WELCOME

This blog is dedicated to Malta - my island home. My aim is not to bore you with history but to share my thoughts and a few facts together with a photo or two. For a more in -depth background of the island please go here. The purpose of this blog is not to point out the short-comings of the island. There are plenty that do that already. My wish is to show you the beauty of an island at the cross roads of the Mediterranean, a melting pot of history; a place where fact and fiction are sometimes fused to create unique myths and legends; a country that has been conquered so many times that our culture is a mish mesh of the lands that surround us and of lands far away. I confess that my greatest desire is to make you fall in love with this tiny enchanting island.

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Sunday 24 February 2013

The Tombs of Our Fathers

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You may all be wondering why I am sharing a photo of what seems to be a square cut out into the rocks. For many years these ‘formations’ puzzled me. When left to its own devices,  it is very rare for nature to form squares. But finally the mystery, such as it was, was solved. A few years ago I met a lady who explained who had made these squares. What we are seeing today is actually the top of a shaft that was cut into the rock. The shaft descends vertically to a tomb that is dug at right angles to the shaft and straight into the rock. From artifacts found inside the tombs it was concluded that they date back to Punic times. Appropriately, the tombs  face the setting sun. It all seems so obvious now that I wonder how I never figured it out for myself.

Punic Tomb,  Mtarfa

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Snapshots of … Wied iz-Zurrieq (in Winter)

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This rocky inlet located in the south-west of Malta is a favourite fishing spot with many. On calm days, colourful  Maltese boats bob about lazily in the water – a picture of complete serenity.

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But in winter, the fury of the sea is not to be trifled with and on windy days, the boats are safely brought to shore to wait for more opportune weather.

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One must certainly exercise caution and stay away from the water because, as all those of us brought up here know, it has a very fickle nature.

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In the distance, the island of Filfla seems so close that it feels as if you can almost reach out and touch it.

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Zurrieq is derived from the Semitic word zoroq which means blue. Quite an appropriate name, would’t you say?

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Location: Wied iz-Zurrieq, December 2008 &  January 2010

The Azure Window: the end of an icon

The Azure Window was a natural limestone arch that rose majestically out of the blue Mediterranean sea to a height of 28 metres (92 fee...