After spending most of the month in the Mediterranean, we belatedly celebrated Thanksgiving when we returned to Canada. Celebrating means enjoying some tasty food. Clear Fall days can be spectacular, and we returned to find the leaves in riotous celebration of autumn. We returned home to Cowichan Bay to considerable fanfare, with a very impressive welcome party. Lisa never wants a birthday celebration, but her special day was recognized and acknowledged - we even had a mocha cake log from June. Our neighbourhood likes to celebrate Halloween, and we once again had many trick-or-treaters and plenty of fireworks. Of course we watched some more movies in October.
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Our studio featured original tiles and a traditional Maltese window box. Despite being geographically small, there is a lot to see in Valletta; we wandered around seeing the majority of the sights on our first day there. The name "Malta" comes from the period of the country's history when it was under Phoenician rule from 800 - 480 BC. It is derived from the word "mallet", meaning "shelter". Starting on the 17th, we began a routine of taking a bus to another part of the island in the morning, then returning to our studio for lunch and a break before heading back into Valletta for more exploration. Thursday morning we visited Mdina, but saw more of the capital afterwards. Valletta has many churches, the most impressive, famous, and visited of which is St. John's Co Cathedral. Malta is known for its window boxes, and Valletta has the widest array. The Siege Bell Fort Saint Angelo We actually stayed in Floriana, an extension of Valletta outside the original walled city. The Valletta waterfront where the cruiseships dock is actually in Floriana, as is the famous Triton Fountain. On the 18th, we walked the promenade from Sliema to St. Julien's before returning 'home' to Floriana. Each day we tried to take a slightly different route walking to and from Valletta. On the 19th, we made our way to the other side of the Grand Harbour to visit "The Three Cities" of Birgu, Senglea, and Cospicua. At the very end of Valletta is Fort St. Elmo, where they have apparently filmed at least six movies. On Sunday the 20th, we visited the Marsaxlokk Open Market and then went to Saint Peter's Pool where I jumped into the ocean. We spent all of the 21st in Valletta and Floriana. We admired the Church of Saint Paul's Shipwreck among others. On our final day in Malta, we visited the beaches along St. Paul's Bay, walking the promenade that connects Qawra, Bugibba, and St.Paul's Bay. We were able to enjoy several beautiful sunsets while in Valletta. We watched another great sunset on our final night in Malta before heading to bed early in anticipation of our 4:30am taxi to the airport. On the 23rd, I watched the sunrise from the window of our plane on the first leg of our journey home.
We began our walk at the eastern end of the bay at Qawra Point Beach. Almost right beside it is Ta Fra Ben "Beach". A little further west we found the tiny artificial Bugibba Perched Beach. Malta has many megalithic temple ruins that all pre-date Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids. This is the Bugibba Temple. The Gillieru Harbour area had clear water and more salt pans. We ended our stroll at the Wignacourt Tower. We viewed the Basilica of the Assumption of our Lady, commonly known as the Mosta Rotunda, from the bus.
The waters of St. Peter's Pool weren't as calm and turquoise as we'd seen on the internet, but that didn't stop me from jumping in after the hot walk to get there. The soft limestone seems to invite people to carve their marks...
What began as an authentic fish market in a quiet fishing village has developed into an over-rated market catering mostly to tourists. We combined the Sunday morning market at the harbour full of colourful fishing boats with our trip to Saint Peter's Pool. We enjoyed the traditional Maltese sweet, mqaret - deep-fried pastry filled with dates.
Just across the Grand Harbour from Valletta are "The Three Cities", the fortified cities of Birgu, Senglea, and Cospicua. The oldest, Birgu, is also known as Vittorioso, and offers the most for tourists. The Three Cities served as the house of the Knights of St. John from 1530 - 1732, with the order founding Senglea and Cospicua. We often admired the views across the harbour from Valletta's bastions.
The seawall promenade continues much further in both directions than we were willing to walk, connecting several seaside cities. We enjoyed the views across the harbour to Valletta. I was intrigued and fascinated by the old pools carved into the shoreline. We strolled all the way from the Sliema ferries to St. Julian's Bay.
We made it to the real "King's Landing" - Mdina! Just like Ned Stark, I ran into a little trouble... While there, Lisa came up with the idea for an app that adds flames to your selfie or video while playing the Game of Thrones theme song. The fortified "Silent City", which served as the island's capital from antiquity to the medieval period, now has a population of under 300. Before returning to our room for a beer, we walked around Dingli and to the nearby Dingli Cliffs. Bus 56 provided a "scenic route" back.
After an early breakfast, we caught a bus to the ferry. The ferry took us back to the island of Malta, where we caught another bus to the airport. All had gone well until we learned of limited access to the Catania airport due to ash clouds from volcanic activity on Mt. Etna. Our flight ended up being delayed by four hours, which made us need to re-schedule check-in with our Airbnb host. From the plane, we were able to see Mt. Etna with a puff of ash rising above its peak. We arrived after dark on Friday evening and wandered around for a short time with our backpacks, before eventually checking in to our apartment after our host got off work. The apartment, "Cortile Pardo", is located right at the main, most central square, Piazza Duomo. Our temporary apartment features a very narrow, cool spiral staircase. On our first morning in Catania, we wandered through the fish market, discovering that it soon gives way to a meat market, and then an extensive outdoor produce market with great prices and mostly friendly vendors. We picked up nectarines, bananas, and red peppers. #jamesonstreetart We spent most of Saturday visiting Syracuse. When we returned to Catania, we walked to a supermarket to stock up on groceries. En route, we found another huge outdoor market selling all manner of things. At the supermarket, 12 euros bought us a huge haul - limoncello, beer, gnocci, cheese, chocolate, yoghurt, potato chips, lemon sorbet, bottled water, a baguette, and eggs! Being so close to the main piazza, there is noise late into the night, but I still managed to sleep well. Church bells woke me early Sunday morning, but I immediately went back to sleep. After breakfast, we checked out the historic Via dei Crociferi, featuring four churches and many baroque buildings. The surrounding area is dotted with still more churches, several of which were conducting services. We ended up sitting in a park watching an aerobic dance group set up for a video shoot, and then heading to the grocery store once more. There's even a Roman amphitheatre on the main tourist road, Via Etnea. We took advantage of having our own kitchen! After consulting the internet, we went for another walk to see the Castello Ursino and the Monastery of San Nicolo. In between them, we also stumbled upon more Roman ruins in the heart of the modern city. We spent Monday visiting Taormina and its beautiful surroundings. After deciding against a trip to Mt. Etna, Tuesday became a rare "spare day" in our itinerary. This meant a photographic expedition through the fish and food markets, as well as a trip to buy running shoes. On our last day in Catania, we made several short local excursions. Catania University, 1434 At the last moment, we decided to go for yet another walk - this time to La Playa. Catania's beach has the potential to be incredible, as the sandy swath goes on for kilometres. Unfortunately, it is dirty and untended like the entire area, and the old facilities seem virtually abandoned. We'd prearranged a 5am transfer to the airport for our return to Malta.
Isola Bella and its crystal clear water made for a beautiful first stop. The coast near Taormina boasts many nice beaches. Above: Looking up at Taormina / Below: Looking down at Taormina Castelmola affords visitors expansive views of the entire area. We could see the ancient Greek Theatre on the drive back down. Taormina is justifiably touristy; we joined the fray and strolled Corso Umberto between Porta Messina and Porta Catania. The side streets provide colour, interest, and photo opportunities. Piazza IX Aprile
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