I love islands. I suppose that’s quite natural since I was born on one famously described by Shakespeare as ’this sceptered isle, this fortress built by Nature for herself against infection and the hand of war, this little world, this precious stone set in the silver sea’.
It’s just a pity that infection has indeed invaded the sceptered isle. As recently noted by some politicians if only this island had truly become a fortress last March then the current health crisis would not have afflicted it in the dire way it continues to do. There is no such island in the centre of China, yet the inhabitants of Wuhan, where the first cases of Covid-19 arose, are now living normal mask-less lives just one year later and celebrating the fact.
I have been island hopping on four of the five world’s continents. These hops have taken me from the lone Atlantic isle of St Kilda to the lush tropicana of Bali, from the Caribbean sands of Antigua to the pearl that is Sri Lanka. Living in a Mediterranean country I am surrounded by a variety of islands of all shapes and sizes. The isles of Greece, from Cephalonia to Chios, and those around Italy have been destinations filled with lovely memories. We have not only landed on Italy’s two big islands of Sardinia and Sicily but also those smaller gems such as Elba, and Giglio. And French Corsica too (although it was Italian once).
Eight years ago we visited an island which might have had the possibility of being Italian but instead steadfastly maintained its own identity. Malta is indeed a linchpin joining the Arab to the European world. Part of the European Union it is the only member speaking a Semitic language: Maltese combines Arabic with Sicilian Italian. Yet it is the only Semitic language written using the western alphabet. Moreover, the islanders are fervently Roman Catholic and only 2% are of Muslim religion.
I’d always thought of Malta as a typical summer holiday island especially popular with brits and it certainly is that. But it’s a lot more as well. Prehistoric settlers built some of the finest Neolithic temples to be found anywhere. During the Bronze Age they were succeeded by a new wave of immigrants. Then followed the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Muslims, the Normans, the Spanish and the Knights of Saint John who made Malta’s minuscule capital La Valletta into one of the finest fortified cities of Europe quite on a par with places like Lucca and Palmanova. Napoleon held the island for some years before it passed to the British who made it into a key naval base protecting their Mediterranean fleet.
During the Second World War Malta suffered terribly from bombardments and its population were close to starvation in a siege lasting nearly a year. But it survived and all its inhabitants were awarded the George Cross for valour. Indeed, if it hadn’t been for the island’s steadfastness the axis forces would never have been defeated in North Africa and the allied invasion of Italy, operation Husky, would never have taken place.
Malta has been able to defend itself well during the current health crisis. Unlike the UK its lock-down was immediate and very strict and the population of half a million inhabitants has had 248 Covid-19 deaths so far, all unfortunately since last September and all part of the ghastly second wave.
I only starting blogging regularly in March 2013 and so Malta missed my scrutiny. However, I have always kept files of the places I visit filled with relevant material of the sights seen and, of course, there is my photographic record.
The airline ticket shows that we flew from Pisa airport to Malta on the 8th of January 2013 at 18.05 and landed at Malta airport less than two hours later.
We hired a car and then drove to our pre-booked hotel at Bugibba in the north-eastern part of Malta by the sea.
It was a slightly annoying feature of our holiday that we could never quite locate the Relax Inn Hotel, as it was called, after our journeys around the island. This may have probably been because it was a singularly undistinguished building although our room was comfortable and the facilities were quite adequate. Bugibba is a concrete sprawl catering principally for bucket-and-spade holiday makers and with a plentiful supply of pubs. There are more characteristically Maltese places to stay in La Valletta but we were fairly happy to be sojourning in Bugibba and it proved an excellent base for visiting the island’s sights. Malta is anyway so compact – just a fifth of the size of London!
Even in January there were several brits in the hotel. Evidently spending winter in Malta is rather cheaper than forking out money on those UK fuel bills. Unhappily, however, tourism has all but collapsed in Malta this last year. I do not think there will be many able to abandon Malden for Malta.
Next morning we headed for La Valletta to begin our exploration. Although a republic since 1974, a part of the European Union since 2004 and of the Eurozone since 2008, Malta is also a member of the Commonwealth and continues with various idiosyncratic British traditions, not least that of driving on the left-hand side of the road!
We crossed a bridge and entered inside the mighty bastions of La Valletta.
We were soon reminded that the island had once belonged to the United Kingdom. The special character of la Valletta was beginning to unfold itself before us.
Some of you may wonder why this post is titled ‘Towards the Little Bee’. That’s because the ancient name of Malta was Melita and Melita is Greek for ‘little bee’. Malta is, indeed, famous for its honey. The liquid gold is produced throughout the year, altering its flavour as the flowers change. Busy bees collect spring nectar from a wide variety of wild flowers including white thistle, sulla, borage, dandelion, wild mustard and also citrus trees. It is popular as a remedy against allergies and hay fever. Summer honey comes from highly aromatic thyme. Autumn honey is flavoured by carob and eucalyptus trees. It was the Phoenicians who introduced bee-keeping in Melita so the tradition is a very long one indeed.