VALLETTA, MALTA

BEAUTIFUL MALTA –

SUNSHINE &

MALTA ROLLS!

Sunday, April 13, 2025, 6 AM, Temperature 63 Degrees, 78% Humidity, W- [email protected] mph

The sun was shining on us as we came into Malta! We haven’t seen the sun since we left the Canary Islands five days ago. We’ve also moved the clocks FORWARD three times since then – we were as close as 3 hours from the States, now it’s back to six hours difference. It’s still a lot easier to deal with than earlier when we were 13+ hours apart. We were served coffee, juice and Malta Rolls as we came into port. We had these rolls for the first time when we came through the Panama Canal, then in Peru and finally in Tahiti. We haven’t seen them since. They are creme filled doughnut like pastries. To the people who have come aboard at Sidney or later, they’re Malta Rolls but to those of us who have been on from the beginning, they will always be Panama Rolls, no matter where they are served!

John was very disappointed with our first view of Malta seeing a high-rise skyline. He was expecting goat herders on the hillside. He’s about 100 years off; there are no goats or cows on the hillside now. Because of the limited grazing land and extreme summer heat, all the sheep and cattle (primarily dairy cows) are kept and fed in barns.

Coming into the old town and the Grand Harbor was everything we could have hoped for – beautiful sandstone forts and walls on every side. The natural deep harbors of Malta have made it desirable (and a subject of conquest) for thousands of years. The Zuiderdam was berthed at the new cruise terminal that is convenient for walking into the city. We had a beautiful view from our balcony of shops on the pier which were built into old structures. One of the businesses was called The Hard Rock Café and, according to some friends, served great nachos. Someone designing the area had a sense of humor, in the small lagoon in front of the shopping was a sculpture designed to look like a paper sailboat.

Malta, the Republic is an archipelago of three islands, strategically located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. The modern capital, Valletta, is the smallest capital city in the EU by size and population. The old capital, Mdina, is a fortified city in the Western region of Malta and was a Phoenician colony established in the 8th century BC. (more later).

The first of Valletta’s fortifications was Fort St. Elmo, built in1552, but the fortifications around the city proper were built later by Jean de Valette, Grand Master of the order of Hospitallers (Knights of St. John of Jerusalem) who gave the city its name. The Knights of St. John were responsible for the construction for the majority of the city’s fortifications. Contemporaries of the Knights of Templar, the Templars provided security for Christian pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land and the Knights of St. John provided medical services for the Pilgrims, citizens of Malta and seaman coming into the harbors.

Our Excursion started in the lower level of the hospital built by the Knights of St. John. We traveled down a stone tunnel where patients had been moved from ships in the harbor to the hospital. We arrived at the theater for the “Malta Experience,” a very informative 45-minute video about the history of Malta from the prehistoric megalithic structures which date back 6,000 years (some of these structures predate Stonehenge by 1,000 years) to it’s heroic survival tale in WWII. In 1940 the George Cross was created by King George VI as the highest award given by the British government for civilian acts of gallantry and remarkable actions carried out without the immediate presence of the enemy. The George Cross was awarded to the people of Malta on April 1942. Between 1940 and 1942 Malta endured 3,340 air raids, more than 15,000 tons of bombs were dropped on the island and 1581 civilians were killed.

After the “Experience”, we traveled to the other side of the Harbor to taste Maltese “snacks”. We walked down a picturesque waterfront passing, as is of often in the case in Malta, a mixture of old and new. We passed a charming and busy outdoor restaurant – just be the place for our snacks we thought, NOT. We continued down the waterfront, into an alley and the back entrance of “The Wild Horse Saloon”! Nothing says Malta like a western bar and grill – but the Maltese food was delicious (and the menu for their western fare looked great too). We had pastIzzi (a filo like pastry; one filled with ricotta cheese, one with a pea mixture), Olive Oil Bread with garlic and a spicy tomato sauce, a pea spread similar to humus and olives. We also were offered several beverages including Kinnie, a Maltese carbonated drink made of bitter orange, caramel and herbs (not bad, but definitely an acquired taste).

Back on the bus for a tour of Malta. Malta has 68 locations, basically equivalent to towns or villages. Except for 3 larger communities (including Valletta) they are not known as cities. The communities all seem to run together but each community has it own government, schools, and shopping areas. Some communities were new and more modern, most were a combination of old and new.

One of the most interesting places we saw was Mdina. Mdina, is a fortified city in the Western region of Malta that was the island’s former capital from antiquity to medieval times. There are Bronze Age artifacts found there. A Phoenician colony was established approx. 8th century BC. During the Punic Wars the city was acquired by the Romans and reduced in size during the Byzantine or Arab Rule. The area was largely uninhabited after a massacre in the ninth century. It was reestablished as Madinah in the 11thcentury and served as the Capital of Malta until the arrival of the Order of St. John in Malta in 1530.

MALTA & CHRISTIANITY –

Malta also a place in early Christianity. According to the Acts of the Apostles, Paul the Apostle was shipwrecked on Malta in AD 60. According to our guide, he was welcomed by the citizens and while drying himself by the fire, he was bitten by a viper. Paul slung the snake into the fire. Those around him thought he would die or swell up and become ill because of the venomous snake bite but he was not harmed. Observers considered it a miracle and eventually a church was constructed on the spot. Paul stayed and preached in Malta and before he left, he performed several miracles, including curing the father of the governor Publius. Legends says Malta citizens converted to Christianity at this time. Publius became the Bishop of Malta and then Bishop of Athens before he was martyred in 112 AD. Although Malta experienced a period of Arab rule, today Malta is 98% Roman Catholic. But, Malta also contains a Mosque, a synagogue and several Anglian churches, holdovers from the British days, which serve Church of England parishioners as well. A reminder of Arab days are the enclosed wooden balconies found on many old buildings. A Muslem woman could sit on the balcony and observe the world below but those outside could not see her.

MALTA’S MODERN MIRACLE -

The Mosta Dome is a Roman Catholic parish church built in Mosta, Malta, and dedicated to the Assumption of our Lady Mary. The church was based on the Roman Parthenon and took 28 years to complete. It opened in 1871. Depending on who’s telling the story, the dome is the 3rd or 4th largest unsupported dome in the world, after the Vatican. There is a modern “Maltese Miracle” related to the dome. In 1942, a German aerial bomb pierced the dome and fell into the church but failed to explode. Again, according to the story, it was during Mass where several hundred people were worshiping or when several hundred refugees were sheltered there.

We are now entering the part of the cruise John has been dreading, the Mediterranean! John doesn’t have anything against the Med, he was here many times in the Navy and loved it. It’s the busy port and Excursion schedule – Egypt in two days, then Turkey, Greece, Italy, Sardina, and Lisbon in the next 12 days! There are a few sea days scattered in there (John’s favorite) but not enough for him!

Many more things left to see in Malta – definitely needs another visit!