Visiting summer holiday spots in January...

View from Valletta

I arrived in Malta in the throws of a fierce Mediterranean storm, the kind that I am told are not particularly unusual in January.  The cold winds howled at a clip great enough to nearly knock me off my feet as I made my way to a nearby drugstore to buy some toothpaste on Thursday evening.  Huge waves crashed into the sea wall, sending spray many feet into the air.  It was not a day for a pleasant stroll along the promenade.  

Even as the weather improved and I found enough free time between meetings to venture out, I was reminded that visiting a place like Malta in January is not ideal.  Many shops and restaurants close down for the month of January and others keep irregular hours, ready to close up early for the day if business is especially slow.  I found downtown Valletta nearly deserted on Sunday afternoon, with only a few of the tackiest tourist shops open. The silence was broken only by a vibrant celebration of the feast of St Paul's shipwreck outside the famous church of the same name. 

Mdina Cathedral

Valletta, the capital city of this tiny island nation, sits on a peninsula high up above the sea. The walls are, at times, nearly twenty stories in height, plunging down to the sea. The straight, Renaissance-era streets (this is the new capital, after all) are lined with shops, churches, coffee houses, and offices. From the gardens at peninsula's end, there is a fabulous view out over the seas and the surrounding communities. Sometimes it seems that even an ugly city - which Valletta is decidedly not - would appear beautiful under the golden light of the Mediterranean sun. There's just nothing quite like Mediterranean sunlight.  

The northern side of Malta is densely populated, with one village flowing into another (although I'm told that local communities have a fiercer-than-average local pride and identity). This gives way slightly as you head inland, where a few farms begin to appear in the sloping valleys. The ancient capital city, Mdina, is found high on a hill near the center of the island. An ancient fortress containing several Roman ruins and even more ancient burial sites, Mdina is a medieval beauty. Visiting her on a sunny Monday morning in January was perhaps an advantage. Although many shops were closed, I had the narrow streets mostly to myself.  Tranquility was a word that came frequently to my mind as I explore tiny alleys, ancient churches, and a few museums. These are the kinds of museums that were established to display the "stuff in the basement" of churches that includes everything from medieval liturgical books to early modern altarpieces. You never know what treasure might lurk behind the next corner in a place like this.

Seventeenth century altar painting of the nativity in Mdina Cathedral Museum

 The fine cathedral of Mdina, constructed after the great earthquake of 1693, engages all the senses with music, incense, and beautiful artwork, including "tombstones" of inlaid marble that cover the floor of the nave and the chapels, exulting in Latin long deceased bishops and archbishops, often depicting them as skeletons setting aside their earthly crown for a climb toward heaven. 

I am not sure I would recommend visiting Malta for a holiday in January. But it has certainly had its advantages in terms of tranquility.