If waking up in Turkey was surreal, it was nothing to waking up in Malta.
It gave a little bit of Venice, with some fantastical Disney vibes thrown in.
Valletta is the capital of Malta, and is completely walled. The fortifications began in 1566 by the Knights of St John after the Great Siege. While the Knights, historically, have been involved in military-esque operations (ie the Crusades), they now concern themselves with humanitarian aid, globally, and are now known as the Knights of Malta. (This was an exercise in using your own words after reading Wikipedia. lol)
Our ship has what they call an "infinite veranda". Instead of having an outdoor space, that space is incorporated into your room, and the windows are floor to ceiling and lower halfway down. Many mornings when we wake up we are already docked, but this morning we were still making our way into port, so we put the window down to take in the sights and the morning air. This is our mirror INSIDE our stateroom. It's a bit humid!! 😜
For today's adventure, we headed to Ħaġar Qim, a megalithic temple. I say "megalithic" with a bit of confidence, but the past is basically a BLUR right now. We both desperately need a timeline, and thankfully didn't bring enough sticky notes to make one. It was built between 3600 and 3200 BC. For reference, the first phase of Stonehenge was started in 3100 BC. I don't know why, but that grounds it a little bit for me.
Excavation started in the 1800s, though the top parts of some of the stones were visible before then. Turning the photo to black and white shows the difference in the weathering of the limestone.
A tent was put up in the early 2000s to provide protective covering, which is what you can see in the background of some of the photos.
Like a lot of ancient temples, there is a spot where the sun shines through on the solstice. We've seen this on our travels in Mexico and Belize, and know it exists in several ancient cultures throughout the world. On the one hand, it makes perfect sense, because people would have wanted to understand the world around them. On the other, what a precise measurement to be made with ancient tools (both carving and time!).
This was the hottest day of our trip - nearing 100 by the time we left Ħaġar Qim. At this point, we're used to sweaty pictures! I feel sticky just remembering!
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| Extreme cuteness, and extreme focus! |
Then we headed to the Limestone Heritage in Siġġiewi. It is an old limestone quarry that has been turned into a park/garden space that I'm sure hosts beautiful events, but also has a citrus grove! We were there for limoncello.
