Friday, May 17, 2013

A European Dream: Valetta, Malta


            Sitting at a small café in Valetta, looking at the old St. John’s cathedral and having lunch with friends from the ship, I’m starting understand this whole European lifestyle thing people keep talking about. The ability to take a moment and enjoy it for all it’s worth is a common language I’m seeing as I’m making my way from port to port in Europe. The capability to enjoy the culture, the history, the religion and the food and still live a productive life.



            From our outdoor table at the café, I people-watch and take note of all the different people, speaking different languages. I’m trying my best to guess their nationality as the pass by the language or just their overall look. The bells at the church ring at the top of the hour and I decide may it would be worth it to go inside the church and peek around. St. Johns is an old church and could be cool. I walk out of the café and maze my way past the busy people and find the front entrance. I pay the 6-euro to get my ticket and enter the church.
            Immediately you are overwhelmed with the decorations. The ceilings are very high and are covered in religious fresco’s that are incredibly detailed as every foot or so has its own unique scene. The front of the church it decorated in gold colored architecture and glows from the light entering from the stained glass windows.



            Looking down, I saw large stone rectangles that each had its own décor and writing. It turns out that all of the rectangles are graves from different knights. I thought it was sort of a strange to have you step on dead people as you walk through the church. From the few times I’ve been to a cemetery, I was always told that you weren’t suppose step on graves. I guess if the bodies are still in the church, that’s ok? (No idea)


            On each side of the hall, there were rooms that seemed to pay tribute to different things. I wish I had spoke Maltese so I would have been able to explain what it was. Whether I could speak the language or not, I was still able to appreciate all the elaborate artwork that detailed the church.




            It took me about 20 minutes to see the entire church and I decided to leave and just walk around the city. The city had a classic old European look that I could only relate to a few shopping centers in Orange County, California that obviously tried to rip the style off. It was exciting to see the real thing however. The buildings were very old looking and each one had their own charm. Even the McDonalds building looked like it had been there for 300 years! In the streets there were lots of café’s where people were sipping cappuccinos and reading the paper or chatting with friends. I walked past a guy singing Italian opera in the streets for tips. The street life was very exciting to walk through and it seemed like every few minutes I would bump into somebody because I’d be looking around and not paying attention to where I was going.
            As I walked back to the ship, I came across a great view of the ocean and of the rest of Malta. The density of old buildings yielded a stop for me to take some pictures. Making my way down the hill to the ship, I passed several olive trees and date palms. The whole city was like some European dream. It was kind of surreal that there was actually a place like this. You see places like this on TV or in a documentary but nothing will substitute the human experience of traveling. I don’t think that airline or cruise ship industry could ever go out of business because of that fact alone. No matter how many hours you spend on Youtube or Google Images, nothing can replace the sight, smells sounds and feel of a city.                     -DB























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