Visitor From Afar
The blog has been a bit silent over the last couple of weeks. I was kept busy showing around my friend J, who came to visit all the way from Beijing! (So all of you out there who live any closer than China, you cannot pull the excuse that Malta is too far away )
It was so nice to have a visitor. We wound up seeing things that I had not seen in a while, and even discovering new places around the island that I did not yet know.
On a tour of Mdina, for example, we went into the newly renovated Palazzo Falzon. It recently opened to the public, and allows the visitor a glimpse into one of Mdina’s palazzi while doubling up as a museum showcasing the last owner’s collection of antiques and priceless artifacts. The view from the rooftop café rivals that of Fontanella, but without the famous desserts. There was also the “standard” tour of Valletta’s many attractions, parks, museums and streets, and of course the prehistoric temples and ancient catacombs around the island.
To top things off, we took the catamaran over to Sicily and enjoyed a few days of Italian-ness. Always a good time for this Italophile. Thank you J for your very generous invitation!
After a few days, I asked J about her impressions of Malta and how they matched up to her expectations. She said she did not really know what to expect, other than expecting it not to be Italy. In the end she could only describe Malta as unique and difficult to describe. That is just about what I always say. People ask me if it is like Italy, or Greece, or like a piece of Britain in the Mediterranean… but it is none of those things.
Now for a euro update. I might just be the single most excited person in the country about this topic, but now others can share in my excitement because very large euro-countdown clocks have been put up around the island. I have seen three so far, including one sprawled across Bieb il-Belt/City Gate in Valletta. The days, hours, minutes and seconds tick away, one second at a time, reminding everyone that in less than three months the new currency will be here. M admits a certain sadness at the lira passing away into history, which I can understand. However, the Maltese euro coin design is so popular that tourists are talking about taking them home with them as souvenirs as soon as they become available on 1 January. I wonder if that will be a boost to the Maltese economy, if people plan to take away coins without spending them!
And, I might be unusually excited and informed about this topic, but I was shocked to learn that a friend of mine who just finished university had NO IDEA when the euro was being adopted, what the exchange rate was, or how the whole transition process will work. While I do not expect everyone to know all the details, it was really an eye-opener. I wonder how many people in Malta are confused about the euro and its upcoming adoption.
