16 March 2008

Post #42:  St. Paul's Bay

Today, we made it to church, again, at our little neighborhood chapel on the hill. We receive such a sweet welcome when we come in the door! John even brought in extra lawn chairs from his home today, as we're maxing out the back rows every week. The kids followed him to his car and each carried a chair in. Nathan wanted to help, too, so he assisted Rachel with one. It was a sight, watching them all parade across the parking lot, up the handicap access ramp, and into the chapel!

Nichole was able to meet Joe and Jenny.  They've readily agreed to be contact persons, should Nichole need any help while we're in Italy this week. After church, Tim, from Virginia, (a Navy man who married a Maltese woman and now lives here) offered to give Nichole his phone, should she need anything, and he gave us his collection of Looney Tunes on DVD, for the kids to watch. Such a sweet guy! We love this church family we've come to know here, and it's making it harder and harder to leave.

Mauro and Joanna Zingariello also have offered to be contact persons for Nichole while we're in Italy, so she's surrounded, literally, on three sides (in Sliema, St. Juliens and Siggiewi) with help should she need it! This is so comforting, to know she and the kids are not alone on this island, but surrounded by folks who care for them. (If I throw in Lucien, the sweet lady I met on the bus, we're covered from the north, south, east and west! Amazing.)

After church, we had pancakes and eggs and then packed up for a trip to St. Paul's Bay. This was one of the main places Nichole desired to explore, as it is the location where Paul, the apostle, is thought to have come ashore in 60 AD. (See Acts 27 and 28, in your Bible) We drove to Mistra Bay this time, as opposed to up on the ridge above there.

The road that took us around Mistra Bay, an inlet of St. Paul's Bay, was amazing. It looked like a driveway, so much so that Dave didn't believe the sign saying it was the way to Mistra Bay, and he passed it by at first. The road winds along a ridge and then doubles back under the main thoroughfare that leads to the tip of the island. It skirts along a stream which is lined with the almost-white trunks of eucalyptus trees.  The narrow pavement winds a bit, and you hope you don't meet another car on the curves, as there's the typical Maltese rock wall lining one side, the trees and stream on the other.  Then it bends hard and opens up eventually to the sea.

As we came to the seashore, there was a parking lot and many people having picnics there. Beyond this, we followed the narrow road along Mistra Bay and up the ridge beyond it there was a trailhead parking area. Somewhere along this part, the pavement ended and it was a rough dirt road, with great views across St. Paul's Bay.

We hiked to the water on the rocky shoreline, and I simply can't adequately describe the rocky surface. It was jagged, pocked, almost porous-looking; like the salt of the sea has been eating away at the stone over the ages. The rock is nearly black, which made me think of Mt. Etna and the lava rock. It looked a lot like that. I didn't have a camera today, as our battery charger got knocked out of the outlet, and so it didn't get charged.  The web album for this trip will have to be posted when we return, as I'll have to have Nichole send me the pictures she took. They will be fascinating pictures, too! So come back and visit the web albums next month!!

We hiked along a sloping ridge that went from sea level to about 150 feet in a span of about 50 yards! It was a steep uphill climb, and the cliff made us all a little nervous, as it was just rocks and sea below. The water was that bright mediterranean blue that we saw at the Blue Grotto.

In the distance, we could see two tiny islands, also with sheer cliffs at the shore. On top of one of the islands, which juts out of the sea to a height of, I'd guess, about 100 feet, is a tall stone statue of Paul, the Apostle, with his arms stretched out, as if he's blessing the islands. Nichole took many photos, as we walked to the end of Qawra Point. From there we could see an interesting area along the shore to the northwest.

 Dave considered having us hike that way while he drove the car down there, but then he realized that every vehicle was a four-wheel drive jeep or a 4x4 or motorcycle, which suggested that it's a difficult place to get to by car. If not, there surely would have been more cars down there, as it was a neat shoreline, with a flat, limestone space, that included a huge bridge just below us that was formed out of rock that was worn away by wind and waves.

Even though, Dave's brother, Bob, has taught Dave that the best off-road vehicle is any rental car, we decided we'd not take that kind of adventure on today, so we followed the path back to the trailhead. It was a long hike, and Nathan did amazingly well, especially for a kid who had just missed his naptime!

We drove back down to St. Paul's Bay (the city itself) and attempted to rest at the interesting McDonald's on the sea we'd been to with my parents, but the place was jam-packed with kids, so that our kids did not even mind when we said it was too crowded, and that we'd leave. We considered going to a different park, but the traffic heading back was bad, and slowed us down so much, that we decided to just head home.

We had an easy meal of pizzas, calzones and pastizzi's, all store-bought and ready for the oven. I threw together some salad, and we followed the meal with leftover birthday cake and ice cream.

Nichole and I then sat down at the table, once it was cleared, and I shared with her some things she'd need to know for the week ahead. She then opened her notebook and hit me with her list of questions! I love this girl! She's so on top of it. She had great questions, like “when is the official bedtime,”... “what do I do for school for them?” ...and many of her other questions I'd already covered on my list, so we were thinking alike.

My mother Skyped in as we were finishing, so I enjoyed a chat with her and my dad. Then I called my sister, Mary Jo, because we have an issue when we get into London in two weeks. We're there for two nights, and we'll be staying in a hotel. But we will be hauling all our luggage, so we're wondering if her brother-in-law, who lives near there, might have ideas for us on how to manage that. He might be able to suggest for us what hotels to look into and which ones to avoid.  (So nice to be able to make and receive a phone call from the other side of the world and for pennies!)

Nichole will be traveling with us when we leave Malta end of the month, and she's been to London recently, so we're thrilled to have her knowledge of the place to guide us during our brief stay there. I'm not ready to even think about London. All I can deal with tonight is packing for Italy. I'm waiting for a load of wash, now, so I decided I'd better catch up on blogs before I fall way behind.

I've been able to check the “stats” on weekly readership of these blogs, and they peaked last week at around 1160 views. This week dropped quite a bit. Perhaps there are many enjoying spring breaks? Maybe you've taken me up on my advice and enjoyed a “water stop” this week! Maybe the details are too much for some. In any case, I hope that my kids will enjoy these memories documented for the years to come.

I hope, someday, they'll read these blog entries and be able to remember this time here with some clarity. Rachel and Ian are at an age where they should remember a lot. Addison is turning 7 next week, so I expect his memory to be a little more vague. I recall some things about my kindergarten and first grade years, so I imagine he'll have some recollection in years to come. The rest of the boys will likely have to rely on the pictures.

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