We had so much fun with a car last weekend that we decided to try it again. It’s such a nice way to explore the island on our own time and to go places no bus could ever go…
This time we got a white car. A bit newer, still small and still a manual transmission. I haven’t noticed many automatics around here – I’m not sure why. We actually kind of like the small cars – they are pretty cozy!
Our first stop was Mosta, to visit the Mosta Rotunda. You can see the dome in the background. This is a Catholic Church that was built right around the existing smaller church, starting in 1833.
Much of the construction was done voluntarily by the people of Mosta. After nearly 30 years, the older church (inside!) was dismantled in one week and this new church became the official Mosta Parish Church on 11 March 1860.
The church was modeled after the Pantheon of Rome. The dome is amazing.
The church was really beautiful with ornate carvings, paintings, sculptures and woodwork.
The most fascinating story about the dome took place on 9 April 1942. A German bomb like this replica penetrated the dome and landed right in the middle of the church. It did not explode and no one was hurt. If you look at the dome photo again, you can see the place where the done was repaired after this incident.
We took some back roads to try to avoid the traffic in Mosta. This is indeed a street. We were happy we didn’t meet any oncoming traffic.
We drove west again to the other side of the island, north of Dingli. The beach was gorgeous but chilly.
These housesare built into the side of the hill. I don’t know if they are year round residences. I did not see any boats, but there were docks in front of the houses, so it may be a fishing village with everyone out for the day.
There are towers like this one all around the perimeter of the island. They were used as lookouts for enemy ships.
Despite the wind and clouds, the girls set up their towels and sat down for some reading time.
We took more back roads to see more coastline and found ourselves driving through farmland and along narrow country roads like this one. This is a two way road, but two cars could never fit side by side, so there were pull-outs now and then.
More beautiful coastline. We really enjoyed exploring less traveled areas today.
SylLy Acres 
March 15, 2014 at 1:02 pm
Wow, that Rotunda was beautiful! I’m wondering how long it takes you to get to the other side of the island? I’m trying to get a feeling for how big it actually is. Seems like you don’t have to go very far in any direction to get to the water. I’m sorry Catfish is landlocked here in Nebraska. He would have loved it! Are you staying the night somewhere or going back to your apt?
March 15, 2014 at 2:17 pm
Nice! I think you are wise to rent a car to get out. Otherwise you’d think all of Malta is the city. You will see so much more, but you are brave to drive there. I’m pretty sure you were driving down a walking street, don’t you think? All the people who live on that street are probably still talking about it. Ha!
Have you been to Gozo yet? I don’t remember you talking about that. It was really rural and a great place to visit. I remember loving a place, I think it was called Mystery Bay (I’ve since heard they make movies there, so it might be spoiled) but you could also visit the salt works, or whatever they are called- stone places on the coast where salt is collected from the sea water and dried. That would be a nice day trip, starting early. Please, don’t forget the cart tracks I told you about! You’ve got to see them. And can you go to the Tarxien Temples! You’ll think you are somewhere like Stonehenge.
Picture naive Luther students in 1976. The sea was chilly. We were from Iowa. We must go swimming. The Maltese were wearing their winter jackets. First I tried swimming out from the marina. Ha! (Oily water, ice.) We’d see a beach on the map and head out. Big chilly waves. Brrr. Sometimes we’d jump off some rocks (right by Il Fortizza, for one place.) We spent most of the time trying to sun dry and warm up, without much for decent towels either, as I remember. We were crazy and certainly chose some inadvisable swimming spots. One of my girlfriends got a sea urchin spike in her toe, another got a prickly pear spike in her forehead, from walking where the cactus hung over the road. Maybe you are lucky if your students aren’t running all over the islands.
Some people tried snorkeling, but I didn’t. Are there places where people do go snorkeling, do you know? That would be fun, if you had a warm day and a wetsuit (for warmth and protection from jellyfish.) (If there is good snorkeling somewhere in Malta you should try it. I’ve only been snorkeling in Hawaii, but it remains one of the most awesome experiences that I have had. You can’t imagine what’s under the surface! but you need to go in a calm, protected area, without many waves.)
I am confused by my memory of the Mosta Cathedral. I don’t remember any pews. Were there any? I mostly remember how congested traffic was to get there and sitting on the bus much too long considering how much time we spent in the dome. Have you been in St. John’s CoCathedral in Valletta yet? You could go there and to the National Archeology Museum there for an easy adventure, (that’s where I had my internship learning how to put pot shards together to resemble their former, unbroken selves.)
Advice and ideas. . . You are taking it all so gracefully. Thanks for letting me share and for sharing your writing. It’s so wonderful to have firsthand news of Malta. It’s almost as fun as being there myself.
March 17, 2014 at 1:03 pm
I think we musta see Mosta. 🙂