Home to Boston

At 2:40 am, we headed from Malta for Rome. On the seat of the airlines was the local British newspaper with headlines reading: “No Mercy: As second massive blitz hits the Taliban, Blair warns Britain to expect reprisals”. Not the most reassuring headline.

We arrived in Gatwick at 5:00 am and took the bus to Heathrow for yet another wait in the shopping lounge. Our flight to Boston was checked in and we were put in a holding area waiting to bus to the 747. We saw a very frightening looking man- Arabic, stubble on his face, dressed in a frumpy gray suit. In the holding area, he stared straight ahead- not looking at anyone or anything. When they called us for the bus, he stayed in his seat. What a creepy feeling. John called him “Terrique”. Upon arrival in Boston, everyone anxiously got up to leave when we got to the gate. The captain came on telling us that they were going to be holding us in the plane for a while. After a few minutes passed, we were told that we could exit, but needed to show our passports at the airplane door to US Immigration. Low and behold, when we got through Customs, there was Terrique sitting in the INS holding pen. We never did find out who he was…..

Our last day in Malta

Our last day in Malta. We headed to Valetta on the local bus and to the ticket offices of Air Malta and British Air to confirm our flights. No problem with the Air Malta tickets, but at BA we were told that our flight from London to Boston had been cancelled. So, they got us a direct flight from Malta to London, connecting to a Boston flight. The only glitch- the Malta to London flight left at 2:40 am.

We decided to make the most of our last few hours in Malta and headed to the “Wartime Experience”. Malta’s role in WWII was critical. It suffered 154 days of continuous bombing in 1942.

We finally got to St John’s Co-Cathedral. It was built in 15 73-78 as the church of the Knights of St John. The inside is sheer baroque. On either side of the nave are eight chapels dedicated to the langues of the Order of St John. It’s as if each one tried to out-do the next in decoration

Photo courtesy of Flickr

John was tempted to see “The Siege of Malta”, but we walked by and realized that it was a schmaltzy walk-through with bad wax dummies and awful sound track. So, we passed on the “experience” and headed to another lunch of spicy spags at our favorite restaurant in Valetta.

After lunch was the Museum of Archaeology. The only gallery open was the Neolithic Age gallery. It contained the famous female figurines found at the various Neolithic sites across the island- fertility goddesses with tiny hands and feed and huge thighs and arms. They often had removable heads.

Photo courtesy of Flickr

Our last touring stop was the War Rooms of Lascaris. With a audio guide, we walked through the tunnels that were used during WWII as Malta’s command center to track the movement of ships and aircraft.

A bit of last minute shopping while John sipped a beer at the corner café. We got dinner at Ta’Kolina and had our last meal of lampuki. Then, we had to head back and pack for our AM flight. Our landlady was picking her sister up at the airport at midnight, so she offered to take us to the airport. While waiting in line, we met a man from South Africa who had come to Malta to bury his mother. She died on a flight and the plane was routed to the closest airport, which happened to be Malta. Since there are very strict rules about transporting bodies (and huge expense), they decided to have her buried in Malta. They only allow burial for 3 years and then you are dug up. At that point, they can come back to pick up her ashes.

Mdina

Our landlady told us of the strikes on Afghanistan this morning at breakfast. With a joint British and American effort, it made the thought of flying BA a little unsettling.

Undaunted, we headed out of town on a compass heading and found our way to Mdina, the “silent city”. It is one of the best examples of a medieval walled city that is still inhabited.
In the heart of the old city is St Paul’s Cathedral, a “Maltese Baroque” cathedral.

The site on which the cathedral was built was said to be the site of the house of Publius, the chief man of the island. Publius was said to lay sick with fever when visited by St Paul who healed him. He later became the first Bishop of Malta.
Further down the street was St Agatha’s Chapel. St Agatha is said to have fled to Malta from Sicily in 249 AD following persecution by the Emperor Decius for refusing to marry Quintianus, the governor of Catania. Upon returning to Catania in 251 AD, she was imprisoned. Quintianus ordered her left breast to be cut off and then she was burnt to death over hot stones.

We found our way our of Mdina and onto country roads. With signs pointing to the Cart Ruts, we decided to make a short detour and take a look. Known as cart tracks, they are parallel ruts, V shaped and about 6-20 inches wide, running through hard rock. They uniformly measure about 54 inches apart- the width of the axle on the modern Maltese country cart. Some experts believe that they are evidence of an elaborate transport and communication system.

From there, we headed to Hagar Qim megalithic temples. The name, Hagar Qim, means “standing stones”. It’s believed that they date back 7000 years. The most famous stone is 20 feet long.

We stopped for lunch in a traditional fishing village, Marsaxlokk and had a wonderful lunch of freshly caught lumpaki. The harbor was filled with the traditional Maltese fishing boat, the luzzu, which still has the “eye of Osiris” on its bow. The Turkish fleet moored here during the Great Siege of 1565 and Napoleon landed here during the French invasion of 1798.

Back in Sliema, we returned the car and settled in for a pitcher of margaritas and a plate of spicy pork at Marianna’s.

To the Island of Gozo

We picked up our rental car and headed out on Sunday morning, thinking that the traffic would be light and give John a chance to get back into left lane driving. Sunday is evidently the time for all Maltese to get in their cars and head to the beaches. (There are approximately 375,000 people living on Malta and 150,000 cars- one for every two people) We followed the coast road around until we hit a detour and used the compass to find our way towards the island of Gozo.

We took the Marfa Point car ferry across to Gozo and started our island tour.

Our first stop was Ggantija Temples.

Constructed from 3600-3000 BC, it is believed to be the oldest free-standing monument in the world. The temples were an assembly of huge slabs of rock (ala Stonehenge), with alcoves for altars and statues associated with fertility.

From there, we headed to Victoria to see the Citadel

We had to make a pilgrimage to Ta’Pinu Church. It is a national shrine and church of pilgrimage.

On June 22 1883, a peasant from Gharb heard a voice calling to her from the isolated chapel The same voice requested that she say three Hail Marys, “In memory of the three days My Body rested in the sepulchre”. She told only one other person who admitted that he too had heard a voice on six occasions. Three years later both attested to their experiences to the Bishop. Since then miracles and narrow escapes have been attributed to the grace and intercession of Our Lady of Pinu.

John couldn’t leave Gozo without visiting Fungus Rock and the Azure Window.

Fungus Rock (also known as “The Generals Rock) is a huge 60 meter high monolith covered with seaweed. A General of the Knights discovered a rare tuber plant on the rock’s top. They believed that the plant had medicinal properties when brewed. They later discovered that it had no medicinal properties at all.

The Azure Window is the result of a geological fault created when the roof of a huge cave collapsed leaving a land-locked basin of seawater opening into the Mediterranean via a massive arch.

While heading back to the ferry, approaching the intersection near Zebbiegh, we were almost hit head-on by a 20 something driver who came speeding into our lane. We were glad we made the stop at Ta’Pinu and had the blessing of Our Lady of Ta'Pinu.

The landscape of Gozo and Malta is strange- it’s reminiscent of Syria, Israel – everything is a light honey color- the soil, the buildings. In every small village, a huge church looms up.

We wanted to miss the Sunday PM traffic heading home, so we headed back to the ferry and wandered our way through Malta. We stopped at a beachside “restaurant” for lunch- bad burgers and fries, ambled through the countryside, saw the Mosta Dome and used the compass to wobble back to Sliema.

We had dinner at Barracuda (temporarily forgetting our Rome rule of not going to the most expensive restaurants). Once again, we had good wine, reasonably good food and a huge bill- and would have had more fun with less money at a local dive.

Touring Valetta

Photo Courtesy of Flickr

Our Valetta tour day. We rented our car for the following morning and took the local bus to Valetta. The buses in Malta are hysterical. They were old British Leyland buses from the 1950’s. The drivers have decorated them and most of them have a Virgin Mary – photo or small statue- placed close by the driver.

The city was built by the Knights of St John in the 16th and 17th Centuries. The founder, Grand Master Jean Pariosot de la Valette, decreed that is should be “a city built by gentlemen for gentlemen”

We started our tour with “The Malta Experience” – a multimedia overview of Maltese history. The history of the island was amazing. It has been occupied successively by Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Sicilians, the Knights of St John, the French and the British. They only gained their independence in 1964.

In perusing the crowds, we decided that the entire island is filled with Senior Europeans – or “Sen-Euros”. They must come to Malta for the sun, cheap food- hotels and local transportation.

We walked on to the National War Museum, which would more aptly be called the National War machines museum. They did have what remains of the famous biplane, Faith. It was one of three biplanes (Faith, Hope and Charity) involved in WWII.

We strolled by Fort St Elmo, named for the patron saint of mariners. This fort bore the brunt of the Turkish arms during the Great Siege of 1552 (and was also the site of filming for the movie, Midnight Express).

Photo courtesy of Flickr

We found an air-conditioned restaurant for lunch. We had spicy spags and cooled off before our afternoon walk.

We found the Church of St. Paul's Shipwreck and saw St Paul’s wristbone and part of the block on which he was said to have been beheaded (including a replica of his severed head sitting on the block).

St Paul had a major impact on Malta- bringing Christianity to the island. In approximately 60AD, a ship carrying Paul and Luke shipwrecked on the island. They found the “barbarous” people hospitable and stayed for 3months. Malta became one of the first Roman colonies to become Christian.

At the British Hotel, we found a great view of the harbor and stopped for a beer.

As we enjoyed the view, we saw Madonna’s entourage pass by. She was in Malta filming her next movie and traveled around the island on an old passenger ship, surrounded by her armed guards (4 zodiac boats and a harbor patrol boat equipped with artillery.

We took the ferry back to Sliema and had dinner at Ta’Kolina, serving traditional Maltese food. We had Ravioli (Maltese style- stuffed with ricotta, parmesan and parsley), Timpana (macaroni layered with meat, eggs and cheese), Lampuki (white fish cooked in a sauce of tomatoes, onions, and olives) and Bragoli (rolled beef stuffed with eggs and bacon and simmered in red wine). We passed on Malta’s favorite food, rabbit.

Malta Map and Route

From Rome to Malta

It was goodbye to Rome- our last trip on the J4 bus as we headed to the train station. We got on the train with a huge group of Dutch X-er’s. At the airport, we had finally found Air Malta and we were on our way.

The taxi was waiting for us at the Malta International Airport and he whisked us to the Adelaide B&B.

On the coastal road of Sliema, it was one of the few remaining original houses on the street.

The house was beautiful- high ceilings, beautiful moldings. Marvic, the owner, gave us the room on the front of the house. Within minutes, we knew that it wasn’t going to work for us. The traffic noise alone was deafening, but the pedestrian traffic signal just outside the window and it’s constant beeping drove us crazy.

We headed out for a walk around Sliema and a check of hotel options. The weather was unseasonably hot and our room had no A/C. We checked the options and looked around town. We stopped for a sunset drink at one of the all-inclusive hotels on the beach, the Hotel Fortina.

Dinner was at Marianna’s Tex-Mex Restaurant – margaritas and spicy tex-mex food. Back at the hotel, we opted for a back room with ensuite bathroom. Liz, our guide in Rome, had warned us of the cockroaches in Malta. In our B&B, we were expecting a B&C (Bed and Cockroach). Instead, we only got a B&BB (Bed and Bed Bugs)

Our last day in Rome

We ended our stay in Rome with a bang- two walking tours in one day. Fortunately, the first tour was a bit light on content and walking. Our tour guide, Jennifer, was a true X-er complete with the best gravel voiced “yeaaaa…” we’d ever heard.

Palazzo Farnese: We started at the Palazzo Farnese, currently the home of the French Embassy. It was originally built for Cardinal Farnese, who became Pope Paul III in 1534. He commissioned Michelangelo, who had a plan for the Farnese gardens to be connected by a bridge to the Farnese home in Trastevere. The arch spanning Via Giulia is as far as he got with this project.

Photo courtesy of Flickr
Palazzo Spada: Another palazzo built for a Cardinal, it was built around 1550. When Cardinal Spada lived here in the 17th century, he commissioned Borromini to work on the building. The colonnaded gallery created by Borromini appears 4 times longer than it really is –a trompe l’oeil tunnel. It’s done with a rising floor, descending ceiling and gradually diminishing columns.

Palazzo Spada Tunnel -Photo courtesy of Flickr
Campo di Fiore: The “Field of Flowers” was one of the liveliest markets of medieval and Renaissance Rome. In the center is a statue of Giordano Bruno, burnt at the stake for heresy in 1600. The market was going strong as we walked through the piazza.

Palazzo della Cancelleria Still owned by the Vatican, it was built for the nephew of Sixtus IV. The money for its building was supposedly won by one papal nephew from another during a night of high-stakes gambling. Many claim that this is Rome’s first monument of the Renaissance. The marble used was plundered from the Theater of Pompei. .

Santa Maria del Orazione e Morte: This church is dedicated to St Mary of Prayer and Death. The doors and windows are decorated with winged skulls. The monks who founded this church collected and buried the unclaimed dead. The reminder, “Me today, three tomorrow” is on the façade.

Santa Maria e Morte - Collage courtesy of romeartlove.it
Palazzo Falconieri: This palazzo at one time passed to the Florentine Falconieri family and in 1649, Borromini added the breasted falcons.

Via Giulia In medieval times, the only access to St Peter’s Square for pilgrims coming from all over Europe was through narrow, winding streets. There were stories of brigands, pickpockets and unscrupulous curio hawkers who made the route unpleasant and hazardous. This street was laid out for Pope Julius II in the early 16th century by Bramante. It was designed to cut through the maze of medieval streets as a way to bring more pilgrims into the papal city.

Church Sant’ Eliaio degli Ore Fici This church, attributed to Raphael, was built in 1509 for the guild of goldsmiths.

Ponte Mazzini The shortest bridge over the river Tiber

Via della Lungara: “Our street”, paved with square cobblestones (the same kind used in St Peter’s square) goes in a straight line from the Vatican to Trastevere’s main piazza. It is the longest of the streets built by the Renaissance popes and one of the most popular routes for pilgrims traveling to and from St Peter’s.

Villa Farnesina Directly across from our hotel, this villa was built in 1508. The frescoes of Raphael and his pupils fill the rooms- and left us cold.

Jennifer did point us in the direction of her favorite pizza place in Trastevere- pizza by the kilo and it was wonderful.

We grabbed the (free) J4 bus and headed out to St Paul Outside the Walls. This is Rome’s second largest church. It started as a tiny chapel honoring the supposed burial site of the Apostle Paul. The original basilica was erected by Constantine and enlarged several times in the following centuries. A fire destroyed most of the ancient basilica in 1823, but the bronze doors made in Constantinople survived.

It also had one of the angriest looking Christ mosaics we’ve ever seen.

We met Gregory for our 4 hour tour of “Christian Rome”.

He started with the earliest Roman Temples - Boarium - the Temple of Hercules and Portunus. These temples date from the 2nd century BC and were saved when they were reconsecrated as Christian churches in the Middle Ages.

Photos courtesy of Wikipedia

The rectangular temple was dedicated to Portunus, the god of rivers and ports. In the 9th century, it became the official church of the Armenian community.

The circular temple is the oldest standing marble temple in Rome. It has been misnamed for centuries because its circular shape resembles the Temple of Vesta, but the inscription says that it was dedicated to Hercules.

Santa Maria en Cosmedin This church was built in the 6th century by Pope Hadrian I to serve the Greek colony. Set into the wall is the Bocca della Verita (mouth of truth). It may have been a drain cover dating from the 4th century BC. But, medieval tradition had it that the jaws would snap shut over the hand of anyone who told lies.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
Arch of Janus This arch dates from the late Empire, probably the reign of Constantine. Janus was the Roman god who protected crossroads. It was built as a covering to protect travelers at this junction between the Forum Boarium (the ancient cattle market and the oldest forum) and the Forum Olitoria (vegetable and fruit market).

Photo courtesy of Flickr
Arco degli Argentari Built in 204 AD by the money-changers in honor of Septimius Severus, his wife and two sons Geta and Caracalla. They are shown in the relief in the act of making a sacrifice. After Geta’s murder by Caracalla, Geta’s name and effigy were removed.

San Giorgio in Velabro This church is dedicated to St George, whose skull lies under the altar. In 1993, a Mafia bomb caused extensive damage to the church.

We walked back to the Forum – and learned of the connection between ancient Rome and Christian Rome. While seeing the same sights as on our “Roma Antiqua” tour, we learned of the Christian connection of places like Basilica Gulia, the little, private Greek Church, the temple of Caesar, Temple Antonicus e Faustina, and Church Cosmillin/Temple of Romulus

San Pietro in Vincoli: According to legend, the two chains (vincoli) used to shake St Peter in the Roman prison were subsequently taken to Constantinople. In the 5th century, Empress Eudora put one in a church in Constantinople and sent the other to her daughter in Rome. She in turn gave them to Pope Leo I, who had this church built to house it. Some years later, the second chain was brought to Rome and it linked miraculously with its partner.

Reliquary containing the chains of St. Peter Photo courtesy of WIkipedia
The famous statue of Moses, carved by Michelangelo is here. He is depicted at the moment when God first appeared to him in the Book of Exodus. A sarcophagus in a small crypt behind the altar house the bones of the seven Maccabees brought to Rome from Constantinople in 560.

Moses - Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
What a tour- we were exhausted after our full day. We stopped for a sunset view of the Forum at a little café on via de Fiori Imperati.

For our “graduation dinner”, we decided to try an up-scale Roman restaurant, Antico Arco. Without reservations, they could only give us a table for 2 hours. We had a good dinner, fine wine, good pasta. But, we decided that our Roman rule is “Eat at the local places, the expensive places are just not us”.

Another day on the scooter in Rome

A full day on the scooter. The roads of Rome were not designed for tiny scooter tires, you could feel each and every bump.

We started at the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. This huge basilica is a blend of Baroque, Renaissance, and Romanesque architecture. The church was built in 356 when Pope Liberius had a dream in which the Virgin told him to build a church on the spot where he found snow. When it fell in August, in the middle of a baking summer, he naturally obeyed.

Photo Courtesy of Flickr
The Church of San Prassede was beautiful- filled with Byzantine mosaics. It was build by Pope Paschal II in the 9th century. In the Chapel of St Zeno, there is part of a column brought back from Jerusalem. It is supposedly the one to which Christ was bound and flogged.

Photo Courtesy of Flickr
The Museo Nazionale Romano was closed – a meeting of the local Rome officials. So, we headed off to the two places everyone must visit when in Rome (although, it’s hard to understand why!) – the Trevi Fountain

and the Spanish Steps.

We fortunately found a quiet little restaurant on a side street to have a quick bite of lunch.

From there, we headed to the Etruscan Museum in the Villa Giulia. The villa was built as a country retreat for Pope Julius III. Since 1889, is has housed the Museo Nazionale Etrusco, with pre-Roman antiquities from central Italy. The Etruscans built a center of civilization in the area roughly between present-day Bologna and Rome along the Tyrrhenian Sea from the 9th to 4th century BC. They were among the first inhabitants of Rome. The most famous of the collection is the Husband and Wife sarcophagus. It’s a touching piece from the 6th century BC showing a dead couple embracing each other in an eternal banquet.

We ended the evening at the Campo de Fiore, watching the people parading around the square.

Photo courtesy of Flickr
Scala Reale had recommended a typical Roman dinner experience at Antica Taverna, so we made reservations and grabbed a wine at the café across the square. The owner had a huge dog- named Caesare ( a great name for a dog!)

Dinner was a 4 course extravaganza. We had antipasta, olives and pasta and meat courses with free flowing carafes of wine.

Rome by Scooter

One more walking tour with Richard. This time we covered the Imperial Forum.

Forum of Caesar: This was the first of Rome’s imperial forums built by Julius Caesar in 54 BC.

Forum of Augustus: Built to celebrate Augustus’s victory over Julius Caesar’s assassins, Brutus and Cassius, at the Battle of Philippi in 41 BC.

Forum of Augustus - Photo courtesy of Flickr
Forum of Nerva: The Forum of Nerva was begun by Nerva’s predecessor, Domitian, and completed in 97 AD.

Forum of Nerva - Photo courtesy of Flickr
Trajans Forum and Market: Originally considered among the wonders of the Classical World, Trajan built this complex of 150 shops and offices in the early 2nd century AD. It was originally 387 x 292 feet (over 4 football fields).

Trajans Market- Photo courtesy of Flickr
Temple of Romulus in the Church of Santi Cosma e Damtano: No one is sure to who the Temple of Romulus was dedicated, but it’s believed to be to the son of the Emperor Maxentius. The bronze doors are original. Since the 6th century, the temple has acted as a vestibule to the Church of Santi Cosma e Damiano.

Temple of Romulus - Photo courtesy of Flickr
Column of Trajan: This column was inaugurated by Trajan in 113 AD to celebrate his two campaigns in Dacia (Romania). The column and base are 131 feet high. When Trajan died in 117 AD, his ashes and those of his wife were placed in a golden urn in the base of the column. The column survived largely thanks to Pope Gregory I. He was so moved by a relief showing Trajan helping a woman whose son had been killed that he begged God to release the emperor’s soul from hell. God appeared to the pope to say that Trajan had been rescued, but asked him not to pray for the souls of any more pagans. Legend has it that when the ashes were exhumed, his skull and tongue were intact and his tongue told of his release from Hell. The land around the column was then declared sacred – and the statue of Trajan on the top of the columns was replaced with St Peter.

Trajan's Column- Photo courtesy of Flickr
After the tour, we decided to brave the Roman traffic and rent a scooter. The freedom from buses and taxis was exhilarating – as was the Roman driving style. We quickly realized that there were no rules for scooters. Driving on sidewalks, maneuvering through backed up lanes of cars, were all no problem for the scooter drivers.

We headed down the Appian Way. The first part of this road was built in 312 BC. It was extended in 190 BC to the port of, Brindisi and became Rome’s link with its’ expanding empire. It was a beautiful drive, a welcome relief from the crazed Roman traffic.

Appian Way -Photo courtesy of Flickr
Church of Quo Vadis: This church was built on the spot where St Peter, fleeing from Rome and certain crucifixion, met Christ walking into the city. He asked, “Domine, Quo Vadis” (Lord, where are you going?). Christ replied, “I go to Rome to be crucified a second time”. Peter promptly offered to return to Rome to be crucified in his place. Inside the church is a piece of pavement bearing the imprint of Christ’s feet.

Church of Quo Vadis - Photo courtesy of Flickr
Museum of the Wall, Porta San Aurela: The museum is inside the Porta San Sebastiano, the Appian Way’s gateway through the Aurelian Wall. The Aurelian Wall was begun by Emperor Aurelian (270-75 AD) and completed by his successor, Probius (276-82 AD). It was ordered to act as a defense against marauding Germanic tribes. It ran 11 miles around with 18 gates and 381 towers.

Baths of Caracalla: It was completed by Emperor Caracalla in 217 AD and functioned for about 300 years before the “plumbing” was destroyed by the Goths. This was the second largest spa complex in ancient Rome with pools, 2 gymnasiums, libraries, gardens, and could accommodate more than 1600 people.

Baths of Caracalla - Photos courtesy of Flickr

Catacombs and Basilica of San Sebastian The catacombs were constructed in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Roman law required all Romans, for hygienic reasons, to bury bodies outside the city walls. At one time, Peter and Paul were buried here.

Before heading back to the craziness of Rome, we found a little garden bar and had a beer.

Back in Trastevere, we found a tiny little restaurant on a hidden street with tables outside, called Da Lucia. It was a family run trattoria and served “la cucina de ‘na vorta” (cooking as it was once upon a time). We had a wonderful spaghetti alla Griccia, made with pancetta, pecorino cheese and fresh black pepper.