Two drifters off to see the world…
The Blue Grotto is in Southeastern Malta where there are fishing villages as well as farming.
We’re doing a lot of sightseeing such of this in the first few months before the serious tourist season begins.
Having been to the Milan Ballet a week ago at the Mediterranean Conference Center, we decided to enjoy this venue again for the Foundation Day concert of the Malta Philharmonic.
Goodbye until next week!
Mdina is a 4000 year old medieval fortification and now pedestrianized village. It was the capital of Malta in ancient times until the Knights of St. John relocated the capital to Valletta in 1566.
Mdina is called “the silent city” because of its strictly restricted vehicle access and noise regulations. It has only about 300 residents – although many many more tourists during the day.
Before entering the main gate, we enjoyed Howard Garden, named in honor of Joseph Howard, the first Maltese prime minister.
Now we are going through the Main Gate…
The first courtyard as you come through the main gate…
Inner Courtyard…
and then…
Lunch was at Scala – a Michelin star restaurant just outside the city walls with a fabulous view of the surrounding countryside
Next time – the Blue Grotto!
Under the shade of the banyan trees, we visited a bird park in northern Malta . We had heard about the 2000 year old apiaries and visited one. The next day we took a ferry to Gozo to see a neolithic temple built around 3000 BCE.
After that nice greeting from the cockatoo we were guided along the way by a chicken… You will recognize a peacock, an owl, a stork, budgies, and flamingos as we go along the way.
Next stop was an apiary more than 2000 years old . The ancient apiaries are not used by the bees any longer but the bees are still here on Malta – making honey… The name of the country, Malta, is in fact derived from the Greek for “honey”.
The beekeepers walked in through the small doors and collected the honey from inside.
A forager working on a crown daisy. The meadows are covered in these yellow blossoms in the spring.
Wild snapdragons…
Sweet Alyssum…
Arabian pea..
Cup of Gold Vine…
And king of the hill is this 1000 year old carob tree just up the hill from the apiary.
Saturday March 28 we took a ferry to the Maltese Island of Gozo which is famous for its cliffs and sandy beaches. It has one city, Victoria, and the rest of the island is open countryside.
The photos that follow are of a Neolithic archeological site called Ggantija Temples.
Yesterday, Sunday March 29, we met our friends Mike and Theresa in Valletta at the Mediterranean Conference Center for the Milan Ballet’s production of Carmen. The venue is amazing and the ballet was wonderful.
Sunday the 15th… We walked through Birkikara to meet friends for lunch. We looked up the meaning of Birkikara – it translates as either cold water or running water in Maltese
On Tuesday we decided to photograph cultural remnants of the British colonization of Malta. The Brits colonized Malta in 1813 and Malta was a critical part of British power in the Mediterranean during WWII. The building with the scaffolding is the renovation of Villa Guardamangia, the home that Queen Elizabeth lived in with her husband Phillip before she became Queen. Phillip was an officer in the Royal Navy at the time and he was assigned to the British fleet based in Malta.
On Wednesday we discovered our new favorite coffee shop (It is really UP a hill. Much of Malta away from the coast is hills.) We took a picture of the floor because these are genuine Maltese tiles and over 100 years old. Note the cool decoupage of flyers and mural portraits.
Thursday we took a long walk on the Promenade toward St. Julian’s – the next town over.
Friday we went to the Lenten Concert of the Stella Maris Philharmonic. They played a wide variety from Wagner to Andrew Lloyd Weber to Paul Simon. We were charmed to see a young boy in the percussion section.
Saturday we toured St John’s co-Cathedral in Valletta. It is a treasure trove of baroque art including a very important Caravaggio of the beheading of John the Baptist. We then attended Spazju Kreattiv Cinema to see the Live from the Met – Tristan and Isolde. You may remember we went to Wuthering Heights last week and the cinema is in a 15th century fortress.
And now to the Opera
Here is the outside of the Spazju Kreattiv Cinema (Spazju means “space” and Kreattiv is just what it sounds like)
Today we made it all the way to St. Julian. We are struck by how many playgrounds we see – in a one mile stretch of the Promenade there are 4 playgrounds, each more attractive than the one before.
In closing…the week ended with these sights of smooth sailing. Interestingly we learned that the name of our town – Sliema – means “Peace”
We arrived 07 March and have had a busy, tiring, but wonderful first week. We think it might be fun to show you exactly where Malta is in relation to Europe and also where our town is in relation to the rest of the country (scroll down to see Dick’s finger pointing to Malta)
Malta is 5 times the size of Manhattan and has about 500,00 people.
Let’s begin our walk!
Here is our new address:
30 Triq Sir Luigi Camilleri, Sliema, SLM 1843, Malta. Our phone numbers here are +356 7753 1013 (Chris) and +356 7753 0871 (Dick). For the time being our US phone numbers are also still working. Our emails remain the same, dhowardcycles@pm.me and chrishowardspeech@gmail.com
Please continue to send mail to 3916 N Potsdam Ave PMB 5250, Sioux Falls, SD 57104
Let’s turn right up toward Triq Guze Howard (Howard Street). The street is named after Joseph Howard who served as Malta’s frst Prime Minister from 1921-1923.
You can get an idea of the size of our place from this shot. Our apartment is all on the first level: two bedrooms, one bath.
We are walking toward Triq Guze Howard.
There is a Howard residence and a hotel…
You turn at the next corner and head back toward the sea…
Click on the 4 photos that follow to start the videos…
Now we turn right again and walk up the promenade.
Then after another right we’re almost home – a 20 minute walk completed…
Lest you think this is “Malta”, here is what awaits a short drive away…
A little more information about our first week: we saw our friends Mike and Theresa, we got wi-fi for the apartment, we met with Price Waterhouse again, we’ve seen our landlady several times, we met with our realtor, we found grocery stores we can walk to, and tonight (drumroll), we are taking the ferry to Valletta to see a movie.
In our next post, we’ll share a few more details about our town and our activities.
Once our boxes arrive, Chris want’s to decorate and do a seperate post about that. We are both eager to finish “settling in” and start exploring more widely.
Love to all.
For those of you who have been keeping track of the totality of the trip – we have changed plans. We are not going to India. The geopolitical situation is so crazy and has resulted in such flight disruptions, that we are arriving in Malta March 7, 2026 direct from Tokyo.
Now on to more exciting stuff!
We started our sightseeing at Himeji Palace – 700 years old and the first of many World Heritage sites you’ll see in today’s blog.
We went on to Onomichi from Himeji to meet our daughter-in-law Megan Connolley. She and Zach Howard live in Richmond, VA but Megan has been living in the Seto Inland Sea area for several months teaching English to elementary and middle school students. She was a fabulous host and really has amazing command of the language, the driving, and what is worth seeing.
She first took us to the Kousanji Temple. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8Dsan-ji
Click on the above to see the video
This is a temple designed and built in the 1970’s by many artists. The next video shows one of many man made waterfalls inside.
This part of Japan has marble quarries and the artist and his crew who built this temple created a marble garden on the mountain top. The last video of this section is a view of the harbor from the marble garden.
We caught the very beginning of cherry blossom time. The advantage – fewer tourists.
Pirate Museum – who knew there were pirates in Japan!? Megan explained to us that the Pacific Ocean converges turbulently from two sides around the 6 islands of the Seto Inland Sea. The pirates ruled for hundreds of years because they were the only ones who could safely navigate these waters. They were called the Noshima Murakami Kaizoku – and MANY of Megan’s students have the surname Murakami!
On to Kyoto!
We marvel at the rapid train system here. Get a look at this.
The second video is from inside the train and gives an idea of just how fast they move.
Rather than a conventional hotel, we chose to stay in lodgings run by one of the many Buddhist monasteries here in Kyoto. It has been a wonderful experience – this morning we got up at 5:30 am to attend morning services with the monks – in an opulent setting with a huge gold Buddha, breathtaking ornate golden chandeliers, and intricate wooden pillars and ceilings. The chanting was virtuosic, the drumming stirring, and the monks robes were simple but stunning. Sorry to say, no photos were allowed. BUT – we were able to take pictures of the fabulous meals they served.
We went to the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji), a renowned Zen Buddhist Temple originally built in 1397 as a Shogun’s retirement villa converted into a temple after his death. The garden grounds are covered in lush moss and bordered by bamboo fences.
The Bamboo forest was next!
We then went to a Shinto Shrine – The Thousand Torii Gates.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fushimi_Inari-taisha
Tea ceremony in Kyoto tomorrow morning. Train to Tokyo. In Malta by March 7!
Proud parents Evan and Heather showed us their favorite bike path.
Kauai is the most natural unspoiled island in Hawaii.
This is a banana blossom in their backyard. You can see the baby bananas behind the blossom.
Birds of paradise outside our Air BnB
Tomorrow – JAPAN!
Warning – excessive cacti photos taken at Tucson Botanical Garden and Sabino Canyon.
We enjoyed our visit with son Nathaniel and his wife Susana. As you can see, his recovery from his accident is amazing!
It is really pronounced “Nah Vay Da”! You will notice Chris is very excited to be at Cottey College in Nevada, MO. She belongs to PEO – Philanthropic Education Organization – For over 150 years hundred of PEO chapters have been sending women to college, and even established its very own women’s college in 1884 – Cottey College. The student to faculty ratio is 7:1 and the campus is a gem. We were driving from Bentonville, AR to Kansas City and THERE IT WAS en route. One of the students took us on a mini-tour.
Next Stop, Kansas City (both MO and KS – very confusing). Surprising architectural charm downtown and even a Frank Lloyd Wright designed church.
The Nelson Atkins Museam was pure delight. Check it out sometime.
And here are Aunt Lucy and Uncle Jim, doing well in their 90’s! Aunt Lucy is Chris’s mom’s sister. Chris was the flower girl at their wedding in 1955!
Terry is the cutie in the suspenders – only 2 years old! Ginny Wilber is on the bride’s left and Jim Wilber is the first groomsman from the left.
After miles of flat farmland coming out of Little Rock… the Ozarks begin to appear.
Here’s a peek at downtown Bentonville – the little town that gave us Walmart
The pickup truck is Sam Walton’s truck that he drove every day until his passing – no fancy car for him.
This used bookstore is full of wonderful first editions…and flowers made out of the pages of old books.
Lots of Parks & Playgrounds – very “Kid Friendly” town.
And the BIG attraction is Crystal Bridges Museum – near the Crystal Springs and less than a mile from the center of town. Dick enjoyed walking back and forth. (Click on the photo below to start the video)
Crystal Bridges Museum of Art has the largest collection of American Art in the world. They succeed in blending Art, Architecture, and Nature. The last photos here are of an entire Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian House on the grounds. It was originally in New Jersey but was moved to the Ozarks after repeated flooding threatened its survival. We weren’t allowed to take photos of the interior – if you are interested you can find interior photos at the Crystal Bridges Museum website.
Last but not least – more signs of Spring and a gorgeous sunset.
Next stop – KANSAS CITY!
Home and Heart 