I swear, I'm actually alive still. Group projects... nuff said. Glad it's done, and now I'm onto the last part of my masters program, the dissertation. I'm sure come the end of August, I'll be just as absent, but between now and then, I'll pull my weight on the blog.
So as Kris mentioned, Malta has had a storied past, due to it's strategic location in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. It is close to both Africa and Europe, and has been the subject of several different conquests and battles. As a result, many of the structures on the island, especially those in the larger towns are fortified. On the first day in Malta, when our second dive of the day was cancelled because of the high waves, we took some time in Victoria (the town nearest to our farmhouse), and wandered around the town and old fort.
The Ič-Čittadella is the main fortified citadel of the city. The area has been inhabited since the Bronze Age. The original settlement was fortified in stages by the Phonecians, and Romans, becoming a castle (castello).
In the medieval period, it was further fortified into a castle, mainly to keep the corsairs at bay (who raided the Maltese Islands for slaves).
In July 1551, a force of nearly 10 000 Ottomans invaded Gozo and besieged the castle. Of a population of 5000-6000, only 40 elderly people, and 300 individuals who escaped the besiegement were spared, the rest were taken as slaves!
Through the next 100 years the Cittadella continued to play a central role on the island, including as refuge during a nightly curfew which lasted until 1637. By 1645, the defences of the Cittadella were being criticized as inadequate, and plans were made to demolish the city. Tunnels below the castle were actually dug to lay explosives, but the demolition never occurred.
Jumping to the current, the Cittadella as it exists today includes sections from throughout the ages. Some areas, especially around the gate and the Cathedral of the Assumption are in remarkable condition, while other areas towards the back remain active archeological sites where relics are continuing to be found. We were only able to see the outside of many of these buildings, as well as the lookout of Victoria from the castle walls, as much is still either under construction, or not yet open for the tourist season. Like so many other ancient sites we've visited on this trip, it just about blows your mind to consider how much history can exist in a single spot.
We don't have a lot of photos from the Cittadella, but we took two videos from the wall of the surrounding area:
You can also hear in those how strong the wind is, and why we had to scratch the second dive this day.
I think this was a more recent renovation to the castle. During the second world war, Malta was heavily shelled by both sides as they too tried to wrest control of the strategic mediterranean island.
A last little bit on land. The Cittadella in Malta is not one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites, but is listed on their provisional list of sites for future consideration. Apparently all countries keep a provisional list from which UNESCO makes recommendations. La Cittadella is on Malta's provisional list, so it half counts, no? Other provisional sites in Malta we visited include the rocky cliffs and the Azure Window area.
But this was a trip for diving, so I'll turn my story-telling there.
The diving I'd done before our trip to Malta had just been my training diving. There hadn't been an opportunity yet to swim around for pleasure and not have to work on mask clears, signals, assisted ascents, and reg retrievals. This made for a decidedly more enjoyable experience of diving!
It was quite a lot of fun, as Kris mentioned to change our dives throughout the week. We had the chance to dive with all of the different instructors (Chris, Dave and Steph), as well as almost dive with everyone on the trip. That was a punnet's square exercise that I don't want to revisit any time soon trying to figure out who had and had not dove with each other yet.
Kristin is once again demonstrating perfect trim. I was much more of a hunt-for-hiding-wildlife type of diver. This usually meant that I was the highest on my air consumption, but as I said during the trip, any air left in the tank is just money left on the table ;)
It is an area I need to improve as I continue diving, but I was enjoying spying all of the sea-life hiding behind nooks and crannies.
By the end of the week we were getting quite good at our trim, air consumption and buoyancy. I was able to drop 2 kg of weight on the last day with no problem. The many consecutive dives gave me a much greater confidence for future dives, and going back into the cold, murky waters of the UK.
See I can have good trim too!
these are all completely out of order, but I liked this photo of Kris, Joel and I inside the Cathedral Cave.
When diving, it's important to do your 'buddy check'. This is usually one of the last things you do before jumping into the water. It's an opportunity for your diving buddy to make sure that you have turned your air on, and you have your mask and fins (more often forgotten than you'd expect).
It's also important that you test out your 'buddy reg', the second regulator that you will use, attached to your buddy's tank if anything goes wrong with your kit. Here are Sam and I showing perfect form.
So my fair alabaster skin has really enjoyed the utter lack of ultraviolet radiation that I've received while in the UK. Having had my fair share of sunburns, and recognizing how strong the sun was in Malta, I usually took to striking this wonderfully fashionable attire. Kristin refused to accept that the better name for this look is Whitey of Arabia. She kept trying to call me Lawrence of White-rabia (lame). Being one of the only people on the trip who didn't get a sunburn, I think I made the right decision.
The end of the day, having dinner, and hanging around the pool on the patio were some of the most enjoyable land-based parts of the trip for me. The landlord arranged for wireless internet to be installed on the day that we were leaving, which I'm really glad wasn't available when we were there. It was nice to be disconnected, to be 'forced' into interacting and talking, joking, laughing and playing games together. Too often when there is an internet connection nearby, we tune out to the people beside us and focus on a world away. I really enjoyed dinner in the dark (we had a power outage one night), games of Mafia, beer can races, Never have I Ever, and a game of questions which was really quite a cruel prank on Josh, but hilarious for the rest of us.
And now to be all poetic, I'm writing the last experiences we had in Malta, and here are photos of sunsets! It was a great trip all around.
Tis all for now. We are still working on more diving experiences, including Kristin and I trying to get trained on dry suits, and me going for my sports diver ( so I can dive to 35 m too).
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