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Friday, November 18, 2022
Malta is made up of three islands. The largest is called Malta. The smallest is named Comino. The third island is Gozo. We took a ferry from The Grand Harbor to Mgarr on Gozo. The trip took 45 minutes and cost €7.50 per person each way. Credit cards are accepted.
There’s a number of things to see and do on Gozo and the island is large enough that some sort of transportation is needed. We decided to use the Hop On/Hop Off Bus. We had considered renting a car so we could cover more ground but sitting on the right side of the car, driving on the left side of the road, shifting with your left hand, and driving on narrow, hilly, unfamiliar roads just wasn’t in the cards. We’d made what we thought was a realistic itinerary before we went but the real gating factor was the ferry. The first trip was at 10:00 am and the last one back was at 5:00 pm. Considering that we lost an hour and half for the trip itself that only left us with five and a half hours for sightseeing. That’s really not enough time even if you only want to cover the “must see” items.
We got to the harbor around 10:50 am. The bus left around 11:15 am. We got off at the first stop to see the Rotunda Church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist in the town of Xewkija. The original structure on the site was a small chapel from 1665. The parish needed something larger. In 1951 they broke ground on a huge new project sporting the world’s third highest unsupported dome. The church and its dome are so large that it can be seen from just about anywhere on the island. The church was completed in 1971. The original stone chapel was reassembled behind the main altar. It’s very pretty. There are some lovely period paintings and the floor tiles and main altar are made of Carrara marble. We paid €3.00 per person (cash only) to ride an elevator to the roof where we were able to walk all the way around the building and see every part of the island.
The bus stopped for ten minutes at The Magro Food Village in the town of Savina. The region is known for their tomatoes and the store for its fig chutney. We bought some of the chutney. (The chutney is very good.) It’s a typical tourist trap. No doubt they have an agreement with the bus operator to bring them a captive audience.
Our next stop was Victoria, the capital of Gozo. From Neolithic times the town was called Rabat but it was changed in 1887 to honor the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The main attractions there are the citadel which features the magnificent Cathedral of the Assumption. Entry into the citadel is free but we paid €4.00 per person (cash only) to see the church and the associated museum.
The church is a beauty. Based on the Latin cross design it was constructed in 1697 and it was dedicated just a few years later in 1716. All of the many works of art were throughly and clearly labeled. We only wish more churches adhered to this practice. One of the more celebrated features is the Trompe-l’œil painted dome. It is, in fact, rather flat but it has the appearance of being many stories high.
The museum was divided into several sections. One was on the church’s high ranking clergy, including a specially made chair for the Pope’s visit in 1990. Another section was the typical treasury which was laden with silver altar pieces and candlesticks. Their prized possession was a gilt-brass Medieval Pyx from 13th or 14th Century AD. The last section was a portrait gallery including paintings with religious themes, local church and elected officials.
There are a number of other things to see within the citadel. They are mostly minor and mainly intended to separate tourists from their money. After visiting the museum we walked around the perimeter walls of the citadel. It’s the highest point on the landscape for many miles. We could see most of the island from our vantage point.
Back on the bus we made a number of stops before coming back to the harbor. We stopped at a number of beaches that, even in November, seemed quite popular. Outside of one town, high on an isolated hill, we saw their version of Rio’s, “Christ the Redeemer”. It was visible from miles away. One of the beaches was Marsalforn – one of the many places where Saint Paul landed on his way from North Africa to Rome as a prisoner. We were told that there was nothing there to commemorate his stopover.
We had wanted to stop at a few other places but instead went back to the port. We wanted to make sure we wouldn’t miss the last ferry. We got there with 90 minutes to spare. One of the “must see” places there is The Church of the Madonna of Lourdes. It’s high up on a cliff overlooking the harbor and appears to be situated just like its namesake in Lourdes, France. There’s even a statue of Mary embedded into the mountain face. We climbed up there to see it. When we got there it was closed. A local woman told us that it was only open on weekends. We peered inside through a grating and snapped a few pictures. It’s a local, bright chapel built in the late 1800s.
Back at a cafe in the harbor we ordered a drink called Kinnie. It’s a local soda with a unique taste. It most resembles Aperol but contains no alcohol. It’s not sweet so it will quench your thirst. It’s exactly what we needed after our climb. By the time the ferry got back to Valletta the sun had been down for a while. We hung out at the waterfront gardens for a while and enjoyed the lights across the harbor before eating falafel for dinner at a Lebanese restaurant.
Saturday, November 19, 2022
We went back to the Upper Barrakka Gardens for our tour of the Lascaris War Rooms, named for a famous Knight of the 16th Century. This tour was in the same place as the H.Q. Tunnel Tour and used some of the same tunnels, but its rooms were even further below ground.
Part of the tour was about the coordination of the island’s defenses in World War II. We saw some new rooms but otherwise it wasn’t much different than what we’d seen previously. The other part of the tour centered on the planning and implementation of Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily in July, 1943. The overarching plans for the invasion were agreed upon in Algeria but the details were worked out in Malta. It seems that Eisenhower himself spent many weeks in these rooms working with the generals to come up with a comprehensive plan. Apparently, there is a 1953 movie called, “The Malta Story“, that is a realistic depiction of the siege of Malta in World War II. We’re going to rent it tonight.
After lunch at a sandwich shop we went to the art museum. We didn’t expect much – and we were pleasantly surprised. The museum was on three levels. It started with mostly Maltese artists from the last 100 years. From there it went back to the late Medieval and early Renaissance periods with paintings depicting religious themes, and Grandmasters from the Order. There was a nice work by Caravaggio, a Reni, and an atypical painting from Rubens among them. The last bunch of works were paintings, drawings, and sculpture from the British period. There was a set of busts depicting (then) Prince Charles as a boy, and young versions of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. Ironically, the only work of note that we knew about beforehand was a painting by Turner. We looked for it but never found it.
We had dinner at home. For dessert we ate some pastries we obtained in the supermarket. One was Imqaret, the date filled pastry which we’d had before. (Imqaret in Maltese is pronounced im-ar-et with the accent on the ar. The Q is silent.) The other was a traditional Maltese Honey Ring. They are only available during the Christmas Season. They are similar to a chewy chocolate brownie and are flavored with molasses, anise, cinnamon, and clove. They are quite good. Rather bizarrely, the ingredients don’t list honey at all!
