Finally, my first trip to Malta and, 25% of me being Maltese, it was a kind of homecoming.
My great grandfather Charlie immigrated in the early 1900s, followed by his 2 sons Joseph and John. Like many Maltese, they found work in the Queensland cane fields, as the practice of blackbirding (kidnapping) and exploitation of the Kanakas (South Sea Islanders) was being brought to an end. Later as wharfies.
Malta has been inhabited since the Neolithic and has some of the world’s most important Megalithic temples, including at Ġgantija and Hagar. From around 700 BCE the area around the Grand Harbour of Valletta was an important maritime hub for Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians and Romans. However, Valletta and “the 3 fortified cities” (Cospicua, Vittoriosa and Senglea) weren’t established until the area was settled by the Knights of the Order of St John in 1530.
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There are no forests, mountains or rivers in Malta. It does, however, have a lot of globigerina limestone, and so this is the material from which the built environment is primarily constructed.
This gives the island a natural colour scheme of honey, peach and apricot that is quite unique.
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And a striking turquoise hue to the sea.
Outside urban areas, small intensely cultivated plots of land are marked out by drystone walls. Artichokes, figs, tomatoes, grapes, olives, citrus and stone fruit grow plentifully, expertly managed to improve poor soil and lack of water.
These remind me of my backyard as a boy. The whole thing was under cultivation. Before I was old enough to go to school I would tend the soil with my grandfather. A barefoot gardener, I remember opening up a toe with a wayward strike of a chipping hoe, the result spectacularly bloody.
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There are some great restaurants in Valletta. At the high end, ION Harbour was dazzlingly good.
I will definitely be back for a longer stay.