Malta in January 2009

“You know how much I love the sun”
That may not be quite what Rod Stewart sang but fits my feelings and, even if it hasn’t been “the coldest winter for over forty years”, it has felt like it so we needed to warm our old bones and flew to Malta for a few days in January. 15ºC (59ºF) may not sound very warm to some of you but the temperature at home was 0ºC (32ºF) so it felt positively balmy.
Malta is located in the centre of the Mediterranean, 93 km to the south of Sicily and 290 km to the north of Africa, and so has been at the crossroads of Southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East and its language, culture and architecture reflect this, making it a fascinating reflection of the Mediterranean in general.

Alan has been visiting the Islands for the past twelve years or so, bringing parties of students from Leeds and guest lecturing to Maltese students and had made friends locally but I had only been here once before and that was in the company of a large group of students and memories had morphed into a few snapshots of prehistoric temples and football on a beach!
The one place I did remember was Marsaxlokk, a fishing village in the south of the island. I could sit and watch the boats and the fishermen forever.