Wednesday 23rd May

Had a later start this morning as d*** tried to get some progress re the visa card farce. After a somewhat frustrating call it turned out that all Australian transactions are frozen, so on to another card to keep the world rolling.

After breakfast we went to catch a bus to M'dina the old capital before Valletta & Rabat its suburb outside the wall. This proved harder than we expected as there were 2 stops about 100m apart & naturally we chose the wrong one initially. It was quite cool with a biting wind & we were well rugged up. Whilst the buses are fairly modern they are often totally full & then just go straight past people at the bus stops.

M'dina is a small medieval walled city which has been occupied since before the Phoenicians arrived & has all the characteristics with narrow curved streets & alleys which caused Jane to stop every 10m to photograph it.

First stop was the Cathedral, a miniature form of the one in Valletta with the pillars & arches all draped with tailored hangings in heavy brocade. Before we went in we visited its museum which, as with so much in Malta, seemed a bit ordinary until we ascended to the first floor where the art works gave us quite a shock as they were marvellous, ranging from huge altar pieces to quite small studies. One room was full of Durer's prints which are small but quite exquisite. It also held a fascinating collection of documents including a deposition from Carraveggio to the Inquisition re another artist's bigamy.

From there we wandered around the tiny city & out into Rabat to go to see the Wignacourt Museum built on the site of St Paul's Grotto. This combines the grotto with access to WW2 shelters cut into the limestone & Roman catacombs & another fine museum with furniture pictures & sacred silverware. One aspect that surprised us was that although the government cut the tunnels for the bomb shelters, individual families excavated their own rooms which were numbered & in some cases had tiled floors.

After beating our retreat, we had some food & waited for the bus back to Valletta. The ride back seemed even more cramped than before as the bus was full when we left the first stop in Rabat & it was a virtual express for most of its route as waiting people were just ignored.

Jane spent the evening down loading her masses of photos to set up the next stages of the blog.

Thursday May 24th

Had a lazy day today.

Walked into Valletta & had the coffee before visiting the Anglican Cathedral, which was quite austere by local standards but has some fine classical features.

From there we moved on for a short tour of the Manoel theatre which was established in 1731 & is one of the oldest surviving venues in Europe. The guide did her explanations in Spanish & English & was very knowledgeable about theatre throughout the world.

Then on to Our Lady of Mt Carmel church a big circular building with a huge oval dome extensively rebuilt since WW2 with a beautiful marble inlaid floor. Close by was a small old chapel of the same order about 10m by 5m which was well adorned. The Maltese certainly don't have to go too far to find their nearest church.

We completed the morning with a tour of the Casa Rocca Piccola a 16th century home of a noble family still lived in by the 9th baron. Although it was relatively small with a strange selection of items on display it gave us some insight into how the other half lived in Malta. Beneath the house are bomb shelters built for people in the war. These were cut from the limestone extending an old cistern for water storage. All house in Valletta were required to collect & store water from their roofs & the excavated stone was used in the construction of the buildings, thus solving 2 problems with a single solution.

After failing to find a local bus we walked down to the waterside & caught a ferry to Sliema across Marsamxett harbour. Sliema is an upmarket seaside suburb somewhat a la Surfer's Paradise although the 'beach' is a series of rock ledges worn smooth by the sea with people sun bathing despite a fairly chilly breeze.

Took another bus back to Floriana to get the computer working again.

Friday 25th May

Started early today & were at the bus stop by 7.30 to catch one to the ferry terminal for Gozo at the north of the island. All went quite smoothly including the trip across the strait to Gozo itself past Comino the little one between. The ferry is a small double ended car ferry which allows rapid loading & unloading at each terminal.

We then caught a bus to Victoria, the capital & wandered to the square with its basilica & had a drink. The town is dominated by the huge Citadella, a walled town on top of a limestone plateau dating originally back to the Carthaginians but with many owners since. It has been beautifully restored, thank you EU & is well worth a visit.

Within its confines is a fine cathedral, a few shops & it is well signed. One starts the visit with the 'Gozo Experience' a 10 minute, deafening audio visual presentation in the basement which could be quite upsetting to some since it features the violent history of the place in this locked space. Outside the views of Gozo from the battlements were wonderful as it dominates the landscape. Despite its rocky nature there was quite a lot of small scale agriculture around the town.

After lunch we took a bus ride for about 20 minutes to a couple of villages & then the same bus down to the ferry to return. Gozo looked a great place for a restful holiday.

The return journey was without incident but we both dozed on the bus back to Floriana & were in bed pretty early exhausted by our exertions.

Saturday 26th May

Late start today after our efforts yesterday but decided to improve our knowledge of pre history with a visit to the Hagar Qim & the Mnajdra Temples near the south west coast of the island. For once our Lonely Planet gave us a bum steer on which buses to use so we took one to Rabat & eventually caught another to the site.

The temples are considered to be the oldest man made structures in the world dating between 3600 & 3200BC well before the pyramids in Egypt. The upper temple Hagar Qim consists of 5 small rooms with curved walls making a pear shaped structure which is thought to have been roofed with large slabs.

500m nearer the cliffs is the Mnjadra complex of 3 semi circular which appears to have been designed to shine the sun's light on its doors at the solstices. Both are made with large limestone blocks including one of 20 tons and it would have taken tremendous resources to build them. They are both covered with dome like awnings to protect them from the elements.

We detoured to see a Knights' watchtower on our way back up to the entrance & somewhat regretted it as it was quite warm & the path was rocky.

After a reviving coffee we caught a bus back to Floriana which took less than half the time we took to get there. To our surprise & disappointment our unit had been left open after some new loo paper had been left.

One great thing about where we are is that there is a terrific little bakery just on the next corner who uses a wood fired oven & we treat ourselves to the best bread since our favourite baker De Campo went out of business many years ago. Another bizarre feature is the tiny grocers shops around which hardly have any range of products but luckily do sell beer & wine. Even in Valletta most shops are still independents & the chains have hardly penetrated.