Memo to self and Bob. We are sort of on holidays but also living here for three months. We cannot keep up a holiday mentality of being on the go all the time. We are doing a pretty good job of doing just that so far but....yesterday we walked to the big grocery store fully prepared to shop. We had our cloth bags, checked our back packs into a locker and joined the throngs of holiday shoppers. It is so vibrant, so much chatter....the aisles are narrow but people maneuver them the same way they drive, full speed with minimal crashes. I love it! I guess I was too focused on the job at hand and I never thought to take pictures. Probably a good thing in hindsight as we stand out enough as tourists as it is.
On our way to Piscopo's Cash and Carry we walked different streets than normal. It is so unlike home in that any block can have such a mixture of residences, stores, restaurants, car rental garages, hair salons, bars .....you name it. Went into a Sicilian butcher shop just to look, The Russian Store....have no idea what I'm looking at except the boxes of wrapped candies along the wall.
It is a lovely sunny morning. I'm not sure about the temperatures because even though it says a high of 17/18 degrees I'm never really hot. I think it must have to do with the constant sea breeze. I start every day in capris, sandals, a hoody and a scarf:) ( I now have 5 scarves......I've been collecting). Very seldom do I need to remove my scarf or jacket. I'm totally happy with this weather pattern. It is just as we had thought it would be and makes our days of exploring comfortable.
Spent the afternoon at home having showers and an early dinner so we could leave for my first art class at 5:30. Not knowing what it's like at night to walk home, Bob wanted to come with me. He volunteered to spend the two hours in one pub or another. It sounds good but it was really pretty boring for him by himself. As the stores reopen at 4:00 til 7:00 there is still lots of people out and about especially because it is Friday night and one week til Christmas. Lots of shopping happening. Next week I will be fine to come and go myself. It is only a 15 minute walk.
My class consisted of 4 people and myself. An English lady, a Maltese man and two young Maltese women. I didn't know what to expect so just left myself open to instruction. The resident painter and owner of Caravaggio Art, Jude Zamitt, told me to pick a picture that I would like to work on. I picked a bouquet of irises. This is nothing like journaling. I spent two hours with a pencil in one hand and an eraser in the other. The premise being you draw your picture to a point where you feel you can no longer improve your drawing. The class ended before I reached that point. After an hour my shoulders ached as I'm not used to using an easel. I thought, hmmm.....I'm going to take a picture of my drawing in case I decide not to come back:)
I will come back.
Bob was waiting for me and we walked the quiet, dark streets home. The young people were starting to come out for the evening in Bugibba square. But we head for our quiet area only 6/8 blocks away. We really lucked out in our choice of accommodation.
This morning I realized I didn't have my journal! Panic! Then I realized I must have left it at class last night. We walked to Bugibba and yes they had it waiting for me. Because we wanted to buy a bus pass we walked to the terminal which is another twenty minute walk before we went to Mosta, our destination for the day.
I'm really having trouble getting my head around just how old this island country is. We are going to see the Mosta Dome for its WWII fame but before it was even known as Mosta, people had inhabited the area as far back as the Copper Age (circa 4100-2500 BC). The history between this time and the 20th century is too much for me to assimilate. In the 1830's the original Parish church was replaced, modelled on the Pantheon of Rome. Most of the work was done by Mostins themselves on Sunday's and holidays. It was built around the existing church. In 1833 when the stone work was completed the older church was dismantled in one week.
The most unpleasant occurrence for this beautiful church and it's dome came on 9 April 1942. Four German bombs hit the church. Three of these did not explode and one penetrated the dome and landed in the middle of the church. It also did not explode. The Mostins saw this as divine intervention as not one of the three hundred people in the church was hurt, and the damage to the church rotunda was not extensive.
Replica of the bombs dropped in 1942.
We ran out of time in the church as it closed to the public at noon. We bought lunch from a pastizzaria. These street shops do an amazing business. For €1 or less you can have lunch...anything from a huge thick slice of pizza to chicken, ham and cheese pasties, sausage rolls..... Sat in the sun in front of the church eating and feeding the pigeons our leftovers.
Mosta is one of the larger centres on Malta. It has beautiful old streets with elegant balconies. We walked the Main Street with all the Saturday shoppers. A scarf shop, one more purchase, an art supply shop, three more pens:).
We are both happy to walk the quiet back streets looking at colourful doors, door knockers, letter boxes and iron grill work.
Maltese police car.
Even here in Malta children are dreaming of Frozen for Christmas.
We catch a bus and it doesn't seem to matter which one we get on it still comes pretty close to home. Another busy day but we are home by 2:00. Time for some quiet before we prepare for dinner.
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment