May 22, 2023

May 22, 2023

We spent the night at a wine resort on the northern slopes of Mt Etna. Etna must have been happy to see us as she sprang to life. Unfortunately her exuberant and frothy voice rained down on the local airport forcing it to close. At 4:00 am, we met our driver in the parking lot for the hour drive to the airport. We already know our flight is cancelled and not rescheduled. At the airport we find everyone is looking for a flight if and when the airport reopens later this morning. We are stuck.

Our next destination is another island, Malta. I was thinking of skipping Malta and taking the train to mainland Italy, until I learn we had the opportunity for a ferry to Malta. But first we have to get to the seaport on the faraway southern tip of Sicily. It is an adventure. Fortunately we met a nice young Sri Lankan-Swiss couple on the same itinerary to share it with. Their travel skills complement ours. We located and hopped on the shuttle bus to the local train station and bought a ticket south. We took the 6:30 am train to Siricusa, where we have a long layover. We spend the time at an outdoor cafe drinking cappuccino and enjoying a chocolate croissant.

After a couple hours we catch the next train to the southern port city of Pozzallo. We arrive to pouring rain, but fortunately a taxi is waiting to transfer us to the harbor. We have another long wait that we spend in a pizzeria-bar.

At 2:30 pm we finally board the ferry to Valletta, the capital of Malta. The catamaran ferry is huge with several semis on board.

Fortunately for me the seas were calm and this catamaran ferry very fast. We land in Malta in ninety minutes. The four of us are overjoyed and a little surprised that we really made it.

There is a long line of people wanting taxis, so we just decided to walk the mile to our hotel. Valletta is a small city inside a high-stoned walled fortress. Our penthouse hotel room has a great view of the port. Every spot on the harbor is bristling with fortifications. That is the essence of Maltese history.

Before going to bed, we took a quick stroll around this heavily fortified city. We passed memorials to Jean de Valette and the Great Siege of 1565. When the Ottoman Turks threw the Knights of St John (defenders of the Holy Land) out of the island of Rhodes in 1530, the king of Spain gave them Malta for an annual tribute of one Maltese Falcon. Malta was the next stronghold defending against the relentless Ottoman campaign to conquer Europe. Fortunately for us, the Knights made a successful last stand; otherwise I might be writing this in Turkish or Arabic.