Yup, we are here… actually in St Julian’s… just west of Valetta and Birgu (Victoriosa). Sorta a resort center area. Quite a few places on the water and in from the water… and, this would make Jillian happy,close to a street in, a large area of clubs, etc.
As we landed in Malta, we knew to not expect a lot of trees, etc, and yup, that was the case. The language is both English and Maltese, English is mandatory in school so makes communication really, really easy (I do notice casual conversations between Maltese is not English, but Maltese)!
We checked in our place and ended up with this humongous suite… living room, dining room, small kitchen, bedroom and two baths. Nice, but feels way too big and kinda impersonal. Not that I’m complaining… just different! And heck, we can both take showers at the same time, and not with each other…
Went around for a walk of the hotel and then the neighborhood, managed to find some yummy gelato of course. Stopped by the concierge and was able to find someone to give us a personal tour of the island and help me locate the stuff I had about my dad. Saturday we would begin our journey.
Saturday morning: Met Ray, who would take us around, at 9:30. Okay, first things first, I had to get use to the cars driving on what we feel is the wrong side of the road. Jerry had me sit in the front seat so I could talk with Ray easier. Egads… I always thought cars were going to hit us, cuz they were on our side of the road.. a few gasps now and then came from my lips… and I can truthfully say, I am still NOT use to it. So weird when you go to turn right and you have to be in the left lane…
We headed off first to find the church where my dad was baptized and his parents were married: St Lawrence’s. However, on our way we toured a bit and went to Il Gardjola, ‘The Watchtower”… overlooking the harbor. Everything is so historical here. Did you know the island has over 7000 years of history. Was originally settled way back then by folks from Sicily (only 60 miles away)… Oh no, I’m getting into a history lesson… my bad!
The Watchtower looked over the harbot and, as luck would have it, the day was the beginning of the “Rolex Middle Sea Race”…. Lots and lots of sailboats, hanging around getting ready for the start at noon (it was about 10:30 when we were there). Weather was drizzly but, more of a concern for the sailors, was there wasn’t tons of wind…Never have heard how the race went… they head out to Sicily and then, well, who knows?
Back in the car and we headed out to Birgu/Victoriosa and St Lawrence Church. Looks right onto another Harbor, The Freedom Monument is also in front of the church… representing England’s help through the years etc. At one point, good old Napoleon had dropped by the island, took over, stole gobs of church and art stuff, ran the country… that dude got around! Anyway, Malta and the English have been ‘buds’ since the 1800’s. They helped get Malta back on track & away from Napoleon! Malta did not become an independent nation till, I think, the early 70’s or late 60’s.
Went into St Lawrence Church (oldest church on the island) and wow… Met a man at the door who had mannerisms just like my dad! He marveled that I had Dad’s original Baptismal Certificate and a copy of his birth certificate. I think my sister has Dad’s parents Marriage Certificate which also took place at that church and she gave me that date. Anyway, the church survived the bombings during the war, and was quite beautiful. I found one altar boy polishing the silver and another woman preparing flowers for in front of the statue of the Blessed Virgin. I got tears in my eyes as I thought that my father’s family had set foot in this church, and now I had. We talked with the gentleman again and showed him the address I had gotten from my cousin John that was on Grandma’s (and the kids) passport to come to the USA. Alas, that address was still there, but the building had been bombed and was now rebuilt and not the same owners. Oh well, we did walk by it on our tour of the town.
(As an aside, John had a photo of my Aunts, Dotty and Mary, John’s mom, standing in front of a door of the house where Dotty was born. Alas, no address was available.)
The streets and homes in Birgu are very beautiful, but in a totally different way that while in Italy. The streets/walkways are very clean, very smooth and and very narrow. That helps keep the building cooler as the sun does not heat up the area. I also noticed, folks, when they were home, and had the front door open, would be inside and, say, reading near the door, but with no lights on. Electricity is very expensive, so they don’t turn on the lights when a sliver of light is available through the door.
As we left Birgu, I felt like I had come and now anything else was icing on the cake!
I freaked out more than once... these cars coming at us always seem like they are on our side of the road...
Monument commemorating the British and Maltese Friendship
St Lawrence Church... Oldest on on the island...
The Maltese Cross
No comments:
Post a Comment