Malta

Malta has been near the top of our bucket list since learning a few years ago that a distant relative on my mom's side of the family was Prime Minister of Malta in the early 1900's.

His daughter Mabel --- who helped him start The Times of Malta and subsequently ran that esteemed newspaper --- had also been quite influential on this island nation's politics, often referred to as "The Queen of Malta."

Malta became more than simply a jet-setting Mediterranean island in a travel brochure.  Selective perception brought more stories about Malta to my attention.

I've been fascinated by knights since flipping through my picture book Ivanhoe as a boy.   In Rhodes, I first learned that Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (originally known as King Charles I of Spain) had invited the Knights of St. John to establish a new home on the island of Malta in 1530.  He hoped their vaunted military stature on the strategic island would help protect Rome.

Rumored to have accumulated great wealth in the Crusades, the Knights had been forced from their previous refuge on the isle of Rhodes by invading Ottomans in 1522.

I learned Steve Berry, whose literary style combining history with mystery amuses me, had a novel that unfolds on Malta.  I happily devoured The Malta Exchange.

The reality of being in Malta with our longtime friends Mike and Linda proved well-worth all of the anticipation.

Julie and Linda in Mdina.

We had a picture-perfect, bright, sunny day.

We had a half-day tour from Valletta with private driver and knowledgeable guide booked through Princess Cruises.  That was a true bargain at $299 for the four of us in our own van.  

The hard part was deciding which sites to include among so many wonderful places to see.

Malta is a fortified island nation in a strategic location, and its stories of resistance and resilience are legendary.

All that being said, I find myself overwhelmed by the history of this island nation and wonder where to start.

I confess that I have decided to tap out.  I'll just share a lot of photos and briefly describe where we went.  I mean, who really will sit down and read all that stuff after I spend days working to get all the specifics right?

There are plenty of books on the subject.  Better yet, take a cruise to Malta and go on a tour.

At the end of the day, Mike, Linda, Julie and I came away from Malta hoping to return to experience more, likely spending a week or two to soak it all in.

Soon after we drove from the port, our driver negotiated some absurdly narrow city streets that with parked cars on the sides were barely wide enough for one car but allowed traffic in both directions.

We had no doubt we were in safe hands our entire drive after seeing how he could negotiate such tight environs.

We stopped at a beautiful view point, Il-Gardjola Guard Tower, built by the Knights of Malta as a military lookout.  

The seemingly odd relief sculptures of an eye, a crane and an ear represent guardianship and watchfulness.

Valletta has beautiful. modern harbors among massive defensive bulwarks constructed centuries ago. 

Rather than knocking down old stone structures to build on prime lots, development usually involves restoring and repurposing historic buildings.

For example, in Cospicua, one of "The Three Cities," an old waterfront complex was transformed about a decade ago to house the American University of Malta, a brand new American-style liberal arts college coaxed to build in Malta instead of Spain as originally planned.  Somewhat oddly. American University of Malta was started by a Jordanian, not an American.

Our guide speculated UAM might be expanding into this building soon.

Back in the 10th Century BC, Cospicua was the primary port on the island for the Phoenicians.  They called it Maleth, which meant refuge or port. That is purportedly the origin of the name Malta. 

We all appreciated the harbor views, so we spent a good amount of time walking around the waterfront, learning more about Malta, past and present, from our guide.

We drove up into the hills to take in cliffside views of the beautiful Malta's Blue Grotto.

The turquoise water is stunning.  We walked down a trail to get a closer view.

Meanwhile, a falconer with his trained bird of prey provided a bit of entertainment near the viewing point.

A snack truck catered to the tourists.

Tastings of a local prickly pear liqueur were offered for any who might want to bring a bottle home.  

Linda picked up a drink and a Maltese salty snack that she shared with us in the van.  Tasty!  And considerably easier than training a falcon to hunt.

While driving in the countryside, we saw several parcels of land subdivided by markers to indicate how descendants had broken up their estate inheritances into fractions too small and rocky to be worthwhile until inevitable development by a billionaire or corporation with the means to buy them all out and reassemble the puzzle.

Our next big stop was Mdina, a medieval walled city that is awesome.  The impressive city gate was used in Game of Thrones season one as an entry to King's Landing.

We meandered through the ancient streets, checking out churches and other historic buildings.

All the while, we wound our way toward a recommended cliffside wine bar.

When we arrived, we learned there would be a short wait, but within ten minutes, we were seated and ordered our wine.

We were all happy to be there taking photos, but for whatever reason, our wine never came.

After fifteen minutes, we knew we would no longer have time to savor sips, so we unceremoniously headed down the steps and retreated back to our drop off point just outside the gate.

I asked our guide about my distant relatives, and as a native Maltese, she knew exactly who I was talking about. 

She asked if I knew about Lady Mabel Strickland's Hotel Phoenicia.

I did not.

She offered to drop us off at that property on our way back to the port.

When that time came, Julie and I headed into the five-star hotel.

An odd inside joke with Julie was that the doorknobs sported images of Pegasus, bringing to mind a hike with Laszlo two years earlier.

Once inside, sure enough, there was a large portrait of the hotel's founder, Lady Strickland.

We looked around a bit and availed ourselves of the posh restroom.

We could have eaten at this hotel's chic eatery in the lobby but wanted to get back outdoors on this gorgeous day.

We decided instead to head into the downtown area, settling into a restaurant beside the remains of a Roman Theater still used for concerts.

Julie had Spirit of Malta, a cocktail made with Bajtra Prickly Pear Liqueur, while I did my own take on Russel Crowe's gladiator sniffing of the earth by drinking a local beer.

The drinks were refreshing, but the puffy stuffed croissants we ordered were not exactly gourmet dining. 

After several days of overeating onboard, we weren't exactly starving, so we were probably better off not devouring every last morsel of the mediocre meal.  We would have the usual happy hour in Skywalkers followed by a dining room feast on board soon enough.

There are lots of sidewalk cafes with very affordable offerings for what feels like an upscale destination on a Mediterranean island.  I'd recommend ordering something further up the cuisine ladder than a five Euro sandwich.

While there is hustle and bustle in this historic downtown, it somehow is more charming in the sunshine through historic sandstone buildings than in a modern urban city for us.

We enjoyed wandering in the direction of St. John's Co-Cathedral.

With me still kicking myself a bit for not going in the Cathedral in Cadiz, Julie was not about to let me talk myself out of this one just because of a long line and 15 Euro admission charge.

The queue actually went relatively quickly despite tour groups of forty occasionally being sanctioned to cut the line in front of us. 

In terms of grandeur and masterpieces on display, St. John's Co-Cathedral in Malta is right up there with the best Cathedrals we have ever seen, and we've seen quite a few.

As with the history of Malta, the artwork and stories found in St. John's Co-Cathedral is overwhelming.

Our audio guides told us about what we were seeing by selecting the proper number, but between the crowds and the long day, we skipped a lot of chapters and simply took in the magnificence of it all.

In an hour or so, we barely scratched the surface --- note, this is a metaphor, not admission of marring the incredible edifice, marble and artwork, which we would not --- of seeing and learning about it.  

It is quite a monument to both the wealth and religious convictions of the Knights of St. John to have obviously spent a fortune on this monument to God dedicated in the name of St. John the Baptist.

Calling it the Crown Jewel of Malta is not an overstatement.

Beyond the Cathedral, there remained far more to see in this downtown area, but by then, exhaustion from the full day exploring Malta kicked in.

We thought about grabbing a taxi back to the ship, but instead we made the long walk down a cafe-lined hill street and across a bridge back to the ship.

Malta was without question the highlight of our cruise, as we had anticipated it would be.

More of Julie's Photos

More of Wes's Photos

Bonus: Mike And Linda's Photos