Knock knock knocking on Malta's door

When I'm away from home, whether for a day or on holiday, I enjoy studying the architecture around me.

As I looked at the houses on Malta, mostly terraces or apartments as Malta is such a small island, I noticed the door knockers.

Wherever you are on Malta, the sea isn't too far away, so it's no surprise that fish swim into view quite often.

Lions were also much in evidence, the first looks a little glum, possibly at the indignity of having a hoop through his jaw!

this one looks very angry

slightly pensive, I think

quite regal and serene

Simply elegant, don't you think?

The Maltese Cross was awarded to the whole island of Malta to recognise their war efforts in the Second World War, and it, too, appears as a door knocker.

What's your favourite door knocker design?

Meet my Maltese camel

We've been to Malta three times now, and have booked to go again; we enjoy the gentle warmth instead of our cold winters, and meet up with many of the same people each year for day long walks around the island.

There are some quite hilly patches on Malta, and a walking stick is a sensible thing to take with you on a day out.  Fortunately bamboo grows abundantly in the countryside, and a fallen stick can usually be found which will act as your third leg.  We normally pick up a couple, cut them to size, and use them for the holiday, then stick them in a hedge near the hotel for someone else to utilise later - a trick we were shown by folks who've been travelling to Malta for years!

Last year I found a camel to accompany me.  He wasn't absolutely ideal as he was a little warped, but I couldn't resist him - could you?

The Blessing of the Animals in Rabat, Malta

Once a year the animals are brought to the church of St Augustine, in Rabat on the feast of St Anthony,

to be blessed.  They don't go into the church, instead they line the streets around the church, and the saint is brought to them.  Originally the blessing was for farm animals, but now it it mainly domestic animals that benefit from the blessing - although we did catch sight of a small black goat.  This year it was on the 15th January.

We knew we were nearing the right area of Rabat when we saw this diminutive pony being driven along.

Then we saw donkeys "parked" at the side of the roads with their carts spruced up, this one is sporting the Maltese flag.

this is how deserted the approach to the church was when we arrived - it soon filled up with hundreds of locals, most bearing, or being borne by, animals.

This brother and sister were in charge of two baby rabbits, nestled in fresh straw in a basket.

We were allowed into the church to see the effigy of the saint being prepared for his journey through the streets.

Outside, the band began to arrive - we were impressed by the sensible notion of wheeling the big drum along!

the priests appeared outside the church with the large, red flag.

Even the "search and rescue" dogs were brought along to be blessed.

This little girl, too young to be in control of a live animal, brought her stuffed dog along, her brother supervised the small bird in its cage.

Dad was allowed to support the basket for the photo - the rabbits weren't really interested.

This older couple brought their family pet, complete with new outfit.

The saint emerged from the church.  He is made from wood, and his base is a lightweight plastic, but you wouldn't know it to look at it.  It has an aged appearance.

We followed the procession around the block.  The poor carriers stopped periodically and set down the saint to rest their shoulders.  The musicians played throughout.  It was an interesting morning.

A bus(sy) day

One of the favourite topics of conversation on Malta, amongst the tourists, is buses.  I know, not your normal opening gambit, "have you travelled on the 47 to Valletta with no doors?", but, believe it or not, it happens!

The buses on Malta vary tremendously in age and character.  I have never taken so many photographs of any type of vehicle as I did those wonderful buses.

This is the bus station in Valletta, the capital city.  Well, just a tiny shot of a few buses, actually, but you can see there aren't two buses alike here!  Not like your average bus station here in the UK where the majority are clones of each other.  In Malta, the colours unify them into a family, and they all have wheels and a driver, but after that ... well, like a large, extended family, each member is unique.

Look at the difference in the sizes of these two!  And, like a family, there are siblings of different ages.  The older brother on the left is shorter in stature than his younger brother, maybe nutrition improved for buses after he'd grown up!

Another pair of contrasts.  The flamboyant decorative grille on the right hand, older bus, has become subdued, streamlined, on the left hand model.  You could almost believe that the left hand one is modern, but take a ride on it, and you'll discover that it doesn't have much of what you'd expect from a public transport vehicle.  Decent suspension to give a comfortable ride?  Not that we noticed.  Windows that open and close?  Mmm, some did, others the windows were permanently one or the other.  Doors that closed?  Well, that's an interesting one!  Some buses, which are allowed to carry 12 standing passengers, had no doors at all!!!  They weren't just kept open, they were removed.  Comfortable padded seats?  Not really, in fact the seat covers may well be patched up with duct tape, if they're patched at all, that is.  Many are left slashed or worn, scarred by the hard life they've lived.

I'm not saying that the Maltese have necessarily done the damage, either.  These buses have been imported over the years from England, mostly, judging by the advertisement still in place on the interior walls, from London.  Maybe late night revellers in our capital caused the damage, who knows?

This was the most modern looking of all the buses, but inside, well, let's say it was as interesting as the others.

But, generally speaking, they were clean.  This guy is washing down his bus at the bus station in Valletta.

And this one is using a sweeping brush to clean his windscreen at the local bus station.

Apparently, some buses are owned by the drivers, and others are owned by the bus company.  I assume that those who assiduously clean their vehicles are those who proudly own them, but I could be wrong.

I'll post more photos another day, you ain't seen nothing yet, as they say!

Vegan, wheat free tourist in Malta

Naturally, I requested that the hotel be notified of my vegan, wheat-free diet when I booked the holiday.  Of course, they assured me that it wouldn't be a problem.  I've heard it all before, and tend to assume the worst.

I always take a packet of pumpernickel bread with me, and some packets of miso soup so that I know I will be able to eat something whilst I sort out what's available.  This time we also took along some avocados and fruit from the kitchen, as we were going to be away for three weeks and it would have been a waste not to have taken it. 

On our first morning we ventured forth to investigate the local food shops.  We discovered many "supermarkets", many smaller than your local greengrocer probably is!  In some we were delighted to find beautiful fresh fruit and vegetables, in many more, we were disappointed by the sad, withered displays.

I was pleasantly surprised to see soya milk on the shelves of nearly all of the food shops.  Some brands I knew, others I didn't.  So, that was breakfast sorted out.

We discovered a large supermarket, called Scotts, nearby.

A sign proudly boasted that they stock Redwood meatfree products.  I was so surprised that I found myself taking photos of products on a supermarket shelf!!!  Not something I am normally likely to do!

Cheezly is one of the cheese substitutes that I actually buy here in the UK.  Not often, because it's full of fat, and doesn't really taste the same as cheese, now does it?  However, there are times when I really fancy a toasted cheese sandwich, with onion and olives and tomatoes.  When the craving strikes, I feed it!  I tell myself it's pretty much like a pizza.  Self delusion is a wonderful thing, at times :-)

Although I can't eat most of their products, due to the wheat content, it was still good to see that vegetarian and vegans are provided for in some shops.  And you can see that the prices aren't too bad, either.  Since we were booked in for half-board, I didn't need to buy anything.  I always look at what's available though, in case I plan to return on a self-catering basis.

Gluten-free bread wasn't quite as easy to find as the soya milk and other milk substitutes.  I was lucky, in that a reasonable sized supermarket nearby boasted a whole rack down one aisle full of gluten free products.  There were five different sliced loaves, plus several varieties of rolls and crackers.  The prices were higher than here, but you'd expect that, given that Malta is a small island and everything has to be freighted in.

So, it's possible to buy your essentials if you should travel to Malta or Gozo.  It's always good to know that you can buy basic provisions, isn't it?

In a Maltese garden

To me, as to many of you, I suspect, a poinsettia plant is one that we buy for the Christmas season.  Indeed, they often appear on Christmas cards nowadays, don't they?

I have, in the past, managed to keep one alive for a couple of years, but not much longer than that.  How about you?

You can imagine my delight, then, when I spotted poinsettia trees in even the smallest gardens whilst on holiday in Malta this January :-)

This is one in the front garden of a small block of flats.  This leads me to assume that they are very easy to look after, as I never saw anyone tending their gardens in the three weeks I was there.

I think this is a hibiscus, which has been trained over an arched trellis.  You can see ripe, luscious lemons, ready to drop from the tree behind the blue netting.  Amazingly, we saw so many oranges, lemons and grapefruit rotting on the ground.  Clearly the owners of those trees neither drink gin and tonic, nor make fresh salad dressings or fruit smoothies!!

This was a small, courtyard garden, largely given over to fruit trees.  I was pleased to see that the soil here was not littered with fallen fruit.

Some time ago I asked if any of you could identify some leaves that I had acquired as part of a bouquet of flowers.  I was intrigued by the fact that the flowers appeared both underneath, and on top of, the leaves themselves.  You can imagine my surprise to see these plants growing in swathes.  Not only are the flowers there, to enable me to identify it, but such glorious, ruby berries too!  I still don't know what they are, but, again, they must be easy to grow, and probably worth bearing in mind if we are set to have longer, drier summers - after all, Malta has really hot summers!

We're back

We left the sun behind us in Malta yesterday, and flew home.  The pilot was so eager for us to enjoy the bracing British air that he landed ten minutes early - what a dear man!  The car sparkled gently in the lamplight.  Frost!!!  Such a rude reminder that we were back to winter weather.

Fortunately, it didn't take long to scrape the windows clear, and the roads were safe.  There was no sign of frost when we arrived home, my car didn't have a pretty, sparkly dress.

We've been away for three weeks.  I had packed for autumn-like weather, and didn't complain at all that we were obliged to buy a pair of shorts each to wear.  What a lovely surprise:-)  I had to buy sunglasses, too.

We experienced one day of on/off rain, with little let up in the cloud cover, and dramatic thunder and lightning at bedtime.  A couple of mornings were drizzly, but by mid-morning or lunchtime were sunny again.  Malta certainly provided us with welcome heat and sunshine in the midst of winter, recharging our batteries nicely.

Now, the first two loads of washing are blowing on the line, the sun is shining for us here, too, and in the conservatory, it is actually warm.  Maybe spring is just around the corner.  I hope.