Malta!

We have arrived in the port of Valletta, Malta. It’s a wonderful jumble of old and new, constructed on top of a rock fortress and protected harbor. Malta is in the middle of the Med, just about a hundred miles south of Sicily, and about 200 miles east of Tunisia. It is only about 20 miles long but the location has dictated its importance, and its history. It has been at the crossroads of trade routes for centuries and has also endured invasions by many of the worlds greatest civilizations.

Nearby is the town of Mdina, (pronounced “um-deena”), which is where the apostle Paul is reported to have made his home after being shipwrecked in the year 60 AD. We are going off to that town for a bit of a tour this morning of the cathedral and catacombs before we return to Valletta for the afternoon.

Found in 1566, Valletta is the capital of Malta and it streets are lined with baroque buildings and churches. The city is filled with parks and quaint lanes and hills, lots of hills. Fortunately, there is also one very tall elevator.
Malta is also home to the worlds oldest ancient standing buildings. Even older than Stonehenge, the Tarxian temples are 5,600 years old.

The entry to the harbor is an ‘S’ curve requiring some slick parallel-parking types of maneuvers. We awoke before sunrise to head up on top of the bridge to watch the approach and tried to freeze ourselves with the wind and cooler temperatures. It will be a warmer day (62 degrees) and sunny so we will have another beautiful port day...the predicted rain has held off for yet another day. I’m going to try and post a picture of Malta, so will keep this post short...well, shorter.