Malta: Sept. 12th- 22nd, 2oo7

There is a saying…”the different between night and day” until now I couldn’t have understood the full meaning of that statement. I have always seen this common saying to mean “light” and the “absents of “light”. The difference between light and dark… boy, was I naive. Malta has shown me the light, or shall I say the night. I am unable to upload photos for a while so I will do my best to describe Malta to those of you who haven’t been here. Which I think it is safe to say that I don’t think anyone I know has been here. But I don’t know everything about everyone, so I could be wrong. A few of you may have been to Sicily, if you have then it is my understanding that the two islands are similar, which is understandable considering the distance. Although I have not been to Sicily yet so I can not tell you the similarities and differences between them first hand, so I will just explain Malta as I see it.

When I first arrived in Malta I didn’t really know what to think. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed. I had no idea what it would look like but I didn’t expect what I saw. Malta is a very old and seemingly traditional place, much like Italy in the sense that most of the buildings are very old (some were built centuries ago), but the difference here is that very few of these buildings are restored as they are in Italy. So you can imagine that they are extremely run-down and some in ruin. Most of the buildings look at first glace exactly alike. Malta is one color, really. Nearly all the structures are made from a yellowish lime-stone blocks and they are not painted. It looks as though the homes and shops have just sprung up from the ground, spanning from two or three stories to fifteen or twenty. From one building to the next the only identifying marks are the painted doors, bow-windows, and window sills/shutters.

Malta has the capacity to be extremely lovely, but somehow only struck me as lovely at night, when the dim lights of the city seemed to glow of the yellow stone and contrast the dark colored doors and windows. The bays which was dirty and kind of eeky by day, was extremely lovely at night, when the water is reflecting the lights of the surrounding homes and restaurants. I am not sure if it was so gorgeous at night because the obvious deficiencies of the buildings were shadowed by night, or if it was simply that I was deficient in recognizing it’s brilliance by day. But needless to say, the differences in the appearance of the island by night and by day were drastic.

The streets are narrow and (surprise, surprise) also not well kept. In my observation I thought the roads were obviously created with carriages in mind and not cars. The Maltese don’t let this fact stop them from speeding down these narrow streets with no concern for the other cars or pedestrians for that matter. As far as they are concerned a short honk is a sufficient warning for any obstacles to quickly or mystically remove themselves from danger. Much, much worse than in Italy.

It was so funny when I noticed that a majority of the cars in Malta have jacked up side-view mirrors from trying to navigate the narrow streets that do not accommodate them. [edit: Later I found out from Bruno (Valentines’ father) that the made the streets narrow intentionally as a defensive strategy. It made it difficult for attacking troops to navigate the tight spaces.] I am disappointed now that I realized I probably won’t be able to get a picture of the street we went down when we first arrived. It was “San Francisco” so extreme that would make you gasp. Its ridiculous steep downward slope was nothing compared to how narrow it was, plus there were car all lined up along one side, they were all parked up onto the “sidewalk,” which only gave it at best two extra feet. I would doubt that a car could comfortably fit down the street to begin with, before the cars were parked on the side. But there they were and down Carmelo went. Crazy Italian! To fit he had to drive down the street and up onto the opposite sidewalk, again only giving him about two extra feet. It was so tight that at one point the side mirrors smack forward against the car, one side hitting a side mirror of a car parked on the right and the other hitting the building on the left. I couldn't beleive he managed it, he may be a crazy driver but he has got skills, I can tell you that.***And just as a side note at one point during our trip Carmelo hit a pedestrian with his side-view mirror (only going like 3mph) and then gave him the Italian equivalent of the finger for slowing him down. I tried so hard not to laugh under my shock. It was BRILLIANT!!!

I would be remiss if I left out the he night life in Malta, it borders on absurd especially on the weekends, when hundreds of young people crowd the streets, so not surprising there are bars lined up in every direction. A bar, next to a pub, next to a restaurant/bar, next to a pub, next to a coffee house with a full bar, then a convenient store where you can by cigarettes (*a must, don’t you know) on every street (this is no joke, really). The hotel I was saying in for the first three nights was very near the Bay Street which seemed to be the center of the party scene, after I was moved to a much nicer room a little farther from the ciaos. The timing could not have been more perfect if I planned it myself. On Saturday, when the mass of people seemed to spawn so quickly into a number that only 50 caged rabbits could reproduce, I was able to spend the evening leisurely on the balcony of my room without too much distraction from the noise of the pubs and inebriated people. Now I don’t want you to think that this behavior is absent during the week, honestly, I should have not been surprised when Saturday fell. I have to admit that, if I was not alone, I might have wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and I know a few people who would have way too much fun here. But it was completely obvious that going out by myself wound be a massive mistake, and not one which I was willing to make. Although, I know that I could really just be a fly on the wall, dressed in the clothes I own. I would never be noticed next to all the girls in their barely there outfits in 5-6 inch heals. I have a feeling that my Converse All Stars and roomy jeans would not have made the list of acceptable dress code, (now I do own some dresses that I might have been able to get away with but they didn’t offer the peep show that seemed necessary, so I was S.O.L.) but I am perfectly okay with that. But the men were not all that different then the ones I am used to, surprised? No, I didn’t think so.

It’s Tuesday, Sept. 18th. I am not sure if that should excite me or not. A few more days in Malta but these last days may show themselves as the most difficult yet. Carmelo and Valentina are here because of an Engineering Conference, that begins tomorrow I think. But that means that they have been preparing for it all day today. That leaves me with Alessandro and his grandparents and no one to translate… well Ale could but he basically refused to do so. He is lazy when it comes to speaking English and really only speaks it when it is just me and him, and very well might I add. If there are others around that speak Italian he some how forgets how to speak English…. It is quite an unusual disease, one to which there seems to be no cure. The lack of communication was really the only major downfall of the experience. It was an undeniable realization of how difficult not knowing the language can be. Valentina and Carmelo were translating some so it could have been much worse. I know that it was mostly my fault, I could have asked more questions about what was going on, but I just tried my best to just go with the flow. It only backfired a few times.

Okay, enough about me, more about Malta. Gozo is an island right next to Malta, just slightly smaller. I believe they are part of the same country (Malta). Anyway… we all agreed that we liked Gozo… though it is much like Malta it is quieter and they seem to keep up the buildings better. Although there really isn’t much to do there, after touring a castle we spent the day swimming in the ocean, then back on the fairy to Malta. It was a good day. The water here seems bluer than the pacific coast off California (I think it has to do with the kelp being different here), and thankfully much clearer and warmer. In the bay I could see straight down to the sea floor, but the further out you get the more difficult it is to see, of course. Oh and while exploring a small cavern underwater I saw an eel. I have to admit it gave me a jolt; I decided to immediately swim away, so not to bother it. Really, I wasn’t scared… not at all, ok, maybe I was scared a little, but it was really big! It was curled up in the rock, so it was difficult to see how long it was but it was maybe five inches thick (tall? Oh I don’t know… you know what I mean.) So, BIG, bigger than ones I saw at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

After swimming for a bit Carmelo showed me salt! Ha ha, I know sounds exciting doesn’t it, what he showed me are call salt plans. Malta and Gozo don’t really have beaches like in California. For the most part both are just big limestone rocks that formed islands. So the beaches are just where the limestone cliffs are close enough to the water that you can just clime down the limestone and carefully make your way into the ocean. On some of the more frequented “beaches” people have carved ways in to the stone to make it easier to get out to the deeper waters. Okay, back to the salt plans, I don’t know how old some of these salt fields are but at one time people carved into the rock shallow squares, which resembles a giant chessboard, to harvest the salt. They on average seemed only to be a few inches deep but once in a while you will see one large enough to bathe in (I was tempted but stale ocean water didn’t interest me as much as it could have). The tide would come up and deposit water in to all the graphs and the sun evaporated the water the salt is left behind. It is very tasty… he he, really I am not sure how but it was remarkably clean. And when you crumble the flakes into your hand you would swear that someone just poured store Mc. Cormicks Sea Salt into it. If the battery for my camera hadn’t died I would have loved to have been able to get a picture…. I may have to settle on trying to find one online.

I don’t know if I would suggest someone coming here for a vacation but if you do find yourself in Malta and you want to see some sites here are my suggestions…
M’dina! A town surrounded by a magnificent wall, the streets and building here are outstanding. It was my favorite city. I have some great pictures from there… we went there before my cameras battery kicked the bucket. It is absolutely lovely, night or day! **A must-see is the Co-Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, in Valleta. It is amazing! Also in Valleta there is some great Maltese restaurants… it isn’t easy to find real Maltese food. The influence of Italian cuisine has made its mark, but if you tell the waiter you want Maltese food and not Italian… oh my word… so good. Italian food is fantastic but Maltese food is great too. ** St. Julian’s Bay/Paceville for the bar scene, enough said. ** There of course are other things to be seen there, but these were my favorites.