Nicole schreibt...

Malta 2004

The ways of the European Union have often been mystifying, but when something good comes your way, you don't start wondering but simply grab it. Our company had been awarded money by the EU to take part in some business research scheme and this money was used to "strengthen company morale" with a trip to Malta. Ah well. Ever one to discover new places I was glad we had chosen a place I hadn't known yet and the story of Malta is certainly a singular one.

For many centuries a sparsely populated rock in the southern Mediterranean Malta was given to the Knights of St.John after their eviction from Rhodes by the Ottomans. Neither knights nor the local population were happy at first, but they learned to get along. The great siege of Malta took place in 1565 and I dare you read Ernle Bradford's book of the same title without crying. For months the Ottomans laid siege to the crumblings fortresses of St.Elmo and St.Angelo on the great harbour and yet failed to take them. When they had finally left with their tails between their legs, the knights began with the construction of their new capital Valletta, named after the Grand Master Jean de la Vallette who had guided them to victory during the siege. This is Fort St.Angelo, which was the last refuge of knights and Maltese during the grand siege and which the Ottomans failed to capture despite their overwhelming majority. In the background to the left is Fort Ricasoli, more famous these days for being used as a movie set. Both "Gladiator" with Russell Crowe and "Troy" with Brad Pitt were shot here Having been converted by the apostle St.Paul in 1st century already, the Maltese have always been big on Catholicism. Unforunately I wasn't able to visit St.John's Co-Cathedral (the main cathedral of the knights of St.John) because it was closed for the EU celebrations, but here are some other nice churches, one of the fine houses in Valletta showcasing the typical Maltese architecture and finally the monument to English navy captain Alexander Bell who grabbed the island from Napoleon and claimed it for the British Empire.

Twice a month the Malta Tourist Board puts up the colourful "In Guardia" show inside Fort St.Elmo, re-enacting the great time of the Knights of St.John. I had read about this in the Air Malta board magazine and since no one of my dear colleagues could be bothered to tag along or generally show any interest in the island we were on, I simply went alone and actually really enjoyed the me time. The others had headed for the beach, so I joined them there later. Malta is not spoilt for gorgeous beaches like other Mediterranean islands and Mellieha Beach in the northwestern corner is about as good as it gets!

And that was Stagepool as of May 2004 when things were still good:

from left to right: yours truly, Åsa, Anna-Clara, Alexandra, Johan and Thomas