Snapshots of May #4 - Last one!

OK - Finally finished with all the May things I wanted to share. And it's only June 17th! Time has flown and we've been so busy with school year-end activities, saying good-bye again to those returning to home countries or headed to new adventures and so on and so forth.

As of yesterday, I have a 7th grader and at the end of today, I'll have a 4th grader. Not sure I know where the year went but it's been a good one. We are ready to have some relaxing fun with friends and family - see you very soon!

I'll leave you with Malta (May trip): City gates of Valletta:

Typical Maltese style buildings with window boxes. The look is definitely a mix of Italian/Arabic styles.

Streets of Valletta: the first city specifically designed on a grid pattern (so they claim) but narrow! and all roads eventually lead to the sea.... :)

Harbor in Valletta which overlooks and protects the "Three Cities" on the other side. Basically, the whole island is a fortress. Malta was bombed more than any other place during WWII and it's really evident that it's taken a long time to recover from it all.

St. John's Co-Cathedral: home to the Order of St. John which bears the insignia of the Maltese Cross.

Cross painted by Caravaggio - it's beautiful. He took refuge here after some troubles in Italy, had trouble in Malta too - tempermental artist who was enormously gifted - absolutely beautiful paintings here.

Main aisle of the Cathedral:

Malta can trace occupation on it's islands clear back to 4,000 BC and has been occuppied by numerous dynasty's (Arabic & European) due to it's strategic location in the Mediterranean. Country built on a rock:

Looking out of the Harbor toward open Sea:

We really enjoyed this trip. It was supposed to be a 'relaxing' weekend so we didn't run around a great deal. Bart & I would love to go back and explore the island a bit more.

We did agree on one thing: Good thing we didn't rent a car!

We didn't realize that Malta had been heavily occupied by the British during the Turn of the Century. They follow British road rules. And as most rentals in Europe are standard transmission, theirs are too. But for driving on the right side of vehicle, with the left hand for shifting. No can do!

Nor would we want to. I spent a good part of our taxi ride from the airport to the hotel with my eye's shut and reminding myself to breath. Oh, and not get sick in the car. "Please Lord, keep us safe and may we arrive to our destination safely." The girls comment "Whew, that was a crazy ride!" Never, never have I been so glad to get out of a car. And I would NOT want to be responsible for driving there. No,no,no,no...........

Great fun! Soon to be in the land of Root Beer, Lucky Charms and USDA choice steak!