Last Night at Mount St Joseph + Link to Photos

After breakfast, we returned to Rabat to visit the catacombs. Quite interesting to note that the neolithic tradition of buring the dead in underground rock caverns was adopted millennia later by the Phoenicians, the arabs, and the christians. The soft limestone of which Malta is comprised lends itself well to such endeavours. The catacombs are multi-layered caverns which twist and turn in all directions, and it would take much to get lost in there.
Because we're leaving early tomorrow morning, it was nice to have the opportunity to speak one last time with Fr. Reno Grech who stopped by our table in the refectory at the end of our supper tonight. Here's the link to the Malta photo album...I am having some problems linking two albums to the same blog...So, in case I can't figure it out, perhaps this link may work for you.
cheers from malta
http://picasaweb.google.com/dcrowe2/MaltaMay19242009?feat=email#

Mount St Joseph

Well, we arrived safely at Mount St. Joseph retreat center in Mosta without incident. On our 1st day here, we visited the temple at Tarxien, and the Hypogeum (google Hypogeum in Malta) an underground neolithic burial temple carved out of the living rock below ground. It's a marvelous feat of engineering and will power of these people who suddenly disappeared from the Maltese Islands without a trace and without any clear explanation of what happened to them. The site is limited to 70 visitors per day (max 10 per hour) to protect the walls and ochre painted motifs from excessive carbon monoxide. To get in, it is recommended to book tickets a few weeks in advance. I was so useed to the daily routine of morning mass at Manresa House, that I asked the director of Mount Saint Joseph when the daily community mass was celebrated. It turns out that there isn't one, but Father Reno Grech came to our aid and agreed to celebrate mass for us at 07:00. It's a bit odd that only Michele and I are there, but this makes it a much more personal experience, and his homilies are very beautiful in simplicity and elegance. His homilies remind me a little of the daily chats I had with Father Victor at Manresa House, although in Fr. Reno's case I am resisting the urge to interrupt him with incessant questions as was my tendency with Father Victor. On Wednesday, we took the bus to Valletta where we visited the Knights' Armoury in the morning, and then we visited Sister Paule and Sister Rose at St. Paul's Home in Hamrun that afternoon. They took us for a full tour of their magnificent facilities for the elderly, then we attended mass with them at 17:00 followed by a short tea afterwards which Sister Paule had prepared for us in advance. It was such a pleasure to see them again, and they seemed very happy to have visitors. The mass was concelebrated by 4 priests, 3 of whom were able to stand. They were all quite old and somewhat feeble as were most of the congregation, but it was a very nice service. Sister Paule, God bless her, admits to feeling a little tired. I think she's entitled to feel a little tired at the age of 75 and after having survived 3 or 4 open heart operations. Will make a point to write to her when we return to try to cheer her up. She doesn't know how to operate a computer to access e-mail, so it will have to be the old fashioned postal way when corresponding with her although sister Rose is a real crackerjack on the keyboard and would be able to pass on a message in a pinch, I suppose....On Thursday (yesterday), we visited the Mosta Domo, the co-Cathedral of Saint John in Valletta, the museaum of archaeology, the movie "Malta Experience" and the Lower and Upper Barraca Gardens, Today, we visited Mdina where we took the pre-recorded audio-walking tour of the city and then saw the first cathedral of Saint John and the museum where I noted several items on loan from the Jesuits of Malta. We saw the movie "Mdina Experience" and the torture chambers. After lunch we walked over to Rabat where we visited the Roman domus, the Church of Saint Paul, and most impressive of all, the grotto of Saint Paul where, according to legend, he stayed for 3 months after his ship wrecked on the shores of Malta on his journey to Rome. Unfortunately, we arrived at the Saint Paul catacombs at 16:32, and they closed at 16:30. Despite our reasonable effort to convince the lady in charge that we would be quick about it, she refused us entrance. No big deal, but I said a prayer for her. Likewise, the crypt of St. Agatha was closed at 16:30, so we may return to those tomorrow morning before heading over to St Paul's Bay. There's simply so much to see of the incredibly rich history of Malta that we have to realize we cannot possibly see it all in a mere few days. I've got a tonne of pictures, but am afraid to upload too many. Will set up a separate album in Picasa for these photos so that you can see more than what I have posted on this blog. Will provide the link when the new album is ready.
Tomorrow's our last day in Malta before we head north to Sicily.
cheers to all

Last Day at Manresa

Yesterday, Father Anthony and Father Victor wanted us to join them for their weekly Sunday evening drive, and decided they were going to pick us up at Dwerja (pronounced Dwerya). So, rather than taking the bus there and walking back to Manresa as planned, we walked to Dwerja after lunch and awaited their arrival shortly after 5 p.m. It was a beautiful road through the countryside on a beautiful afternoon. We passed through Fontana so that Michele could see the Lunzjata chapel and then up through Kercem and Santa Lucija to see the charming little church square there. Sunday afternoons are especially quiet in Gozo, so our walk was very peaceful. Although the distance wasn't that long (we only logged 16590 steps), because the route was so hilly, it took us a little over 2 hours to reach Dwerja. The main attraction at Dwerja is the Azure Window which as you'll note from the picture is bound to collapse in a relatively short time (relative to the age of the coastline that is). The surf splashing up and over the rocks is a beautiful soft pastel blue, a hue which my camera could not, unfortunately, capture. Father Anthony and Father Victor arrived shortly after 17:00 and took us for a great drive. We first visited the cathedral of Ta Pinu near Gharb, then carried on through Zeebug down to the saltpan road. Then on through Marsalforn and back south to Xaghra, Nadur, Oala and Mgarr where we stopped fr a beer at a small pub on top of the hill overlooking the Blue Lagoon between the small islands of Comino and Cominetta. We made it back just in time for supper at 20:00. What a perfect way to end a great day in such warm company.

Footpath from Ta Cenc and Munxar

Yesterday, Michele and I walked along the foot path between Ta Cenc and Munxar. Except for a short deviation around the water resevoir where an old limestone wall extends out over the edge of the cliff, the foot path hugs the cliff edge all the way. My intention was to go easy on Michele by taking her on a relatively short walk up to Ta Cenc (about 30 minutes) and then back to Manresa House by a loop through Munxar. While the walk from Munxar to Manresa takes about 10 minutes, the foot path is much longer because it winds up and down the hilly coast line while weaving in and out around the rugged crags. We were walking for about 4 hours by the time we returned having logged a healthy 23882 steps, but Michele kept up like a trooper and reports that her legs are ok today for the long hike we were planning for this afternoon from the Azure Window at Dwerja Bay. In order to make it easier, we will probably take the #82 bus from Victoria to Dwerja and walk back. (Coincidentally, the fare for that ride happens to be 82 cents.) Furthermore, this way, we will likely be able to make it back in time for a short Sunday afternoon excursion with Fr. Anthony who likes to go out for a drive on Sundays and he has invited us along with him. I am beginning to notice that the Picasa web album is becoming a bit sluggish. My guess is that the 285 images are pushing the limit for file maintenance. So, will likely create individual albums for the various future legs of our journey. Similarly, will try to limity the number of photos I post on this blog page for fear that it, too, may become too heavy to open for those of you following it. To this end, I would encourage you to click on the link to the web album on the right hand sign of your screen and have a look at the flowers we discovered along the footpath from Ta Cenc to the Dolmen cliffs.