St. Paul’s Grotto and Manikata

It seems that no matter where you go in Malta, you are sure to see some Saint or another memorialized in some statue, shrine, or placard.  I saw this Mary and Jesus in the suburbs of Mdina near the castle and thought that they would make a fine photo.  The tour guides and the tour books all describe the Maltese as “fervently Catholic,” but I have noticed quite a few “under aged” young ladies at the night clubs.  It seems that the drinking age is, well, there isn’t one.  I’ve seen young women as young as 15 or 16 “hanging out” and dancing along with the rest of the 20, 30, and 40 year olds.  What was it they said about the Catholic school girls in America?  I begin to wonder if the stereotype doesn’t have some base in truth?

Next on the stop was the Museum of Roman Antiquities.  I only took a few shots because as we pulled up and parked it suddenly started raining quite heavily.  I tucked the camera away and did not take it out again at this stop.  The ruins, of the Roman age have been weathered but some that were not exposed survived well.  A large tile mosaic floor shows life scenes from the Roman times two thousand years ago.

By the time we got to this Cathedral, I asked the tour guide when were we going to stop at St. Paul’s Grotto?  She looked surprised and said that we already passed it.  I was a bit upset, I had been wanting to come to see the Grotto for many years.  It is believed to have been where Paul lived (or was imprisoned by the Romans according to some accounts) and wrote some books of the New Testament.

She said that she didn’t think anyone would want to stop there because of the rain.  Argh!  Now I really have another reason to return to Malta.  The Grotto and the countless number of archaeological treasures that are here, I plan to come back for two weeks on my next visit – but definitely during the summer so that I can enjoy the beaches as well.

I looked at this Cathedral and had no interest.  As the tour guide went on about its importance I just sulked.  So, I don’t even know the name of it today.  I do remember one interesting tidbit of information that I gleaned from the tour guide’s speech.  She said that to confuse the Devil, two clocks were kept; one clock had the correct time and the other was a decoy.  I can’t remember why it was important that Satan couldn’t tell time, but it seemed to be important enough to buy two clocks instead of one.  Sure enough, you can see that the clocks are off by about 4 hours and 15 minutes.

As we worked our way to the west coast of Malta, Manikata finally came into view beyond the rows of produce that were growing in the fields.  Malta’s mild climate provides for growing opportunities year round and our tour guide told us that Malta is self-sufficient in the production of food.  Only specialty items that cannot be grown here (like bananas) are imported.  But, Malta’s food exports more than equal the imports and the island is a farmer’s treasure.

Manikata seems to be a thriving tourist area, especially for those who want a little peace and quiet compared to Valletta or the east coast.  Manikata also has sand beaches and I did notice a few hotels under construction.

As we travelled back overland to the northeastern part of the island, we came to Saint Paul’s Bay where it appeared there was a thriving boating, fishing, and sailing businesses.  The map says that there is a nature preserve at the end of the bay (just off frame to the left)), but it seemed hard to believe as the area was so developed.

As we traveled east along the north shore of Malta, we came across so many little fortresses.  They reminded me of the forts of Bahrain, Oman, and in the Persian Gulf.  I tried to imagine the soldier guards as they watched every day for ships who may be coming to prey on the coast of Malta.  There are so many similarities with our soldiers today.  One wonders if war will ever end?

Heading to Pembroke (just west of Sliema and Valletta) I took this photo and at the left edge of the frame, out on the finger of land, you can see another little guard fortress.  I’ll definitely come back to Malta, but the next time, it will be in the summer time!

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Mosta Dome

Our first stop of major interest was the Mosta Dome (pronounced Mosta Doma for you English speakers).  The cathedral was built in 1860 by George Gronet de Vasse, a French man wo was living on Malta.  Construction took 27 years utilizing the labor of 1,500 local residents.  The tour guide reported that Mosta’s Dome is the 3^rd largest unsupported dome in the world.

It is a beautiful cathedral from the outside, but inside it is quite stunning.  In 1942 a large bomb crashed through the dome and landed into the church pews below.  Luckily the bomb failed to detonate.  If it had, it certainly would have blown the whole dome apart destroying the cathedral.  The locals attribute  the failure of the bomb to a miracle from heaven.  A display of the bomb is located on site; yeah, it was quite a large bomb – looked like a 500 pounder.

The dome is quite ornate on the inside and the church, while ornately decorated, is not too extravagant.

A wide-angle shot that I borrowed from another photographer (who was wise enough to travel with his SLR & wide-angle lense) will give you an idea of what it looks like to the naked eye – well, a lot better than my little CyberShot camera can…   I didn’t shrink this photo down too much; if you click on it, it blows up quite nicely.

Mosta Dome photo by Jean-Christophe Benoist

Outside I enjoyed some people watching and looked at the old cannons near the Dome.  I was thinking that you couldn’t have cannons like this in a major U.S. city because some fraternity would steal them as part of an initiation prank.

Once I was back on the bus, on the top of the open upper deck, I shot some photos as we zoomed down the streets of Mosta.  All of the locals seemed to get a big kick out of me, up on the bus, all wet with the wind streaming through my hair.  I got a lot of smiles and waves and it was a real fun time.

We wound our way out of Mosta and began working towards the “Silent City” of Mdina – so named because it became like a virtual ghost town after the Knights abandoned it for Valletta.  You can see the top of the Mdina Cathedral and the walled city on left side of this photo at the horizon.

Mdina was the “old” city inhabited by the Crusaders.  They prefered to be inland where they were not susceptible to sea attack.  As the technology changed and gunpowder and cannon were adapted, Mdina was not as good a choice to guard Malta.  When the Ottoman Turks sieged the city, the Knights of Malta moved the capital to Valletta where they walled the city to better defend the island from sea invasion.

I took dozens of photos on the drive from Mosta to Mdina but I was pleasantly surprised  find this photo that captured the “essence” of the middle plain in Malta.  Malta has a high concentration of rocks and these must be cleared in order to till the farmland.  The farmers stack them up into walls to separate the fields.  The photo below shows the hills, farmland, Mdina, and the neatly arranged stone walls.  Luckily, the weather broke in time to capture this shot; I was constantly taking the camera out and putting it away as we drove through rain storm after rain storm.  This photo also blows up well and I think its not too bad for a silly little Sony P9 from a moving bus.

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open air bus in the rain

After a nice English breakfast at the harbor, I joined the open-air double-decker tourist bus tour.  The first stop was at the main terminal in Valletta.  If you want to catch one of the tourist buses that round the island on the north or south tour, if you come to the Valletta bus terminal (pictured above and below), you can catch either island tour as well as the city busses that go to and from the airport.  The centerpiece of the bus terminal parking lot was a lovely fountain that the tourists surrounded on sunny days and posed for photos.  Unfortunately, my first tour day on Malta was going to be full of rain clouds.

… despite the rain, I remained on the top deck of the bus all day…

As we headed to our first destinations, I began snapping photos of Malta; I wanted to be able to show my friends and family what it looked like.  The city was much more urban than the coastal area; the streets are wider, the buildings bigger, and everyone seemed to be busy and going somewhere.  I really enjoyed the “look” of Malta with its beautiful buildings and green trees and lawns.

The beautiful archway at Valletta was originally single arch.  Later, a second archway was added and matched so well that it is difficult to tell them apart.

One of the things that impressed me the most about Malta was that no matter where you looked, you were surrounded by history.  As we drove along the road from Valletta to the old airplane hangers, I was quite surprised to see this Roman aqueduct.  The locals have just built their homes and businesses right around it and it has become an ad hoc parking lot and car covers.

An old World War II era airfield has become a market with vendors using the old quonset huts as shops.  They had all sorts of tourist items for sale as well as some other trade goods.  Part of the airfield now serves as an air museum and there were many airplanes on display for the tourists.

Just outside of the airfield, on the central plane near the center of the island, I was finally able to see the “middle” of Malta.  Farmland and vineyards stretched as far as the eye could see.  When I shot the photo of this vineyard, it started raining again.  The few tourists that were on the top deck with me scrambled down below to the safety of cover.

As there were only a few tourists as this was “low” season I could enjoy the place to myself.  It was nice that I could roam about free of the crowds.  It was a bit cold but for some reason, I decided to stay up on top.  I did get wet, I did get cold, but I really had a good time.  For the rest of the morning, despite the “no standing” rule, I stood on top of the bus, towards the front – right over the driver – and “surfed” my way across Malta somewhat akin to DeCaprio and Winslette in the Titanic.  I probably looked like a big kid standing in the rain as the bus drove around, but the Island was so beautiful, the air so clean, I just wanted to really soak it in.  I remember having a feeling of overwhelming happiness.  The kind of happiness that comes from the freedom and excitement of travel.  I can’t say that this day was the best day of my life, but it was a great day and one that I’ll always remember.

I spotted a rainbow and captured many (better) shots of it but decided to post this one as it has a marble shop in it.  Marble is quarried in Malta and, from what the tour guide said, an important industry for the country.

As I drove through some of the villages I noticed that the style of the “suburban” homes.  The houses were stacked together with shared walls and the people had an interesting habit of “naming” their homes.  Rather than posting the family name, the house was given a pet name and it was posted next to the number above the door.  I saw names like “Rainbow house,” and some that clearly appeared to be owned by (British) expats: “Big Ben.”

I realized I had a photo of our great big tour bus driving through some Malta suburbs.  I included this in the hopes that it will give you a better feel for what it looks like.  I can’t believe that huge bus could fit down these little streets…

 

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Catholicism is strong on the island and I saw many churches and altars everywhere.  Even at intersections space was made for this saint or that.  I tried to catch a photo of one and always had my camera out too late (I had to keep it in my jacket to keep the rain off of it).  At one intersection, I was able to get my camera out just in time to catch this altar of Mary as we sped away.  This altar was located, as many are, up high into the side of a building.  I also saw altars embedded into walls, buildings, aqueducts, fountains, pretty much anywhere and everywhere.

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