Honeymoon Adventures Part II: Malta

After spending one hectic night in Paris, as mentioned in my previous entry, Mr. C and were off to a Mediterranean paradise via Air Malta. 

Malta is a Mediterranean island just south of Sicily and north of Tunisia and Libya. Because of its unique and convenient location between Europe and Africa, it represents an interesting blend of language, food, culture and history. The primary language is Maltese (a strange blend of Arabic and Italian) but many people speak English as Malta was a British colony from 1813 to 1964. Malta is also a member of the European Union and, as such, uses the euro as currency. The country is also devoutly Roman Catholic and there were many festivals taking place honoring local patron saints. Although strangely, its Muslim and Arabic past still lingers in the language and place names throughout the islands. Practically all the buildings are constructed of  the tan stone that is mined on the islands. In fact, it is a law that buildings are constructed of this material, probably for both aesthetic and environmental reasons as there are few trees on the island. It gives the place a very beautiful and unique appearance. 

When we first arrived in the small capital city of Valletta, it was dark and the place had closed up for the night. I was surprised how early everything was shut, as usually most Europeans like to dine late into the night. It's one of my favorite things about traveling in Europe as I'm a bit of a night owl myself. When we woke up on our first morning in Malta, we saw that the city had been transformed! It was alive with tourists and locals, all shopping and eating on Republic Street, the city's main thoroughfare. It was a completely different scene from when we had arrived. The sky was a brilliant blue and we noticed that you could glance down the steep side streets and see the Mediterranean sparkling out on the horizon. 

I took a lot of pictures of the narrow alleyways and quaint wooden balconies for which Malta is known. The balconies sit on stone plinths are are painted in a variety of colors and they come in many shapes and sizes. Some wrap all the way around the corners of buildings, like verandas, three, four, or five stories up from the city streets. Many are peeling paint, draped with old lace curtains, a faded Virgin Mary presiding over the window frame -- all giving a very charming feel to the streets.

On our first full day in Malta we took an adventure to the beach. Getting around on Malta and Gozo is fairly simple as there are buses that run to all the major attractions. They do take quite a while to get you to your destination, as they often take winding, non-direct routes and stop at many locations. Apart from renting a car, there is no other way to get around, and seeing the aggressive style of Maltese driving, I'm glad we didn't rent a car! We decided to visit Golden Bay, with its reddish gold sand and very beautiful water. It was a little busy and the water was surprisingly freezing cold! We enjoyed our time  there nonetheless, especially sitting out on the patio of one of the nearby restaurants to enjoy lunch. 

One of my favorite activities on Malta was visiting the Hal-Saflieni Hypogeum. It is a neolithic (i.e. Stone Age) underground necropolis (cemetery). It is, in fact, the only known underground neolithic temple in the entire world. It is carved from the living rock and arranged into three different levels, each created at a different time period. When discovered it was estimated that it contained the remains of around 7,000 people. They were not stacked neatly, but the bodies were left out to decay, the bones collected and all deposited into little "rooms" carved beneath the ground -- all remains were simply deposited into collective piles. Eventually it was forgotten and abandoned, all filled with mud and dirt until the early 20th century when it was rediscovered by chance. Farmers were trying to create cisterns for their newly built homes and broke unto the second level of the temple complex. Now it is a very delicate tourist attraction that only allows some 50 people to visit per day. As such, the tickets sell out months in advance. In fact, it is currently sold out until the end of July. If you plan to go to Malta, you must see this unique attraction, but make sure to purchase your tickets early. You won't want to miss out!

No photography was allowed, which I suppose is fine because it was so dark anyway. The light damages the remains of red ocher paintings on the ceilings, mostly ornate spirals and hexagons. The necropolis was really a marvel of human ingenuity as it was carved from the living rocks only with stone and bone tools. It was utilized for a thousand years and discovered with a number of beautifully carved/sculpted depictions of people-- ancestors, deities? The most famous is a tiny figure known as the "Sleeping Lady" -- a voluptuous Venus of Willendorf-esque woman lying curled on a platform which seems to sag beneath her weight. She may represent an ancestor, a fertility goddess, or perhaps even the sleep of death itself. We will never know! But the fact she exists and was created so artfully is really amazing. I bought a souvenir version to keep in my classroom. I can't wait to share my stories of the Hypogeum to my next round of world history students next semester!

After the Hypogeum we took a ten minute walk to another set of Stone Age ruins, this time above ground -- the Tarxien temple complex. This site was discovered with some very ornate carvings that are now housed in the Museum of Archaeology in Valletta -- including spirals, a scene with domesticated animals, and the bottom half of another voluptuous woman wearing a skirt with dainty little feet. They were removed from the original site in order to protect them but were replaced with replicas. On the way we noticed the small town we were walking through was preparing for some sort of patron saint festival. The streets were bedecked with colorful banners and wooden pillars painted to look like marble. There were several statues of Mary and Jesus waiting to be positioned. We reached the Tarxien temples in the heat of the afternoon. It was not nearly as moving as the Hypogeum but really cool nonetheless. There is something to be said in walking within the remains of a stone temple complex erected around 3,000 B.C.E.

While waiting for the bus back to Valletta, Mr. C and I had a chance to sample one of the local delicacies: a pastizzi. It's a buttery, savory pastry filled with either ricotta cheese or a seasoned pea mixture. Both are delicious, however I favor the cheese variety. Mr. C preferred the pea version. They are so delicious and basically flake apart into buttery bites as you eat them. Wash them down with an ice cold Coca-Cola and it is truly heaven!

You cannot miss a visit to Saint John's Co-Cathedral in the center of the Valletta. Malta is also known for being the home of the Knights Hospitaller who took up shop there after 1530. Mr. C, who read a book about crusader knights, was totally engrossed in the audio tour of the cathedral. I've seen many European cathedrals but this one was certainly something very special. The entire interior is completely covered in ornately carved and painted designs and motifs. It is quite spectacular and it practically glows from the ornate gold leafing. There are alcoves dedicated to the knights from each of the main countries: Portugal, Spain, France, and Germany and a few others. Well some of these were not quite countries yet, but regions and city-states, but you get the point. The English knights had their own order elsewhere (not on Malta), but I'm not sure about the history. The floor is covered in beautifully detailed marble tombs (the coolest ones depict skeletons) where 375 knights are buried. 

We also visited a few museums, like the Museum of Archaeology which was just a few minutes away from Saint John's Co-Cathedral. This is where the actual "Sleeping Lady" figure is housed along with lots of other relics of the past -- neolithic pottery shards, tools, and carvings, Phoenician urns, Roman jewelry. It all gave a great overview of the colorful and vast history that Malta and Gozo have experienced. So much history on such small islands! 

On our last day in Malta we checked out a medieval fortified city called Mdina (or the Silent City) that many people said we must visit. It is a walled city high on a hill and also home to several gates that were featured in HBO's hit series Game of Thrones. I've read all the books and seen both season one and two of the TV show. Unfortunately we only made it two episodes into the third season before school and wedding stuff completely consumed our lives in May.

We spent the afternoon moseying around the beautiful city and stopped to have cafe lattes (a serious addiction) and cake at a cute little restaurant right on the fortified walls of the city. Too bad it wasn't warmer and the weather nicer (it started to rain) -- otherwise it would have been a perfect day! But we were still able to marvel at the narrow little medieval cities where Maltese villagers somehow manage to drive their cars. Only people who live in the village are allowed to drive there, and surprisingly a lot of people still live there, mostly people who have been there for many generations! I definitely recommend a visit. 

After three days on Malta it was time to move on to the smaller sister island of Gozo, where we had a farmhouse rental with our name on it! Stay tuned for our adventures on Gozo and living the quiet, country life! 

Honeymoon Adventures Part I: Getting There

It's time for the Camel honeymoon recaps! In case you missed it, we visited the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Gozo with a short stop in the city of Paris on our way home. I will include a mixture of pretentious Instagram photos and "real" photos from my DSLR. Sorry if you get photo overload, but I took a lot on this trip! 

The night of our wedding Mr. C and I stayed at a place in downtown Athens called Hotel Indigo. It's only about 15 to 20 minutes from our venue and we had a limo ride there. One our our coworker's wives upgraded our original reservation to the presidential suite. It had three rooms, a bathroom the size of our apartment bedroom, a baby grand piano, a living room with giant flat screen TV, a second entryway bathroom -- in short it was enormous and absolutely ridiculous as we'd only really be spending a few hours there. I actually woke up around 4:00 am, my head abuzz with wedding day emotions, and was only able to fall back asleep as dawn crept into the windows. Around 10:00 am we checked out of our decadent room and met up with my dad, step-family, grandma, aunts and uncles for breakfast at their hotel down the street. We also ran into Mr. C's dad and stepmother who were also staying at the hotel.

We eventually said our tearful goodbyes and returned to our apartment which had exploded in a chaotic mess of wedding decor; it was one big sad, deflated wedding mess. There were presents, cards, boxes of milk glass, a bag of uneaten macarons, a trash bag full of flowers from our beautiful table decor. We sat down and began sorting through the mess. We opened cards and presents, broke down large boxes, took out several bags of trash. Our apartment started to return to normal, slowly but surely. Then we had to return to the venue to retrieve a pair of corn hole boards that were accidentally left behind. It was sad and surreal to return to the venue where just hours earlier there had been one big, amazing party held in celebration of our love. I started crying almost immediately! But we got the corn hole boards and returned home to finish packing.

We had a late start out the door and as a result barely made it on our 11:00 pm flight to Paris. I think because the flight left so late in the day we kept thinking we had more time than we had in reality. I travel all the time and I really, really should have known better (hangs head in shame)! We had to play the sad honeymooners card just to let the ticketing agent let us check in (it was past the hour check in time required for international flights). Honestly, I couldn't believe she was so nice, as usually us non-revenue passengers are treated like scum, honeymoon or not. The downside is that to make it in time, Mr. C had to park in the daily parking deck so we ended up paying $16 a day for parking. Ouch. But it was that or miss the flight. We could have tried again the following day but we weren't sure what the flights looked like or if we would be able to make it out. We rushed down to the terminal and were the last passengers on. We made it in business class and sitting next to each other -- a rare non-revenue luxury. I say non-revenue, but we paid for our plane tickets, just not a lot. The business class seats were a godsend because after waking up so early the previous night (plus all the post-wedding emotions and cleanup) I was absolutely exhausted. After dinner I passed out and it was easily the deepest sleep I've ever had on an international flight. Usually I'm excited, nervous, or my brain simply won't shut off long enough to let me rest on a plane. This time I was too tired to care.

My eyes were totally puffy from exhaustion/tears but I was so happy we were finally on our way!

When we landed it was dark, cold, and very rainy -- not the scene you want to see when landing in Paris! I was terrible and did not pack many warm clothes (a mistake that would haunt me the entire trip). Unfortunately Europe has been experiencing a lot of rain and uncharacteristically cool weather this summer. Anyway, we left a day early for our honeymoon as we were not sure that we would actually make it to Paris on the first try (again, the risk of traveling non-revenue). But we did! But we didn't have a hotel. We spent about three hours in the airport on the internet (per hour paid WIFI) trying to find a hotel that was not $500 a night and not already booked. I meant to do this before leaving, but I think with all the craziness of the wedding and cleaning and packing afterwards it was de-prioritized. I figured it would not be difficult to find something last minute. This turned out to be a pretty tall order, thanks in part to the French Open which we had no idea was taking place at the time. Actually, I'm still not sure if that was the issue, but for some reason every single hotel in Paris was completely full for the night.

After much stress and fretting I finally found a reasonably priced business hotel off the Place d'Italie metro stop in southeast Paris. After an epic ordeal trying to find it, and dragging our luggage around the streets (I'm sure we looked ridiculous), we eventually checked in. We were on the top floor in I think the only room with a balcony which wrapped around the entire room. We could see the tip of the Eiffel Tower along the skyline, miles away. The room had been a last minute cancellation, hence my ability to book it when everything else was packed. There wasn't much time for us to see or do anything in the city, which was fine since we would be back 

The streets of Valletta, Malta

The next day we were back at the airport and on our way to Malta - a little island just south of Sicily out in the Mediterranean. You can read all about why we chose Malta and Gozo as honeymoon destinations here. It was a short two hour flight from Paris. From the airport we took a crazy, bumpy bus ride to Valletta, the capital and location of our hotel. When we finally arrived the main street was dark and lifeless at 9:00 pm. I was surprised how quiet and utterly closed up it was! Most Europeans like to eat dinner late, like 9:00 pm late (which I love). This place was obviously much different and definitely something to keep in mind if you plan to visit Malta or Gozo. We found our hotel, but not after another exhausting strut around the city with all of our luggage as we struggled with locating our hotel (this will become a honeymoon theme, unfortunately). It really makes you love and appreciate your phone and data plans as at home we could have just pulled up Google Maps and been done with the business in seconds. We stayed at the Hotel Osbourne which was a converted palace -- a very cool place and with decent sized rooms.

The streets of Valletta, Malta

In my next post I will have something more than Instagram photos and some details about what we did and saw on Malta!

The Honeymoon Reveal

At the beginning of January, Mr. C and I were convinced that we were heading to Costa Rica for our honeymoon. It appealed to us for a number of reasons: it's a relatively short flight from Georgia, we would remain in a similar time zone (no severe jet lag), it offers the opportunity to spend time relaxing on the beach or exploring the rainforest and local wildlife. It is tropical and romantic, with its beautiful white sandy beaches and hidden rainforest waterfalls. For these reasons (and many more) the idea of honeymooning in Costa Rica was very appealing. But something was off. I wasn't over-the-moon excited about our honeymoon. I'm not even sure why. What I do know, is that by the first week of January we had a very chance conversation with a coworker that forever changed our honeymoon plans and unfortunately our honeymoon budget as well.

Our school district has a social studies coach who works with all the middle and high school social studies teachers in our school district. Early this semester she was at my school meeting with the social studies teachers. Somehow we got onto the topic of vacations and she mentioned that she had family on the island of Malta. Honestly, I can't even remember the sequence of events but somehow, in literally five minutes, Mr. C and I were convinced that we should go to Malta for our honeymoon. After our coworker left and my heart was stirring with excitement, Mr. C mentioned that he had noticed a marked difference in my attitude towards our honeymoon. I had an excited twinkle in my eye. He could tell that my curiosity and interest were awakened by this sudden turn of events. So here we are, making plans and booking flights to visit a little place called MALTA.

So where is this Malta place, you might be wondering. It's a small island out in the Mediterranean, below Sicily. It is part of the European Union and as such they use the Euro as currency. They speak Maltese but are also known for their use of British English.

Malta, located just below Sicily in the Mediterranean. Image source via Wikipedia

Because of its convenient location between Europe and Africa, it has experienced many of the major historical events of Afro-Eurasian history. For someone who teaches world history, this is a dream come true. We're talking neolithic ruins, Roman roads, the spread of Christianity (St. Paul is said to have been shipwrecked on the island), the Byzantine Empire, fortifications and churches of the Knights Templar (from the Crusades), and Malta heroically endured more Axis bombings than London during World War II. Oh, and did I mention that many believe it could be the inspiration for Calypso's island in Homer's Odyssey? So. much. awesome. And I'm such a dork that I can't wait to take a thousand photos and incorporate them into my world history lesson plans for next year. I can already imagine the lecture: Malta: A Microcosm of Afro-Eurasian History. (happy sigh)

We are dividing our time between the two islands that make up the country: Malta and Gozo. We will spend a few days on the main island in the capital of Valletta and a few days on the smaller, slower-paced island of Gozo where we are actually staying at our coworker's cousin's 200+ year old Maltese farmhouse which she rents out. It has a private pool. It was built in 1789 (coincidentally the beginning of the French Revolution).

Where we will be staying on Gozo! Images via: Gozo Farmhouse Rentals

Things I'm really excited about: 

Image  source via: Tourism: Popular Places

We plan on sunbathing, swimming, and snorkeling out in the gorgeous blue of the Mediterranean. Although Malta has rocky rather than sandy white beaches, this will not deter our enjoyment of the ocean!

Image source via: Golden Compass 

I've already touched on this, but I cannot wait to see all the historical sites that Malta has to offer. One that interests me the most is the prehistoric site of a mysterious underground necropolis that was cut from solid stone. It is the Hypogeum of Hal-Saflieni. You have to book your tour tickets weeks in advance because they only allow 50 people per day to visit this delicate historical site. We already have our tour tickets booked!

Image source via: National Commission for Higher Education Malta

Because of its location along major trade routes, Maltese cuisine is inspired by both Italian, Middle Eastern, and Arabic influences. And of course, lots of delicious seafood. I can't wait to try Maltese cuisine, especially the famous Maltese pastizzi that everyone keeps telling me about. It's a flaky pastry filled with savory ricotta cheese or peas.

Image source via: Gerald Brimacombe

Oh, and another awesome thing about going to Malta? It means that we have to fly through Paris to get there. We are going to spend three nights in Paris on our way home and I will finally get to see the fountains on at Versailles on a Saturday! We plan to attend the Versailles Musical Fountain Show which they hold during the summer months. Just writing this post has me giddy with excitement!

This biggest downside to this change in plans has been our honeymoon budget. We have been saving like crazy to make this work!

Where are you honeymooning? Did you experience a change of heart with your honeymoon plans?