Malta

For the last part of our trip, we stay on the small island of Malta. It used to be under the rule of Great Britain but became its own republic in 1974. I think it's actually closer to Africa than it is to Italy.

The first day, we took it really easy and just wandered around a little bit. We loved the stripes of different colors in the sea.

The area we were staying in was by St. Paul's Bay. It is where they believe that St. Paul got shipwrecked on his way to Rome to face trial as documented in Acts.

These were apartments and garages built under the main road.

For lunch, we stopped at a little cafe near our hotel. One of the main Maltese dishes is rabbit. Gavin was brave enough to try rabbit spaghetti.

The view from our hotel room.

It is a huge beach community, with most of the tourists coming from Great Britain.

We saw these all over Europe. People would hang Santa with a ladder off of their balconies. It was meant to look like Santa was going to their house, but sometimes it looked like Santa committed suicide.

The area we were staying in was the more residential/summer home area, so it was pretty quiet. It picks up during the summer months because it has a lot of clubs and music bars. We were a little bit away from the main area on Malta, called Valletta, so we took a bus tour of the island to go there.

Our bus tour included a free bout tour of the harbour.

Our tour guide on the boat said that the steps here were built shallow so that knights wearing armor would be able to walk up the steps. If they were too steep, the knights would lose balance and tumble down the stairs.

The Valletta Waterfront, which is a new area with shopping and restaurants.

This was the ferry we took from Sicily. We had no idea that it was hollow underneath like that.

Valletta

They used old cannons as riggings along the coast line.

After the boat tour, we hopped back onto the bus to visit Mdina.

This is an ancient Roman aquaduct. I love the cars parked underneath it.

Mdina is the old capital of Malta and is a walled city on a hill in the middle of the island. Only about 300 people live within its limits now. They believe it was first inhabited around 300 B.C. It is believed that the Apostle Paul lived here for some time after his shipwreck.

They are also well known for their glass and there were several beautiful piece for sale.

The streets were really narrow with tall buildings on either side. There isn't a ton to do there as it is mostly private residences. There is some shopping, some restaurants, and a couple of museums about the knights that used to live there.

Mdina was Gavin's favorite part of Malta. He was a little upset that we were ending our adventure in Malta until we visited Mdina.

St. Paul's Cathedral in the city center.

The view of Valletta and the sea from Mdina.

Part of the city wall. It's about a 25 foot drop.

The Maltese country side.

The village of Rabat, which is considered the suburb of Mdina. The name Rabat actually means suburb in Arabic.

Gavin standing by the defensive walls of the city with Rabat in the background.

The front gate of Mdina.

The view of Mdina.

This is the Mosta Dome. In 1942, a bomb dropped on a congregation of about 300 people, but did not explode.

The next morning, we had an early flight back to Bristol to begin our journey home. We were on the wrong side of the plane to get the whole island, but we got a good part of it.

Our flight back to Bristol was really cloudy, but the clouds broke for a minute over a snow-covered mountain. I think it's the Alps because I know we flew over France at some point.

When we landed in Bristol, we got a rental car, went back to the Marriott that we've been staying at the past three month and picked up the rest of our luggage. We then drove to another Marriott right outside of Heathrow Airport. We both had early flights the next morning. Mine left first, but was delayed in taking off. First, they switched planes right before we boarded, so some people had tickets for seats that didn't exist on the plane. Then, someone who was on the flight was sick and we needed to get permission from air control to fly with them on board.

We both made it safely. Gavin landed before me and was able to get our luggage together so we could get through customs. After another taxi ride, we were finally home.

Catania

After Pompei, we rushed back to Sorrento to grab our luggage and take the train back to Naples where we caught the overnight ferry to Catania, Sicily. We thought we had a couple more hours before the ferry, but I read the time wrong (stupid military time) and we got to the dock 15 minutes before our ferry left. After we got our tickets, we wen running towards the boat, which of course was at the farthest point from the ticket booth. I made it to the boat before Gavin, since he had the heavier luggage, but was so out of breath by time I got there, I couldn't talk to the staff. I just kind of pointed at Gavin. The guys laughed and said something in Italian and Americans. :)

Here's our room for the night. We were in the very front of the boat, with the window over looking the bow of the ship. It wasn't that bad sleeping on the boat. I thought I would have a hard time, but I found the rocking of it really relaxing. We had the most beautiful view of the stars when we went to bed. Living in a big city on the east coast, we don't get to see a lot of stars.

This is the back of the ship, where the car get on and are stored for the trip. Since it was during the low season, it wasn't that full. We were told that it is usually jammed packed.
We ate dinner on the boat, which was alright. This is a giant bowl of Parmesan cheese. I found it hilarious that in the states, restaurants are so stingy with Parmesan cheese while in Italy, they give you a giant bowl with each meal.

We arrived in Catania early the next morning.

The view of Mount Etna, the volcano near Catania.

The ferry we took.
We had to catch the ferry to Sicily. There wasn't another one for us to take. We also had to catch another ferry that night to Malta, which was the only one we could take before our flights back to the U.K. We couldn't find the office for the ferry we needed that night. We asked a few people, wandered around the dock for about an hour and were starting to panic. Finally, we asked the dock police to help and we finally found it. They weren't open yet, so we waited.
After purchasing our tickets for the evening ferry and getting all of the important stuff out of the way, we went into Catania to explore the city. We went to the Piazzo Duomo, which is the main square of the city. We got some breakfast at this little cafe. We were told what we got was traditional Sicilian food. I got a fried rice ball with cheese in it.
The Amenano Fountain, near the Piazzo Duomo.
The open air fish market.

The Catania Cathedral. This is where Bellini is buried.

In the Piazzo Duomo, there were several elderly men gathered, talking with each other. You could tell that they showed up every morning to chat with others.

The Elephant Fountain in the Piazzo Duomo.

We took a bus tour around Catania. It had just started up and wasn't that great. However, we were able to see more of the city. The tour basically told us that there was an earthquake, then the city was rebuilt. I'm sure there is much more to the city's history than that. :)

The Ursino Castle, which was built in the 13th Century.

The fountain of Neptune at the central train station.

Some Roman ruins in the middle of the city.

The Bellini Statue.

The statue of Ferdinand I.

After the bus tour, we walked a little around the city and came across this crazy market. You could buy anything and everything there, including illegal DVDs. I got some fabulous boots. There was a food section, which people from the country side brought their food to sale. There was some of the biggest lemons we have ever seen. Some were seriously the size of our heads.

After wandering the city, we went back to the port to catch our other ferry to Malta. The company had a bus that took us a couple of hours away to another port where we got on the ferry to Malta. This ferry only took a couple of hours long to get there and seemed much bigger than the other ferry.

As with every other place, we wished we had more time to explore Sicily. We hardly got to see anything there. While riding the bus to the next port, the countryside looked beautiful.