Searching for the Maltese Falcon

Not only did we go to Rome during our holiday, we also decided to fly to Malta for a couple of days. Why Malta? It was supposed to be warm (it was) and Ed wanted to check off another WW2 battlefield from his list.

Our start was a little rough because Air Malta decided to take off 2.5 hours earlier than planned and we weren't informed. So...we had to wait until 6PM to catch another flight to Malta. The moral of that story is "don't book with Air Malta". They're pretty unreliable.

Once we arrived in Malta, Ed decided to rent a car for our stay in Malta. It was a pretty interesting drive during our initial night. Ed had to get used to driving with a stick using his left hand AND he had to drive on the opposite side of the road. Fortunately, we only had one close call with a parked car (some of the streets in Malta are tiny!); otherwise, his driving was pretty uneventful during our time in Malta.

Our first day in Malta consisted of us walking around the city and getting a feel for it. We tried to tour a couple of forts (what's an Ed trip without a fort???), but the ones that Ed wanted to see were closed. We did, however, walk around Fort St. Elmo, which is used as a homeless colony (it was kind of weird with all of the dogs barking and people hiding behind boarded up areas). Don't worry, Ed was still able to get his military fix -- we watched the Maltese army shoot cannons at noon. We also visited the Knights of Malta Hospitallers and the Grand Master's Palace and Palace Armory, which were both very interesting places and would recommend them to anyone traveling to Malta.

Of course, during the afternoon, I needed to take a nap (I was exhausted from all of the walking, touring, and we still had to tour another site later in the day). While I was asleep, Ed toured St. John's Co-Catherdral and bummed around the city a little more before eating a traditional Maltese rabbit meal with Brian and Cherie.

After I finished my nap, we piled into the car and headed for the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, which is a 5000 year old subterranean burial temple. Fortunately, Ed thought ahead of time and was able to secure tickets for us (because the Hypogeum is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and they are trying to preserve the paintings, they only allow 50 people in a day). Our last stop of the night was at Marsaxlokk, which is the main fishing village in Malta. The fishing boats were colorful and beautiful. Brian was mesmerized by the "eyes" on all of the boats. The fisherman put the Eye of Osiris on their boats to ward off the "evil eye". Not only did we find beautiful boats in Marsaxlokk, we also found my parents' restaurant -- haha! My maiden name is "Duncan" for anyone who did not know me prior to my marriage to Ed.

During our last day in Malta, we paid a visit to the craft center near Mdina and picked up some Mdina glass. It was so funny watching the guys blow the glass. The main craftsman even used his cigarette to shape the glass! Then we were off again. Our next stop was at a vineyard where we all picked up a few bottles of wine (thank you to Cherie and Brian for transporting the wine back -- we'll pick it up when we're in town next) and then it was off to an airplane museum. And yes, I said airplanes (Ed also had to find the most obscure airplane and forts anywhere we go). Our final stop was in the old city of Mdina, which was quite beautiful.

Here's a few more pictures of Malta..

Roaming Around Rome

After the holidays, Ed and I planned a European trip with Ed's sister (Cherie) and her husband (Brian). Our first stop was in Rome. We spent four days touring around the city and Ed was able to indulge in the cuisine while I watched. It was depressing for me to have to pass on the prosciutto and cheeses and watch Ed enjoy himself, but I can only have cooked meats and pasteurized cheeses. So, obviously, my blog won't talk about cuisine; rather, I will be discussing the sites and my nap times, which occurred every afternoon (I'm not ashamed to say that I was tired during our trip -- at least I have a reason this time -- haha!)

We toured the Vatican and walked to the top of the Cupola where we were able to see the entire city of Rome. I really enjoyed the scenery, but I did not enjoy the walk up. We had to walk up over 525 stairs in order to reach the top. Fortunately for most of us, we were able to walk comfortably up the stairs, but Brian was a different story. I guess that the staircases weren't made for someone around 6'5". He had to stoop not only going up to the Cupola, but also at various other sights we visited. Not only did we go to the Vatican, toured the Sistine Chapel. Unfortunately, the line for the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel are two completely different lines. So, when we concluded with our Vatican tour, it was too late to visit the Sistine Chapel. According to the information desk, the line at the Sistine Chapel was atrocious. Upon hearing that we decided to make the Sistine Chapel our first stop Monday morning. When we arrived at the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel Monday morning, the line was out of control! A tour guide approached us and told us that he could get us into the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel within thirty minutes. Of course, we took him up on the offer because I was not about to stand in line for 2.5 to 3 hours (thanks Angie for the "skipping the line" advice for Rome). And yes, we were able to enter the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel within thirty minutes. After we received our tickets, we promptly dumped our tour guide and ventured out on our own. It took almost 2 hours to walk through the Vatican Museums to get to the Sistine Chapel! When we arrived there were signs saying not to talk or take pictures, but I guess that visitors don't read very well because everyone was chatting and snapping pictures. I couldn't believe it! Of course, when Ed saw all of the rule breakers, he decided to take a couple of pictures (not using his flash, of course).

Our shorter tours included the "tourist usuals"... Castel Saint Angelo, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain (during the day and night time, of course), Colosseum, Pantheon, and Forum. I enjoyed all of the places that we visited, but many of them still had too many tourists there to really be able to appreciate their history (I would hate to see the crowds during the summer time). We stayed as long as we could stand the hordes of people and then we moved on.

Not only did we spend time in Rome, we also spent time outside of Rome at Ostia Antica. Ostia Antica was the old trade port during Ancient Rome because of its proximity to the Tiber River. Unfortunately the day we went to Ostia Antica, I wasn't having the best day and I had to sit down and relax for a while. What part of the city that I saw was very interesting and I would suggest that people pay the little village a visit. The day that we went to Ostia Antica, Ed and I also met up with my brother (picture below) and his family who are stationed in Naples with the Navy. We had a nice time eating lunch and chatting for about 3.5 hours. It was great seeing everyone again. Ed had never seen my niece, Victoria, and now she's five years old!

Our trip to Rome was fun and the history is amazing, but my one gripe about the whole city is that it's filthy. I mean...I had to concentrate on the streets in order to avoid stepping in urine and the historical sites were filled with cigarette butts and graffiti -- Don't these people respect and want to preserve their history? According to Ed, the next time we plan a trip, we're sticking with clean Germanic or Scandinavian destination.

Anyway, here's more Rome in pictures...

Where did the snow go?

Yes, Ed and I made our way down to Virginia for the Christmas holidays. It only took ten hours there and twelve hours on the way back, but we made it. Of course, Ed wanted to boycott Christmas at my parents' house because my mom didn't make candy this year (usually, my mom makes the best candy during the holidays -- peanut butter cups, peppermint patties, cherry cordials -- YUMMY!), but I convinced him otherwise. Fortunately, prior to leaving for Virginia, we received cookies from Ed's mom. During the holidays, she likes to make all kinds of cookies and candy (my favorites being the toffee bars and the chocolate chip snowballs). So, Ed and I weren't completely deprived of our usually cookies/candy during the holiday season.

Christmas at my parents' house is always fun. My nieces get really excited about seeing Santa Claus (yes, Santa actually pays a visit to my parents' house and hands out the gifts to each of the children). Well, I should say, most of my nieces are excited about Santa -- the three year old, Alexia, is still a little scared, but she wasn't too scared to grab her gifts and run from him. She was really funny to watch and the girls are always a joy. Of course, my sister tried to get her little six month old son involved, but he's six months old and can barely sit up on his own. At least he didn't cry at the sight of Santa.

Even though my nieces received tons of gifts from Santa and from everyone else, I think that Ed and I gave the best gift of all to my parents and to his. A few months ago we had a small ornament made. It was a stork carrying a little bundle with the year "2008" on it. My mom cried at the sight of the gift and from what we heard from Cherie, Ed's sister, Ed's mom was speechless. So, if someone reading this blog has not caught on yet -- yes, Ed and I are having a baby. If all goes well, the baby is supposed to come around July9th. It should be interesting to see how Ed and I are going to coordinate everything because he finishes school in May, has graduation in June, and the baby comes in July. So, we'll have a couple of busy months.

We didn't do much else in Virginia other than start looking at houses for our D.C. move. Ed also got to spend a morning testing out his new pistol while I took a nap.