Malta

Malta, a little Sicily and Italy, maybe a little Cyprus, a bit Middle East or a bit North Africa, some British, it seems a complex country. 

Malta is a small group of islands located between Sicily and North Africa in the Mediterranean. The islands cover about 316 square kilometres, about the same size as the surface coverage of Okanagan Lake, with two of the islands Malta and Gozo being inhabited making it the eighth most densely populated country in the world. Malta now ranks as Europes most over crowded tourist island.

This street was like this from start to finish, on a non-busy tourist day, only one cruise ship in!

Malta has been inhabited for about 8,500 years and has been at some point in time occupied by just about every major civilization from the Mediterranean and Europe. Civilizations like Phoenicia, Carthage, Greece, Rome, Arabs, Spain, France and England. This history of so many different peoples is reflected in the diversity of the islands, in the art, cuisine and architecture. 

Older house architecture versus some of today’s 

The last occupation of Malta was by the British from 1800 until 1964 when Malta achieved independence. Malta then become a Republic in 1974 and joined the European Union in 2004. British influence is still visible throughout, although the religion here is predominately Catholic there are a number of Church of England churches and at least one cathedral here. One of the fascinating things, to me, is the electricity. In the flat we stay at, all the electrical plugs are the three pronged UK style, while all the appliances, lamps, tea kettle, toaster, etc., are the two prong European style! So everything has an adapter from UK to EU!

Malta doesn’t have much of a resource base with limited agricultural land, no lakes or rivers and no major industrial manufacturing. Water could be major issue here, although there is some sub surface water the majority of the water supply is from desalination. Because Malta is located in such a busy shipping lanes of the Mediterranean any kind of a sea disaster could produce an oil slick that hampers the desalination processes. Currently the potable water storage capacity is only a few days. The water is potable but they recommend you don’t drink it. We buy all our drinking water.

Pretty much everything has to be brought in from Europe, primarily Sicily and Italy. Malta produces around 20% of its food needs. Malta exports limestone and salt and they have electronics, textiles and pharmaceuticals production, but the main economical drivers are tourism and foreign trade. Lying in the busiest shipping lanes in the Mediterranean, Malta serves as a large trans shipment point. Malta seen over 4 million tourists in 2025. During the summer as many as seven moderate size cruise ships can be in port on some days. We just walked the walled city of Valletta, with only one cruise ship in port and I would not want to be here on a seven ship day!

Malta also has a movie industry with films such as both Gladiator films, Troy, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, being some of the latest ones to be made here. It has a lot of old forts, sea walls, castles and churches to accommodate different types on movies.

There are two deep water inlets here where the greatest population density is. The shallower one has a lot of smaller fishing boat ferry and yacht traffic on it. In fact it seems like at least a third of it is a marina with lots of big yachts. 

 The other deeper inlet (The Grand Harbour) is where the large transport and cruise ships can be docked. 

This is looking across the bay to the walled city of Valletta, built by the Knights of the Order of Saint John. Originally built as a walled fortress that took 15 years to complete, today it is a bustling place of stores, coffee shops, churches and other tourist attractions. The two churches that you see, on the left an Anglican, on the right a Catholic spent a few years and who knows how much money attempting to have a higher spire than the other. First started by the Anglican Church when it built a new bell tower that was just higher than the top of the spire on the other church. Apparently the Catholic Church erected the white cross on the top of its bell tower to make sure it was the higher of the two!

Malta, or at least the area we are staying in and wandering about in is full of construction cranes, I counted 23 visible from one spot along the shore line. Apparently, as in other second world countries, the funding is coming from offshore, again it’s rumour is a lot of it is oligarch funded.

Some newer high rises and apartment/condo blocks

A bit of old with the new.

This is a common site all over Malta, closed in balconies above door ways. It is a holdover from the 200 years of Muslim occupation here. Apparently, or so our walking guide told us, these were built so if the lady of the home was at home alone and someone came to the door, she could go out on the balcony and discretely peek through the opening to see if it was someone she could open the door for or not.

After a bit of research, they are indeed a hold over from Muslim times, but the purpose was also to allow air to circulate into the upper rooms of the home. I like the first story the best.

Before we came to Europe we checked all the weather forecasts and Spain was supposed to be wet and cold and Malta warm and sunny, it has been the opposite. Malta has been very cool, rainy and windy. The one tour we have taken, the guide told me it is the worst spring he has seen for years and they had a bad winter also. Malta can get some hail or sleet but apparently they had snow in one area just recently, which never happens. We keep busy walking and exploring the neighborhoods and cities close to us. The island is very religious and most everything will be shut down over Good Friday and Easter Sunday, but the weather is to improve next week and we have some tours booked and a day trip to Gozo (the other inhabited island) so will be able to get some more tales and pictures then.

Santiago de Compostela

Although Santiago de Compostela is known for the cathedral and shrine to St James, it is much more than that today. Paio , the first person to come to this place found the burial place of St. James, and that was all that was here, just the grave site. Today, it is a bustling university town and sees the convergence of several camino routes, bringing thousands of pilgrims to town yearly.

It is now the Capital of Galacia in northwest Spain with a population of around 97,000 in the city proper and 177,000 in the municipality. It is home to the University of Santiago de Compostela which was started in 1495 and is one of the oldest universities in the world in continuous operation. The university has around 2,000 teachers and up to 45,000 students. A local statement on the economy in town is: “pilgrims in the summer, students in the winter”.

The economic drivers are tourism, the university, forestry, automotive and telecommunications. 

The language here is interesting as the people speak Galacian, not that I would have noticed, other than some of the signs were not quite Spanish to me and Keenan picked up some difference. Our walking tour guide explained that yes, Galicians speak a different language than pure Spanish, it is a blend with Portuguese! 

We didn’t visit the new town, but spent our time in the old town area around the cathedral and university areas. Once away from the cathedral itself and the pilgrim crowds the old town is fantastic, with narrow little streets, lots of shops not just selling tourist items, cafes, bakeries, markets, etc.

Typical street

No car traffic here!

Just enough room.

Mm! Another bake shop!

The cathedral itself is very old, having been started in the year 1075 and completed in 1122. It  has been added on to a few times after that but the main construction ended in 1122. I have visited lots of these grand old Cathedrals and other similar structures around the world, and as always ask my self how did they carve a stone statue like that on the top of the spire that is 10 or 12 or more stories in the air.

No hard hats, steel toe boots, or maybe not even a safety line, with a hammer and chisel I guess!

These ones are even higher!

This building is a convent for Benedictine Order of Nuns. The building was built from 820 to 830 and converted into a convent in 1499. 

The nuns here run a bakery that sells to the public. Through the door on the left side is the menu of the products:

On the right is a wooden window and a bell to ring to call the nuns. As the nuns themselves are usually elsewhere, you must be a bit patient until one gets there. They open the window, you place your order and within a couple more minutes she is back with your goods.

Tomorrow back to Madrid where we say goodbye to our guide and translator and then onward on our next adventure in Malta!

Getting closer!

Day Eight- A Brea to Villamaior, 16.5 km took 6 hours, a slower day with lots of steep descents and ascents, up to 200 metres up and down, on a nice hot day they kind of play you out! And we stopped twice for 30 minute breaks.

There were not a lot of people on the path today, most were either in front of us or behind us. We kept leap frogging the same six all day, and had a nice visit with a retired RCMP officer from Halifax. Small world as he had been stationed in Squamish for a while and was acquainted with an old RCMP friend of ours from Dawson Creek.

It was a different kind of a day with not many farms or villages, but a lot of time through the forests. 

It was a long day and there were not a lot of “cutesy pictures”, but some that were of great interest to me cause of some of my past work. So today let’s talk about the life of a eucalyptus plantation. 

Eucalyptus is one of the main economic drivers in Galacia. First introduced in the late 1800’s it really took off in the 1990s. Although eucalyptus is used in both medicines and perfumes, it is primarily used in the pulp and paper industry here. Eucalyptus covers about 400,000 hectares and makes up 28% of the forest in Galacia. It was kind of an educational walk for me as I was able to look at all aspects of the plantation, start to finish.

New plantation

Mature stand

Machine faller working

Strip logged after being felled

Processing to take the branches off and cut to optimum length

All processed waiting for the trucks. 

Now isn’t that just a scintillating bit of information! Pretty much the same process at home unless it is really steep ground. 

Onward again tomorrow, it will be our last day - just 9 to 10kms.

Day Nine- Villamaior to Santiago de Compostela took 2 hours as we were hustling along!  It was mostly downhill into the city, and our first day of misty light rain on our walk in, plus a nice breeze. Oh well, as this is supposed to be rainy season, we lucked out pretty well. Couple of cutesy things along the walk. 

A Nativity just hanging out on a tree!

Roadside worship place

Whew, we made it! Still a couple of kilometres to the Cathedral and our hotel, but feels so good to have made it here. I wondered a lot about whether my wonky old knees would see this through, so I had a little conversation with them every morning. “You are really doing good, you should both be really proud”! Perked them right up for a couple of hours.

Loreen and Keenan don’t seem to complain much, well Keenan keeps says she is getting tired of having to shout at us cause she thinks we are both deaf! I don’t know what she is talking about!

The Cathedral entrance were we went to mass

From a different side, what a building.

We all received our certificate of accomplishment for meeting the requirements of hiking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela:

Still trucking along

Day Six - Melide to Aruza, 14.3kms,  took almost 5 hours, it was an up-a-hill, down-a-hill kind of day. We descended from 457 metres to 387 metres, but had lots of 100 metre or more ascent and descents in between.

We decided to miss the rush today, and placed our luggage in the lobby for pick up at 8 am. The daily routine is that the luggage has to be in the lobby by 8, even though some mornings it is still sitting there at 10! We had a nice leisurely breakfast and hit the trail at the crack of 10. This worked out well; all the big groups were already gone. 

I guess we walk at an average to slightly faster-than-average speed, so we don’t really get passed by a lot of other folks. But then we will hear a ruckus behind us and here come the teens! There are lots of school groups on the Camino and they are loud and fun and mostly very respectful of us. They are also predictable, stopping at the first coffee/pop stand to have a break, while their teachers are pointing at the watches!

Today we saw some other large groups of folks that hopped off a bus, walked one leg, then got picked back up by the bus. That group wa even older than me so I could catch and pass them. I always can blame the girls for making me go fast, as I am usually bringing up the rear.

Trailing behind again!

The hotels and overnight places have been great so far, so that is a bonus. We have mostly decided to slow down, I mean the Camino isn’t going to disappear on us, so why rush and do 12kms in 3 or 4  hours when we probably can’t check in anyway. So we catch up with the friends we’ve met at least once a day. We stop for coffee or beverages - something at least once and just enjoy the day.

Maybe this guy had been on the road for awhile!

Something a person really doesn’t think about too often are the various smells that one runs into during a day on the Camino. These are just some random smells from the last few days:

The smell of the forest on a misty morning, fresh cut hay, a dairy barn, dust from the gravel trail, a silage pit, eucalyptus leaves, a lemon tree, chicken pens, ladies making lunch, a magnolia tree, a manure spreader, a laurel tree. Even more, but you get the idea. Look I have a lot on my mind!

This lemon tree was fenced, I guess to stop us pilgrims from helping ourselves to the lemons.

Day Seven - Aruza to A Brea 13.3kms, 5 hours, mostly flat with a few little ups and downs, descended from 387 metres to 376 metres, so not overly strenuous. Stopped to smell the flowers quite a lot!

Almost there, 25kms and 2 days to go, my feet are pretty good, only three blisters, had to perform a little surgery on one this morning. An open and drain job, otherwise I might not have got my boot on, well maybe not quite that bad! 

Still lots of cutesy scenery and villages, but let’s talk food today.

Some interesting things about food in this part of Spain: they do not like anything spicy, or much seasoning of any kind. There is usually olive oil, vinegar and salt set out on the table, but no pepper. Lots of times when you ask for pepper they only have paprika. 

Most of the restaurants have a “Pilgrims Meal” which is a set menu for €15 and consists of a first course, (one of salad, soup, or other appetizer) the second course (usually a meat or fish with potato fries), and a desert of choice (local cake or an ice cream bar). Oh, and water or a glass of wine. The wine here is very good, we just get the house wine and it’s always great. Sometimes they just bring the bottle and one glass might turn into a couple!

There is a really good soup with the pilgrim meal called caldo. A very simple soup made with white beans, potatoes and chopped kale or some other green, doesn’t sound great but it is tasty. 

We have been alternating between just ordering the pilgrims meal or ordering dishes to share. 

We could order off this menu, or this one

Here are a couple of share meals we have had:

Prawns, Galician pie, seared Padron peppers, anchovies on cheese

Or this one!

Bread, Padron peppers, mixed salad, Spanish omelette, and octopus (a regional specialty)

We think that it is pretty much farm-to-table here as the country is full of gardens, beef and dairy cattle, sheep and chickens, although we have not seen many menus with lamb or mutton, which we think are mainly raised for cheese. Here are a couple of pictures of food availability:

Farmers Market 

     

Cheese and meat shop

Cheese Sampler

 Steak with the grill master!

And paella

So all in all pretty varied and certainly fills us up!

On the Path Again

Day Three- Portomarin to Ventas de Naron, 12.6kms,  more of a laid back day, took almost 5 hours, steady climb from 388 metres  to 705 metres.

We took a little longer today, stopped more for breaks at little restaurants along the trail and stopped a couple of times to visit other folks that we meet at least once per day. A nice couple from Belgium. 

Beer time!

We are staying at the smallest village we ever stayed at! It has a population of 20, two or three little hotels or hostels and two restaurants/bars. Sounds like two, maybe three families own all of the village including the farms. So we thought, if we get up and hustle, we will be there by noon and then spend the rest of the day looking out the window at the dairy cows! 

I am so glad that I joined the girls on this trip. So far it has been a pleasant and wonderful hike. The girls do get out in front of me at times, but I always manage to catch up.

Come on Dad, you can do it!

The day started climbing up through forest and when it finally flattened out we were back into farmland. Mostly forage land, seems like it is all grass with very little sign of any legumes. They are already laying down the first cut, so probably even ahead of the Fraser Valley.

Nice looking hay.

Walking through a village.

We took one side trip, to an archaeological site of an ancient settlement of five hectares (one of the most important archeological sites in northwestern Spain). The site consists of enclosures that includes pits, walls, moats and parapets. The site was occupied by at least three different groups, the last being the start of the Roman occupation of Galacia, so it is very old.

That’s me, standing in wonderment at the smallness of these different enclosures.

Well that’s it for today. Onward again in the morning, we even get to sleep in an extra thirty minutes.

Day Four- Ventas de Naron to Palas de Rei, 12kms, 4 hours, drop today from 704 metres to 550 metres.

The place we stayed was wonderful, hotel, hostel and restaurant ran by a mother and her two daughters. There were also husband’s around, but I am pretty sure the ladies ran the place.

Our goal is doing one kilometre every 15 minutes, but Keenan felt energized this morning  and had us on a ten minute kilometre for a bit. We manage to meet some of the same people on the trail every day and have a bit of a visit and Keenan does make new friends so we turned our 12kms into a four hour walk to day. 

The day consisted of trees, farms and a few small villages. Nothing was open for the total of the 12kms, but we did manage to see some new sites. 

This area has a lot of eucalyptus plantations.

And of course more farms

and one more

I have seen hydro trucks blocking main access roads while fixing a power outage problem, but this is the first time to see a self loading logging truck taking up most of the road while loading logs roadside. Not sure how the school bus would get past! 

Made it to Palas de Rei, here at 1PM, but can’t check in until 3PM so just kind of wandered around. Finally the hotel manager got in touch and opened the door for us. This all done remotely, no one was at the hotel. Lovely big hotel, lots of rooms, but not another person there, neither staff or other guests. See what happens tomorrow for breakfast.

Day Five- Palas de Rei to Melide 15kms, 5.25 hours, drop today from 550metres to maybe 457metres. 

It started out as a pick’em up and set’em down day. We hit the road at 9:15 and when we got to the main trail there was a group of about 30 students hiking down the other side of the street, very noisy as teenagers are. Well there was no way the girls where going to stay behind them so off we go to get in front, success but then there is another group on the sidewalk in front of us. Down on the street and away we go again, Loreen had us in overdrive. Beat our 15 minute per kilometre by 12 minutes for the first 4kms. 

Country side is still beautiful, lots of farms, churches, villages and animals. I could continue to fill up the blog with more pictures of cute animals and villages etc, but I think I will do a switch and talk a little bit about the Camino de Santiago. We did lots of up a hill and the down a hill only to go right up the next one.

The Camino de Santiago is an ancient pilgrim path also known as The Way of Saint James. There is a network of pilgrim paths from France, Spain and Portugal that pilgrims, hikers and others take to get to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela where St.James is buried. St. James brought his ministry to this part of Spain to preach to the patrons. It seems he was not that successful and when he returned to Jerusalem he was beheaded by Herod. His disciples brought his body back to this area and buried him at Santiago.

There are many different pilgrim paths from different origins to get to Santiago, the one we are on is called the French Way, as it starts in France and is 800kms long. We are doing the last 115kms over 9 days. Lots of people are walking 25 to 30kms per day, but there are lots like us that are taking it slower.

Pilgrims have been coming to Santiago de Compostela for centuries as a spiritual purpose. This pilgrim journey was declared as one of the three great pilgrimages of the Christian world in 1492 by Pope Alexander VI. 

It was declared a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe in 1987 and parts of the different path made UNESCO Heritage sites in 1993, 1998 and 2015. 

Today there are around 200,000 pilgrims/hikers that make the journey to Santiago de Compostela by the different paths annually. The paths, at least the one we are on are well marked with concrete markers that have a replica of a shell, an arrow pointing the way and the mileage left to get to Santiago on it.

One can register to receive an official Compostela certificate at the end of your pilgrimage/journey. You are expected to have a spiritual or self filling purpose to embark on one of the paths. This pilgrim journey has been on Loreen’s bucket list for a long time and Keenan joined to support her. I came along because I didn’t want to be home alone! 

You have to walk at least 100kms or bike 200kms. You are issued a Pilgrims Passport at your starting point and you must obtain a minimum of two passport stamps per day of your walk. Stamps are available at churches, places you stay overnight, most restaurants and coffee shops along the route. Churches like a donation but there is not always a donation box nor an attendant. So far I think we are averaging 3 stamps per day.

Well that’s enough on the Way of St James.