It’s our last week in Malta, and of course they saved the best for last. All month we’ve been watching fireworks from our window as at least a dozen different cities celebrate their saint’s feasts. Last weekend Rabat and Mdina started theirs. The feast of St Peter & St Paul starts with the Imnarja folk festival. It took place in our local Buskett Gardens, a centuries old planted ‘forest’, disappointingly dusty and beige this time of year. It looked much better at night, with lights strung everywhere and music playing. We shared a bottle of local wine in plastic cups and wandered through the stalls of local farmers and merchants. Lots of bee keepers on Malta, and small farms growing organic grains, herbs and heirloom vegetables. I think I’ve mentioned that the farm across the road from us has a small field of thistles which I thought was the oddest thing, although apparently the seeds have uses.

We checked out the prize winning livestock, and I said hello to some bunnies whose brethren would soon be our dinner. I suppose as prizewinners they were going to be spared the grill so they could get busy making the next generation of bunnies. Anyway we grabbed some stewed rabbit (fenek), and what the hell we decided to get a huge plate of snails (bebbux) as well. These snails are common in the fields here although their shells are usually bleached in the sun and the ones we ate were darker, so maybe these were farmed snails rather than found ones. They were… interesting. Colin thought removing them from their shells was like picking boogers, only they tasted better. The rabbit was good, but I liked the gravy and chips best of all the fair food. While we were eating we were serenaded by the traditional għana folk music, which sounded like loud caterwauling to us. We also saw a band playing odd homemade looking traditional Maltese instruments. One guy had a zafzafa, a kind of drum he held between his legs, with a pole coming out of it that he pulled in and out of the drum. Most phallic instrument ever.

So that turned out to be a good night, technically just the eve of the feast day and the first night of a week long celebration. The next day brought the eagerly anticipated Imnarja horse races which we could in fact see from our balcony. Well, barely. The finish line was hidden by some trees, but after racing each of the horses was brought up the hill right under our window on kind of a victory lap. The riders sit on little two wheeled (sulky) carts like mini chariots. While I watched, one of the horses was still so excited that it took off and dragged its middleaged rider down the hill. The guy held on valiantly and seemed to come away unscathed, although we later saw riders with ragged bloody shins so there was definitely a bit of danger to the sport. That evening they awarded prizes at the top of the Saqqajja steps (our door is near the bottom) and they had an orchestra and dancers.

Then the best part – someone started lighting off huge fireworks in the farm field across the street from us. I’m not sure they were official – it seemed like some guy had just ridden his motorcycle down there with a backpack full of them – but they were huge, spectacular, and LOUD. The first few were just big explosions, very popular in Malta, but we’d never been so close and it sounded like a bomb had gone off right outside our window. We had a great time, there’s nothing like being able to watch fireworks 200 meters from your own balcony.

So that started feast week here in Rabat, and every day since there have been fireworks at 9am, noon, 7pm and 10pm. Tonight is the final day of the feast of St Peter & St Paul, when they’re scheduled to do a procession through the town. I haven’t had the easiest time looking these events up online in Malta but I saw a poster in Maltese which I think I’ve deciphered. So hopefully we’ll have some fun tonight, then in three days we fly out to Edinburgh to start our month in Scotland and the UK!

There hasn’t been much to post about, as Colin and I have both been hiding away in our apartment in Rabat, Malta, and working on our games. Actually I’m working on two simultaneously: I got frustrated with Rebuilder which needs tweaks and graphics but no real programming, so I dusted off my old project Beeble World (now Keeple Island) which is now running nicely in AS3 with sockets, revamped map system and world building tools. Still may never release it but you never know. Colin is toying with variations of the key controls of Clutter and says the game is starting to really come together.

The fireworks I can see from my desk have continued day and night in half a dozen cities, in fact I can hear them starting again now. I think Malta is having one month-long celebration just for us. :) We’ve pulled out the couch bed and are in full lounge mode this evening, resting after a long day visiting Malta’s smaller island Gozo. We rented a scooter and drove from bay to bay, swimming and snorkeling and sunning ourselves on rocks. Like I said, exhausting! We also checked out Gozo’s capital city Victoria which was nice and quiet, until the church bells start a-clanging. They lasted about 10 minutes each time, not seeming to mark a particular hour or anything. Maybe it’s just like the fireworks, letting everybody know it’s still saint’s feast season.

What else have we done in the last two weeks… hmm. We’ve gone on some long walks, explored Rabat and Mdina and the dusty farm roads and little villages nearby. We had a tour of the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni, a prehistoric underground necropolis carved out of the rock with only stone and bone tools. You could still see where they painted the ceiling (5000 year old paint!) in some places. Unfortunately researchers know very little about the builders and they kept saying “we don’t know what this room/hole/etc was used for, isn’t that mysterious”. I wanted answers! The site was seriously restricted to prevent damage from light or co2 from breathing, so they only let a handful of people in every day and you have to scurry along with the guide before the lights go out behind you. Atmosphere it had, but the lack of information was disappointing. However, it got me all interested in the ancient history of Malta and Europe. It’s astounding how many times Malta has been conquered by different groups because of its strategic position in the Mediterranean.

Oh and I found out Saqqajja is pronounced ‘Sah-ahyah’.

Colin and I had the same impression, in fact the same word in our heads when we first saw Malta from the plane: beige. It’s a dry island; no rivers and not much rain in the summer. In fact we’ve seen a lot of cacti here and they even make a local liqueur out of prickly pears. Also red wine mixed with lemonade which was waiting for us when we arrived. I thought it might take it easy with the alcohol this month after Italy, but now I’m itching to find our local liquor store and see what other interesting concoctions Malta makes locally.

But back to our first impressions. Most of the buildings here are made of local limestone which of course is beige. Our apartment has limestone ceilings, a limestone staircase and in some places ancient looking limestone brick walls. It’s built into a ridge so the bedroom is actually underground which makes it deliciously dark and quiet, although also a little damp and dungeon-like. It was something like 27 Celsius out there today but our apartment was super cool, I don’t imagine ever needing the aircon here.

We’ve got an awesome view of farms, vineyards and miles of distant city. I think this is the greenest area we’ve seen so far, and about 2k south is a big forested park. The beach isn’t far although we haven’t figured out how to reach it yet. The important thing is that yesterday I set my computer up by the window and actually got some work done on Rebuilder. I enjoyed the view and after sundown watched fireworks displays in two different towns. They had fireworks during the day as well, lots of them just big explosive bangs. I think it’s for the 70th’s anniversary of the day the bombs started falling in WWII. The raids lasted for two years.. it’s hard to imagine. On the other hand, it might just be celebrations for a Saint’s Feast, which every town in Malta does during the summer months. The feast in our town of Rabat is the biggest of all, and we’re going to be here for it – what luck!

So we knew basically nothing about Malta when we decided to come here, but I’m learning all kinds of facts, such as:

– The entire country is only twice the size of San Francisco and half the population (400k)
– They speak Maltese, a crazy language that sounds like Italian crossed with Arabic… because that’s what it is. I still have no clue how to pronounce our street name (Saqqajja Hill).
– The buses are beautiful antiques of various makes, owned and maintained by the drivers
– Malta was run by the Brits until the 60’s and only recently joined the EU and got on the Euro
– Malta is crazy crazy Catholic and believe Saint Paul was shipwrecked here
– Divorce, abortion and pornography is illegal in Malta
– You can’t walk to the corner store here without tripping over ancient ruins or a UNESCO world heritage site
– Everybody watches TV in Italian here
– Their public health care is rated 5th in the world by the WHO (Canada is 30th)
– They make good, cheap wine here, particularly Syrahs which are Colin’s favorite

Today we got food delivered from Smart.com.mt which was a smart idea, and I was happy to find it’s cheaper here than SF or Vic despite so much needing to be imported. They do have good local bread, cheese, wine ($2 a litre, let the good times continue) and even interesting beer.

Our week in Chiavari was super chill. With the exception of our trip to Cinque Terre, we stayed in the city limits and really got into a groove. A typical day went like this: wake up late, breakfast on the deck (eggs on toast or cereal). Then change to our bikinis and lay in the sun while Colin works on Clutter. Two or three people head down the walking path to town and buy fresh food for dinner, careful to avoid the siesta hours between noon and 4 when most shops are closed. Maybe stop at the beach for a swim (Colin and I declined – my new bikini is too skimpy for public viewing anyway). In the afternoon back to the deck for white wine then red, reading and chatting and eating tapas. Lots of good, cheap wine in Italy as you might expect. Dinner at 9 or 10 o’clock, usually cooked by Jeff and the girls although a few nights we ventured down to eat out. Colin and I set tables and cleaned up, then we share some more wine until sometime after midnight. Repeat!

On our last day we followed the walking path up into the hills instead of down, and discovered it’s a huge loop trail called the 5 Towers. We stopped near the top for wine and ice cream. Then Jeff took the train back up to London for his flight out, and Colin, Kim, Lia and I spent the day in big city Genoa (Genova) before going our separate ways. It may have been the week of doing not-much in a small town, but I was thrilled by Genova. It’s steeped in history and all that, but as a modern city it’s also very comfortable and functional. We visited the big food market Mercato Orientale and ogled the fish and cheeses, enjoyed pedestrian-only streets and shopping centers in beautiful centuries-old buildings. Their old city was the best of all though; winding cobbled streets and tiny alleys; cafes and brothels and people selling odds and ends from card tables on the side of the street. We visited the Galata Maritime Museum which was very hands-on with full sized boat replicas and a surprisingly engaging simulation of heading to Ellis Island at the turn of the last century. Everyone was given a different person to be; mine was an elderly actress who survived the Titanic only to die six months later.

We stopped for coffee then wine on a wide carless street in the old city, and were delighted as the waiter starting bringing us unasked for nibblets: nuts, chips, focaccia , sausage pizza and fruit. By the end we were full enough to skip dinner, and even more surprised by the bill: espresso, wine and a meal for only 4 euro each. I think he must have liked us, but man after that I wanted to stay another week. We took a funicular up to a lush upscale neighborhood and walked along a ridge back to the train station where we said goodbye to Kim and Lia, who are heading to Barcelona next. Colin and I spent the night in a neat hotel (the Albergo Argentina) which takes up half a floor in a huge old palace near the train station. We had a shared bath but private sink and bidet in the room, unusual but convenient.

I guess to sum Italy up: it was as old as they say but cheaper than I expected, the sun was warm and the wine was excellent. Sharing it with friends was the best part, we’re going to miss them!

After Lenka’s birthday marked the end of Lenkapalooza in the Czech Republic, Kim, Lia, Jeff, Colin and I headed off to our villa in the Italian Riviera. We took a series of trains to: Prague,where I spent the last of my crowns on Czech chocolate bars with exotic ingredients like alcohol and caffeine, then to Vienna, where we went for a walk in the shopping district nearby but it being Sunday everything was closed, then to Rome where our private overnight train compartment was a smashing success with goodies like Campari and a great free breakfast, then finally to our new digs in Chiavari (Keeahvaree) just east of Genoa.

Life is peaceful here. Right now we’re out on the deck with our laptops and books, looking down to the city and the Mediterranean through our grove of olive trees. The house is huge (we each have our own bedroom) and isolated in a corner of a vineyard estate. We were welcomed by the owner who brought us wine and vinegar from his grapes and olive oil from the trees over me now. Most evenings we have been staying in and cooking dinner for ourselves, then eating out on the deck with the fireflies. Chiavari is a tourist destination for Italian families; not a whole ton of restaurants, but plenty of places to buy fresh produce, meat and pasta. It’s a good place to get away from city life and hide out with your friends and loved ones. Colin has been working on Clutter and I might even join him today (my focus so far has been on sunbathing and napping).

Yesterday the five of us did the Cinque Terre hike in the national park east along the coast. It is a beautifully built stone walking path that connects five cities in improbable, isolated locations on the water. The railroad connects them now, but it’s possible some of the paths are still used by locals to access the vineyards perched on the steep hillsides above the cities. We started at the far end in Riomaggiore and the romantic lover’s walk to Manarola. This portion of the trail was a wide and easy stroll, decorated with little locks that people attach to seal their love, and graffiti hearts on every flat surface including the cacti. We bought some snacks from a bakery in Manarola then hurried on, eager to lose the crowds. The second leg was still pretty easy going but questionably built into the side of a cliff face. The amount of work this trail must have been to create is unimaginable. They had to blast into the cliff face, then pile up and fit together tonnes and tonnes of flat rocks without cement or anything to attach them together. I think part of it was necessary for building the railroad, but it was done with such quality craftsmanship and is a real work of beauty.

We stopped for lunch at the Lantern restaurant in Corniglia and met some friendly stray cats, then onward to Vernazza where the path got steep enough to deter many of the other walkers. If you’re thinking of doing the Cinque Terre hike, I suggest you do it east-west like we did; this leg looked just exhausting coming from the other direction but for us was mostly downhill. Just enough stairs up to make us glad for the little sprinkle of rain we received. When we reached Vernazza we stopped for beer and G&Ts with a view of the adorable town, which lived up to its reputation as the most lovely of the five, perched on a rock on the edge of the sea. The surrounding hillsides were terraced with vineyards, with little monorail carts to help get supplies up and down.

We’d been warned that the last section of path from Vernazza to Monterosso al Mare was the most treacherous, but we had a feeling the people passing us with hiking boots and double walking sticks were a little overprepared. We did it in dresses and sandals and didn’t have any trouble, although the initial hike up from the water had me sweating hard. It was still nothing compared to our sunset hike a few weeks ago back in Saklıkent Gorge, at least here I could pause when I wanted and admire the lush surroundings. The last leg was without doubt the most beautiful, and felt like we were wandering through a 200-year overgrown flower garden. Which I suppose it might have been in some parts. It did get very narrow by the end and passing oncoming hikers was a bit of a sketchy maneuver, but by 6pm it was mostly empty and the day was cooling down.

The rambling flora became orchards and vineyards again as we neared the last town, and we were delighted to come across a pathside stand run by an amusing man who sold us his homemade limonchello (lemon liqueur) and glasses of red wine. He complained that nobody in Monterosso made wine anymore, they just worked in the hotels and bars down in town. Then he showed us his calloused hands, gestured to the incredibly steep hillside vineyard around us and said “it is fucking hard work to make wine here”. Indeed!

We’re relaxing and recovering a bit today but may head out later for groceries. There are two lovely walking paths going down from our villa to the town. Well, they are walking paths now, but there are still street signs and old brickwork suggesting that before cars these were well trafficked roads. As I mentioned, we (by which I mean Jeff with help from Kim and Lia) have been cooking dinner most nights, although one evening we ate out and I had a huge plate of fish ravioli with the most amazing muscles and clams I have ever eaten. I wouldn’t mind another shot at those before we leave Chiavari.