rabat (in Arabic, literally “the city” and “the suburbs”) are what used to be the happening spot in Malta before Valletta was built in the 16th century. We went to Rabat first. It’s a cute little town with pretty streets and a nice church. Also, what is rumored to be the finest sweet shop in Malta. We tried the Maltese version of cannoli (not quite as good as the Italian version, but still very tasty), some very traditional date-themed cookies (not a huge fan of dates in cookies), and some soft almond nougat, like turron in Spain (seriously delicious).… Read more

Malta – Ħaġar Qim, Marsaxlokk and the Dingli Cliffs

Malta – Ħaġar Qim, Marsaxlokk and the Dingli Cliffs

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

One of the most, shall we say, exciting things about Malta is driving. They label roads here like other countries label cigarettes–“Speed Kills“, “Slow Down Immediately“, “Don’t Drink and Drive“. The signs are everywhere. And sure enough, most people appear to be ignoring them, at least the ones that have to do with speed. The road conditions aren’t exactly conducive to safety either. They are a mass of pot-holes and blind hair-pin turns. Most of the roads have no line down the middle to separate lanes of oncoming traffic. Instead, people just drive on whichever side of the road has fewer potholes, or right down the middle of it.… Read more

Malta – Midnight Mass in the Cathedral and Bethlehem on Gozo

Malta – Midnight Mass in the Cathedral and Bethlehem on Gozo

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

I didn’t think we could outdo the experience of Midnight Mass in the Cathedral of Granada last year. And we didn’t, because I’ll always remember it as an ethereal burst of soaring white stone and music in the midst of a dark night. But this year’s midnight mass at the Valletta Cathedral was its own kind of beautiful. For one thing, this:

The President of Malta was at the Midnight Mass (which was almost two hours long, so fortunately it began at 11). AND she shook my hand! The mass is so popular they have to issue tickets, and to avoid selling tickets to a religious service, the tickets include a reception afterwards at the Palace of the Grand Masters, which is now the official residence of the President of Malta, who greeted each guest as we entered.… Read more

Malta – Valletta and the Knights of St. John

Malta – Valletta and the Knights of St. John

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

In 1530, Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, gave the Island of Malta to the Knights of St. John in exchange for a single falcon, to be paid annually to the Viceroy of Sicily. The falcon was a token. The real exchange was that the Knights would hold Malta as a strategic front against Turkish incursion into Europe. Did you know all this while growing up watching Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon? I did not.

At any rate, having nowhere else to go after their recent expulsion by the Turks from the Isle of Rhodes, the Knights settled on what they felt was a bit of a barren rock in the middle of the Mediterranean.… Read more

Malta – Hiking in Mellieha and the Aquarium

Malta – Hiking in Mellieha and the Aquarium

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

We have been looking forward to our Christmas trip in Malta for months. Things got off to a good start, everything considered. Tony and I were both so ready for a vacation that while we were waiting in line to check-in (yes, when you bring your dog on vacation, you have to check in at the airport rather than online), he confided to me that if there were a problem, he would just turn around and go home, because he didn’t have any energy to resolve problems.

Of course there was a problem. They couldn’t find our dog’s reservation (yes, when you bring your dog on vacation she needs not only a passport, but a plane ticket, complete with its own ticket number, which was missing).… Read more