A visit to Valletta-a photo essay

We start our day by taking a bus to Valletta from Marsaxlokk. Behind us is the beautiful fountain just outside the main gate to Valletta.

The main street with its throngs of tourists and residents.

The dome of St. Francis of Assissi church - everything in Valletta has a Maltese Cross in it somewhere!

A painting on the ceiling of St Francis church - every surface is decorated!

Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, hanging out in the entrance way to a group of shops. This just tickled me.

A view down one of the side streets - Valletta is built on a hump-backed peninsula with the main street running down the center and cross streets up the hill from the bay on one side and down the hill to the bay on the other. No photographer can resist taking shots down the vistas - Thankfully, I've edited out the other nine vistas I took....

In addition to coffee shops, jewelry shops make up the majority of businesses and at least 10 of them seem to be owned by this family - the Azzopardi clan. They all have amazing jewelry!

Well, one of those vista shots crept back in.... this one looking east along the ridge of the peninsula

Saints adorn the corners of buildings, and not just churches but residences and business buildings as well. And, where there is a Saint there is bound to be a pigeon....

A monument to surviving the Siege of Malta in 1558 in the main square - the three-branched tree and the three figures really caught my attention.

The back wall of St. John's the major Cathedral in Valletta and the best example of the decorative mania that is Baroque in Europe that I have ever seen. Every conceivable surface is adorned. This was the church of the Knights of St. John, the founders of Valletta and the protectors and benefactors of Malta. It was also the repository of the gifts the Grand Master of the Knights were obliged to give to commemorate their election as the leaders of the order.

The altar - there's closeups coming but this gives a sense of what the congregation looks at during Mass.

Tapestry one - made by Flemish artists after drawings by Rubens depicting events in the life of Christ. Photographs were not allowed but I did not use flash....

Tapestry two - Christ's entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The detail is exquisite.

Close-up one of the altar as promised - statues of St. John baptizing Christ

A solid silver lamp above the altar.

The front of the altar. Checkout the detail carving along the front facing.

A 17th Century Crucifix - made of wood

The Maltese Cross is everywhere... This time in a painted ceiling vault.

The floor of one of the chapels

We've moved now to the Church dedicated to St. Paul who shipwrecked in Malta. Again, the Maltese Cross. We loved this church because everything was so accessible. There was a magnificent statue of St. Paul which is carried in processions during Easter week and a genuine relic - the wrist bone of St. Paul in a gold case. There was also the pillar that was used as a chopping block when Paul was executed.

The organ loft in The St. Paul church

And the dome of the church.

Hope you enjoyed the little photo essay... We sure loved visiting Valletta!

Malta—the first two days

Budapest was a whirlwind, so Don and I are looking forward to some downtime in Malta. We flew from Budapest to Frankfurt and then on to Valletta, Malta on Thursday, April 12. Since we didn’t arrive until nearly 10 p.m., we ordered a taxi ahead to pick us up and take us to LeMeridien, our new home in St. Juliens, Malta where we promptly crashed. The hotel is a four-star and is a lovely property—and definitely meets US standards. We have a large room with a balcony, bathroom with a roman tub and a shower, and all the amenities. There is an indoor pool and fitness center which has a spa and sauna, so we are enjoying those facilities as well.

Our first day here we walked along the shoreline stopping for cappuccinos and drinks whenever the mood overtook us (only about twice!!) We then took the ferry (just a five-minute ride) to Valletta, the capital of Malta. It’s a very old city, and we spent some time just walking the city streets, having lunch, and hiring a guy to take us on the 45-minute horse carriage tour through the old city. Then we took the water taxi back across the bay to St. Juliens; the water taxi puts you a little closer to the water, and you get a bit of the sea on you during the crossing.

We took a carriage ride in Valletta's Old City on our first day on the island

A shot of the harbour

Archbishop Street next to the square. We had lunch at Aaron's Kitchen, a very nice restaurant.

Street view in Valletta

We spent three days touring on the Hop-On-Hop-Off Red Bus

Since we had a good experience with the Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus Tour in Budapest, we decided to try the same thing in Malta. We went on the North Tour today. The highlight was Mdina, the ancient capital of Malta. As luck would have it, they were doing medieval reenactments all over town. We had lunch at Fontanello’s which is a tea room that has a great view—and two of the knights came in to have the famous chocolate cake! All of the people seemed to be having a great time. The only downside was that it started to rain, but in true island fashion, it blew off pretty quickly. Malta is also known for its silver filigree jewelry; Don and I watched the man making it at the crafts town of Ta’Qali—another highlight of the North Tour.

We  purchased the on/off tours to see the southern part of the island as well as to visit the island of Gozo next to Malta. This is really the best way to get an overview of the area. It’s very compact. The Maltese drive on the left-side of the road like the British. They are somewhat aggressive drivers from what I have observed; they don’t mind using the horn. I’m glad we are not driving on this island! There is a lot to see, so here’s the pictures. We'll fill you in on the South Tour and the Gozo Island Tour in our next post.

As luck would have it, there was a medieval fair in Mdina the day we visited, so here are some pictures of the residents in period garb.

I caught this guy taking a drink from his horn!

Fontanella's is a Maltese tradition, and you can see why when you see the view you get of Mdina (see below)

You can see those clouds rolling in that eventually dumped some rain on the parade for just a few minutes.

It was so windy in Valletta that we caught the street lamp going with the flow...

Szentendre's Skanzen - Ethnography on Display

As Don recounted earlier, Szentendre is a lovely artist’s colony about 8 kilometers outside of Budapest. In addition to its lovely “antique town” district, the area also houses the largest outdoor ethnographic museum in Europe called Skanzen about 3 kilometers outside Szentendre. Since we had to be in Latky, Slovakia that afternoon to visit Reni’s parents and pick up our luggage, we only had a few hours to spend there. The place is fascinating; the museum curators have arranged for old houses to be brought to this place and displays set up to give museum-goers the chance to observe how Hungarians actually lived from 1700 to 1900.

In this instance, a picture (and a good caption) is worth a thousand words. Another charming feature of this museum is that an old railroad car transports people in between the various points of the museum—and the conductor is dressed in period uniform—and his colleague has to jump out of the car and place the switch on the tracks. You get a sense of how glorious train travel was—and also how very slow!

The early 20th century Hungarians were very conscious of keeping their carbon footprint at a minimum

 A thatched-roof barn to hold thatch (and hay). The space in the middle was used as a garage - they drove their wagons in and pitched the hay into the mows on either side. This one was from about 1910.

The buildings were essentially log cabins with clay daub plastered between the chinks.

This is one of two rooms in the house - set here for a banquet to celebrate the marriage of the family's daughter.

Cooking and heating all in one - in this setting surrounded by the paraphernalia to squeeze grapes.

Guides and interpreters dressed in the clothing of the day tell the story of each cluster of buildings.

In many homes the men and women slept separately - this is where the men slept. Pat called it the 19th century man cave.

 We turned the car in with nary a scratch—which is pretty amazing when I tell you that Don drove 7, 515 MILES—that’s across the United States back and forth and more. We were very careful to observe the drinking and driving laws (zero tolerance especially in Hungary) and did our best to observe the speed limits. Now I’ll let Don tell you his story of bonding with the Slovakian Police (not to worry Mom, Dad, and Genny, we lived to tell the tale!) I am writing this in the airport at Frankfurt, Germany (our 13^th county but who’s counting) while waiting for our connection to Malta.

"Bonding?"

After successfully negotiating speed traps in 11 countries, I got nailed in Slovakia in what I consider to be a particularly underhanded fashion. Stash and Hans (I mean no disrespect - lol - they did not identify their names), the finest of a town whose name we can’t even remember (or pronounce) set up a radar gun on the outskirts of town – where there really is no town. The rule in Slovakia and Bulgaria, and Serbia is, 50 km/hour from the instant the car crosses the village line. That’s 90 km/hr to 50 in nothing flat. The penalty (in this case) is two weeks in the slammer unless I pay 30 euro on the spot. I was going a mere 64 km/hr – that’s about 40 mph. But Hans (or was it Stash) stuck his stick with a red circle out and waved me into a side street. I tried to give him 50 Kuna (Croatian money worth about $8), but he wouldn’t take it. He wanted 30 euro. So, luckily I had a 50 euro tucked in my passport case. He took it, had me sign a document saying I would be a good boy, and took out his wallet to make change. The 50 went right where the 20 had been. A good night for Stash and Hans. Not a good night for road warrior. Not only was I 30 euro poorer, I was doomed to admit that Pat was absolutely right. Double – no triple the pain. Maybe two weeks in the Slovak slammer might have been preferable. Note that this was the day before we turned in the car…. 

 

Relying on the Kindness of Strangers: Budapest revisited

We were last in Budapest in 1999 with Dan and Genny after Dan’s wedding. We remember it so well – swimming in the Gellert hot springs and wave pool, our visit to the fortress – we loved the city. So, as the Balkan portion of our trip began to wind down, we decided to come back.

As Pat said, we found a pension in Szentendre, Hungary, a northwest suburb of Budapest situated right on the Danube next to Szentrende Island, one of the more upscale suburbs. Easter Sunday afternoon, when we arrived, was cold but we managed to drive around taking a pretty good look at the area from the car and finding a bank machine to restock with Hungarian Florins – even their money sounds like a fairytale - but we couldn’t park the car because we lacked coins for the parking machines. We only had 10,000 fl notes (about $40). This would haunt us the next day when we were on our way to the city using public transportation.

As we waited at the bus stop Easter Monday morning - a holiday in Hungary and across Europe - we struck up a conversation with a 30ish guy named Zoltan who helped us figure out the public transport system – which seemed complicated to us When we climbed on the bus the driver sneered at our large bill and refused to change it – he didn’t have enough change. Zoltan paid our bus fare, - 700 fl or about $3.00 – and saved our butts. He was inquisitive, well travelled (he’s done an internship at U of Maryland in 1999 in Horticulture) and so kind. He walked us through the transfer from bus to metro that was necessary, sending us on our way still refusing the 700 fl. We promised to let him marry Genny…. Wouldn’t be a bad catch either.

Budapest is a city designed for tourists and well equipped to handle them. We opted for a “Hop-on; Hop-off” sightseeing bus that included a bowl of Goulash soup and a boat tour on the Danube. Pictures follow (and there are a lot!). 

Damn, I wish I knew the name of this building - it was magnificent

Parliament from the Danube - It's half a kilometer long

Another building we wish we knew the name of but it is beautiful

Liberty Monument, atop  Gellert Hill. This was where we had our free Goulash soup - more tomato-colored gruel with, count 'em, four small slivers of meat in a large bowl. Still, it was hot and the beer was cold and the view amazing.

Pat having warmed herself by holding her hands over the Goulash soup - it steamed up her glasses!

We think this was the art museum - but we're not sure because there was no Rocky statue here

The Square of Heroes commemorating those heroes of the 1956 uprising that so characterizes the spirit of Hungary. Pretty impressive stuff!

It was really cold – Pat bought me a 5 euro scarf that was a little femmie but warm. Still we froze until later in the afternoon when we sat in the sun alongside the river drinking beer. We then discovered a street fair with amazing street food. We sampled this cake thing that was dough wrapped around a wooden post and cooked over charcoal, covered with cinnamon and walnuts – to die for, seriously!

Making the cylinder cakes - tending the fire

They were piping hot when they came of the rollers.

Home to eat at our favorite Hungarian restaurant and our favorite waitress/bartender. And this was the other stranger who was kind to us. She took us under her wing, showing us the rabbits the restaurant had - petting rabbits on Easter is good luck in this part of the world, especially for the rabbits who avoid ending up on the table as an entree.Anyway, this girl also introduced us to the local Hungarian liquor, a fruit-based highly alcoholic drink that warmed us up. She also decided which of the many traditional Hungarian dishes we should eat and she was absolutely spot on in her choices. 


With such good Samaritans, we were well taken care of.


The adventure continues.... We'll tell you about the largest open-air ethnographic museum in Europe and Don's run-in with the constabulary of Slovakia in our next post. Stay tuned.